Good Friday - 2022

My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

Mark 15: 22 – 39

22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Jesus word on the cross fulfills the heart cry of God and humanity.

On the Cross as Jesus was dying, He cried out the words “Eloi, Eloi lema sabachthani”. Jesus’ words were deliberate and heart felt. Many nearby hearers knew that this cry from Ps 22:1 was a fulfilment of the prophetic words spoken by David about the coming Messiah.

Ps 22:1

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

Why would Jesus cry out these words?

Well, for the first time in eternity, there was a separation in the relationship of Almighty God. As the triune God experienced the pain of separation that has plagued humanity through all of our time ever since Adam first sinned in the garden of Eden.

This cry of separation, of loneliness and brokenness is one of deepest cries to be known and our sin is to blame. We long to be accepted by others and in fact more importantly, we actually long to be accepted by God who created us for relationship with him. But our sin keeps us away.

Friend, God was willing to experience this separation so that we could be brought near to Him again through Jesus’ death on the Cross.

We need to understand that when Adam and Eve first sinned, this separation came as part of our response to the shame and guilt for our sin.

We might try to deny the reality of this by blocking out the Biblical account of the Fall and by rejecting the Bible’s account that God created the world. We have also therefore tried to ignore God’s judgement of sin with the penalty that has come upon us because we fail to meet God’s standard when we break God’s law.

But whether you are a evolutionist or a creationist, the reality is that there was a first human pair! The Biblical account gives us a good explanation for the guilt, the shame, the separation that we experience in this life and Easter gives us the knowledge that God has a remedy for our broken situation!

Sin separates us from God! But God came seeking for Adam and Eve. He still comes seeking for us! God’s call in Genesis of “Adam, where are you?” is still carrying on throughout the millennia and through to our current time. We should read our name, or our loved ones name in this call

“John, …Mary, …Bill, …Eva … insert your name there… where are you?”

But what do we do when we hear such a call? Do we hide like Adam and Eve who were naked and ashamed? Or do we respond with the answer “Here I am!” and I won’t hide any longer. We don’t need to ask God “why have you forsaken me?”. Now he is asking, “What will you do with my Son?” Will you come back to me?

Easter is God’s answer to humanity’s greatest needs.

Whereas God first cried out “Adam where are you?” Jesus cry on the cross broke the separation that so many have experienced. His death paid the price for our sin, our shame, our sickness, our suffering and especially for our eternity, where we will spend it and who we will spend it with.

As unpopular as it might be in today’s modern world, I believe in heaven and hell, I can’t help but believe it, even though it is not palatable and even though it terrifies me. Especially for those who do not know Christ. But I see from scripture that Jesus believed in it. At Easter, we see that Jesus really died to save real people from just such a real place. Christ saves from hell and Christ saves us from the hell of a life that so many of us find ourselves living.

But, the greatest gift is not just having our sins forgiven or having eternal life, as good as they are. No, it is being brought back into relationship with God!

The message of the good news of Jesus, of the Gospel is God has made the way for us to come back to Him. It is through His son Jesus and there is no other way!

God who says in John’s gospel that as many as receive him, he gives the right to become children of God. Yes, God brings us back into relationship with Him through His son. In 1 John 5 he says it again. Whoever had the Son, has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life.

God calls to us in the Cross is “Here I am, come back to me!”

How will we respond to His call?

Prayer:

Lord,

We thank you for your love for us. Love that is so amazing. Love that was displayed when you died for us on the Cross. Love that has entered our world, entered into our struggles and our brokenness. Thank you Father for Jesus and for His death that brings us back to you. Thank you for your forgiveness of sin and the peace that it brings in our lives. We so need it. Thank you that you are so willing to give it.

We receive you, we receive life and freedom and peace in Jesus Name!

Amen