Forsaken By God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Easter is, no doubt the most joyous of all Christian holidays. And it makes sense. Jesus is not dead, He is risen! It is a special day for believers as we consider Jesus victory over the grave as well as our victory over the grave because of what Jesus accomplished.
However, as modern evangelical Christians, we tend to focus most of our attention on the victorious resurrection and not enough time on Jesus death and burial.
Don’t get me wrong, we talk about it, teach about it, preach about it, and certainly acknowledge what Jesus did.
The symbol of Christianity is a cross, an instrument of death.
But, really digging into what Jesus endured is something we often spend much less time focusing on than the resurrection.
The reason for this is because it’s deeply painful. If we truly understand what Jesus endured for unworthy sinners such as us, it’s hard to put into words the pain we experience.
I still remember the first time I watched The Passion of the Christ...
And yet, the resurrection doesn’t mean nearly as much unless we truly understand what led to the resurrection.
So today, even though this story is probably familiar to you, I’d like us all to open our hearts and minds to what Jesus endured for you and for me.
Body: Matthew 27:45-54
Body: Matthew 27:45-54
Up to this point…(encourage you to read this during this week)
The Last Supper, the agony of Gethsemane, betrayed and arrested, deserted by his followers, faced trials, denied and cursed by one of his inner circle, mocked & brutalized, and, of course, crucified.
If all that wasn’t enough, now Jesus faces the most agonizing moment of all…
As we read, we will also find that this is one of the most mysterious passages in all of the NT, offering more questions than answers.
Read Matthew 27:45-54
Unanswered Questions:
Was this darkness an eclipse or God turning His back on Jesus?
How big was the earthquake?
What’s the deal with these dead people rising? (Sounds like a zombie movie!)
Did this centurion become a Christian?
Who were ‘those who were with him’?
Did they become Christians?
Greatest question of them all: How can God forsake God?
People for centuries have attempted to answer these questions. Most have failed. Why? Because they really aren’t the point. They aren’t the most important question raised in this text.
Don’t you notice when things miss the point:
The at one point I saw low fat donuts...
Where we shop I saw meatless chicken nuggets...
A gas company trying to end texting while driving, so they tell you to text your promise to them not to text while driving. Advertised on the car radio!
People who order a Big Mac & Super Sized Fries at McDonalds, and a Diet Coke!
When Isaac was younger he asked us why he needed to take a shower when he was just going to get dirty again!
What is the point?
The Point: Why was Jesus forsaken by God? (All of life and eternity hinge on this question, so if we don’t focus on that one then we miss everything!)
The Point: Why was Jesus forsaken by God? (All of life and eternity hinge on this question, so if we don’t focus on that one then we miss everything!)
What does it mean to be forsaken?
Literally to be abandoned or deserted.
Some here know what it feels like to be abandoned. Others of us have never been totally abandoned by another, but can understand what it feels like even when we think someone is abandoning us.
It’s a crushing pain…
Some here might even admit to feeling forsaken by God.
Many of us have felt this way, though we might not like admitting to that fact (especially at church!)
But there is a difference between what we felt and what Jesus experienced: Jesus was forsaken by God; he didn’t just feel like it.
So why was he forsaken by God?
Jesus was forsaken by God because he became sin.
Jesus was forsaken by God because he became sin.
This passage doesn’t say why Jesus became sin. In fact, it doesn’t even say he became sin. Just that he was forsaken. However, the Apostle Paul, in speaking about being reconciled to God, says: 2 Cor. 5:21…
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
“...made him to be sin...”
Jesus took on all of our sin and became sin itself, though he was without sin.
Jesus took on all of our sin and became sin itself, though he was without sin.
In other words, if God was to look on the cross, He wouldn’t see Jesus, He would have seen sin.
Why did Jesus do this?
Jesus became sin to pay the price for mankind’s sins.
Jesus became sin to pay the price for mankind’s sins.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
“…we might become the righteousness of God.”
As Jesus became sin on the cross, we became God’s righteousness.
Not our own righteousness, which means nothing, but God’s righteousness.
In other words, when God looks at us, He doesn’t see a sinner, but His own righteousness.
But what does this mean for me?
Because Jesus paid the price for mankind’s sins on the cross, you and I can be forgiven of our sins.
Because Jesus paid the price for mankind’s sins on the cross, you and I can be forgiven of our sins.
Go back to our text for the morning. Look at what happened in verse 51:
And after his death, Heaven pours out its wrath, as the earth quakes, rocks are split, and even dead saints rise from the dead!
And in the midst of this the veil of the temple is torn, from top to bottom.
This veil is the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where Jews of the time believed God dwelled most fully there.
What does this mean? The writer of Hebrews helps us here: Heb. 10:19-22
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
The picture we are to take from this is that the unapproachable God can now be approached through Jesus himself.
How?
We must confess Jesus as our Lord.
Many people look at verse 54 and assume that this centurion and those with him became Christians. They suggest this because they seem to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So they assume they had faith in Jesus and that saved them. We need to understand something:
Faith doesn’t save people. Jesus saves people. Faith is a gift of God that allows us to believe and confess that Jesus is Lord.
Only Jesus saves!
See, throughout Scripture the message is clear: Mankind’s only hope of eternal salvation is the Lord Jesus. And those who receive that salvation are those who confess that Jesus is Lord.
Notice that the Bible doesn’t simply talking about believing in Jesus. It speaks of believing that Jesus is Lord! That he is God incarnate. That he is the only path to salvation.
That we all must be forgiven of our sins and Jesus bought that forgiveness on the cross, for all who call him their Lord.
That is why he was forsaken by God: Eph. 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
So What?
So What?
Have you received forgiveness for your sins through the Lord Jesus?
How has this truth changed you, and changing you?
