March 20th
JESUS’ FINAL WEEK
“Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Mark 15:34, Holman Christian Standard Bible
Action: The early crowds had long ago dispersed and the waiting for death had begun. An eerie palpable darkness, a crushing gloom, descended upon the entire area. The Father's judgment on the sins of the world was being borne on Christ's shoulders as he hangs on the cross. He cries out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
He had previously declared that “the Father has not left Me alone” (John 8:29). He had never experienced the aloneness that comes from being cut off from God, but now, bearing the sins of the world, he would. It is noteworthy that this is the only time that Jesus addressed "God" this way in prayer. In all his other recorded prayers he uses the term "Father," probably reflecting the intimate form ‘Abba’. Jesus knew that this moment would inevitably come (it had been prophesied in Psalm 22) because the Father can have nothing to do with the sin that his Son was bearing through his body in this act of vicarious sacrifice.
We will never be abandoned by Him because Jesus stood on the nail in our place (Heb 13:5).
Work through the whole of Psalm 22 and see how it applies to Christ and ends on a note of triumph.
JESUS’ FINAL WEEK
FRIDAY – Jesus’ Last Words (4) Forsaken
FRIDAY – Jesus’ Last Words (4) Forsaken
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
“Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Mark 15:34, Holman Christian Standard Bible
Action: The early crowds had long ago dispersed and the waiting for death had begun. An eerie palpable darkness, a crushing gloom, descended upon the entire area. The Father's judgment on the sins of the world was being borne on Christ's shoulders as he hangs on the cross. He cries out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
He had previously declared that “the Father has not left Me alone” (John 8:29). He had never experienced the aloneness that comes from being cut off from God, but now, bearing the sins of the world, he would. It is noteworthy that this is the only time that Jesus addressed "God" this way in prayer. In all his other recorded prayers he uses the term "Father," probably reflecting the intimate form ‘Abba’. Jesus knew that this moment would inevitably come (it had been prophesied in Psalm 22) because the Father can have nothing to do with the sin that his Son was bearing through his body in this act of vicarious sacrifice.
Application:
What a love for us! Father was prepared to be wrenched apart from his beloved Son to pour out upon him His wrath meant for us. By believing we can now freely receive the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21).We will never be abandoned by Him because Jesus stood on the nail in our place (Heb 13:5).
Work through the whole of Psalm 22 and see how it applies to Christ and ends on a note of triumph.
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We may feel forsaken but the reality is God forsook Jesus so that we never will be!
We may feel forsaken but the reality is God forsook Jesus so that we never will be!
