End quote!
You see beloved, there
is nothing gentle or tender about the cross, it will cut
deep into our lives where it matters most. If we are prepared
to take up our cross and follow Jesus then we will bear
the marks and scars of the cross. Be assured it will be
painful.
Yet once Immanuel’s
orphaned cry the universe hath shaken,
It went up single, echoless,
"My God, I am forsaken"
It went up from His Holy
lips amid His lost creation
That no one else need ever
cry that cry of desolation.
This fourth saying is so
very different from any of the others, for this saying
displays the depth of amazing agony our dear Saviour knew
on that old rugged cross.
Martin Luther once sat
motionless for hours, as if in a trance. Denying himself
food and drink, he remained absorbed in deep contemplation.
Finally, he stood up and exclaimed, "God forsaken
of God! Who can understand that?" End quote!
If we were to take a random
survey of people in our western society concerning their
ideas and images of Jesus, it would, I believe, yield
an amazing variety of opinions about Him. Many would have
a Christmas view of Him as a baby in a manger. Some would
think of Him as an intelligent child.
Others would imagine Him
as a young boy working hard in His Father’s carpenter’s
shop. Some would dwell on that occasion when he confounded
the religious teachers in Jerusalem. Some would see Him
as the gentle, loving teacher who identified with the
common people. Others would view Him as a compassionate
but powerful healer who could cure all physical and emotional
ailments and could even go as far as raising the dead.
Yet other answers I am sure would give us some legitimate
piece of the picture of who Jesus really was; yet all
of those would be totally incomplete.
One image of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the truest and most necessary perception of
Him, that is the image that presents Him as the suffering
Jesus, the crucified one.
Paul’s words in 1
Cor. 2 v 2 emphasise this very thought.
"For I am determined
to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified"
And dear folks that is
the very graphic picture we have of our dear Saviour in
this amazing fourth word from the cross, He is without
doubt ‘The Suffering One’ may I say, not a picture
we all like to think about, yet we should!
I believe that’s the
reason Peter was so graphic in his epistle. 1 Peter 2
v 20-23
"For what credit is
it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it
patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take
it patiently, this is commendable before God.
For to this you were called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that you should follow His steps:
"Who committed no
sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth";
who, when He was reviled,
did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not
threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;"
(NKJ)
According to Peter, Christians
are at odds with the world, simply because they have been
called by Christ. By standing with Christ, sooner or later
we will suffer some form of unjust rejection, punishment,
criticism, or even persecution. We offend the world when
we take a stand for righteousness or manifest a lifestyle
that reflects Christ. That’s why we have to expect
suffering. Jesus Himself promised His believing people
that their union with Him would elicit the same kind of
hostility and suffering He received.
John 15 v 18-21.
"If the world hate
you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own: but because ye are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you.
Remember the word that
I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will
they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know
not him that sent me." (KJV)
And this fourth saying
is cementing all He had taught His disciples, reminding
them and us; He is the suffering one. Now it’s happening
and His amazing cry from the cross allows us to gaze,
at least in some small measure, into the depths of those
incredible sufferings.
Allow me to try and unpack
this wonderful yet amazing saying for you!
I trust you will realise
with me as we try to fathom this saying, above all the
others we see this one as the one shrouded in the deepest
of mystery. I fear at times, even the most wonderful theologians
cannot depth the amazing mysteries that lie behind this
very powerful utterance from the lips of our dear Saviour.
1. Hear This Saying From
Jesus’ Point Of View!
Some of the scholars would
tell us that Jesus was simply identifying with the experience
of the Psalmist in the opening verse of Psalm 22. They
argue that our Lord’s desolation was wholly internal
and subjective. That cry belonged only to His inner feeling
and perception, they say.
Well if that is true then
our Lord did not, whatever he had to suffer on that old
rugged cross, pay the full penalty for sin, and that view
is totally unbiblical.
This fourth word from the
cross has been designated in many ways. It has been called
"The Cry of Desolation," "The Cry of Desertion,"
"The Cry of Dereliction," "The Cry of Despair,"
"The Cry of Desperation."
Try as you may to describe
it, never forget it was, in fact, the Lord Jesus who spoke
it and we ought not to look lightly upon it. This word
from the cross deserves more than a passing glance. It
calls for some solemn thought and prayerful meditation.
You have noticed I am sure
that three of these cries from the cross were prayers
addressed to God. The first and third prayers Jesus speaks
to God in what seems to be His favourite mode of speech
to His Father. "Father" but in this fourth word
from the cross there is a different mode adopted, he says,
"My God" "My God." Now I am not quite
sure why such a change takes place. I read in John 17
when Jesus is speaking he uses the terms "Father"
"Holy Father" "Righteous Father",
and yes, he frequently referred to the Father as "God"
but only when speaking to others about Him.
So when Jesus on the cross
addresses God in this fashion in the fourth saying, it
does without any doubt present a very real mystery.
Dr. H. Lockyer says, "Here
it is ‘God,’ for He appeals to divine righteousness.
Somewhere in the darkness He feels pushed out of the Father’s
heart in a desolate forest. Yet He clings to divine righteousness.
In spite of the mystery of the moment He knew that God
must be doing right." End quote!
His Father’s favour
was temporarily withdrawn. Laden with the sins of others,
the sinless one sank into the lowest depths of hell as
the waves and billows of God’s wrath swept over Him.
John Duncan was a divinity
professor in Edinburgh, Scotland, more that one hundred
years ago. A master of Hebrew, he was called Rabbi Duncan
by his students. Referring to Psalm 22 v 1 in class one
day, he asked his students, "Ay, ay, d’ye know
what it was—dying on the cross, forsaken by His Father—d’ye
know what it was? What! What!… It was Damnation—and
He took it lovingly." End quote!
2. Hear This Saying From
God’s Point Of View!
Here is a strange paradox
indeed! Christ "the light of the world" (John
8 v 12), "the true light, which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world" (John 1 v 9), is Himself
suspended in the darkness between heaven and earth as
though fit for neither. Christ’s words and the darkness
from which He uttered them, are to all humanity the deepest
of mystery. Is it not amazing! God left His Son in the
darkness and yet never left us, His people, in darkness.
Exodus 10:21-23
"And the LORD said
unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that
there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness
which may be felt.
And Moses stretched forth
his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness
in all the land of Egypt three days:
They saw not one another,
neither rose any from his place for three days: but all
the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
(KJV)
Now dear folks, that was
a darkness to behold, but at Calvary, God’s beloved
Son, in whom He was well pleased, hung in supernatural
darkness, a million times darker than the ninth plague
that befell Egypt, and that was a darkness which could
be felt. He saved Israel from Egypt’s dark judgement,
but His only Son He permitted to pass through the outer
darkness. I say again, it is a profound mystery. And yet
when we hear this fourth saying from God’s point
of view we are left in no doubt, God knew exactly what
He was doing.
On the cross Jesus endured
God’s wrath against sin. That is what this awful
cry
is all about, that is what
this cry of abandonment means. Never for one moment, although
God poured out upon our dear Saviour His mighty wrath
for sin, must we imagine that God was angry with Jesus.
Angry with the sin He bore? Yes! Angry with the Son who
bore it? Never!
Do you think our God changes
His mind with respect to His beloved Son?
At the beginning of Jesus’
ministry when coming up out of the waters of baptism,
at the end of Jesus’ ministry at the transfiguration,
God testified, " This is my beloved son, the beloved
with whom I am well pleased" Matthew 3 v 17 &
Matthew 17 v 5.
Jesus went to the cross
in obedience to the Father’s will.
- He Went To The Cross As A Servant!
Isa. 42 v 1.
"Behold my servant,
whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth;
I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement
to the Gentiles." (KJV)
Jesus went to the cross
in order to Express God’s Word, Extend God’s
Hand, To Exult God’s Salvation. He went as Jehovah’s
servant or Jehovah’s slave.
Phil 2:6-8
"Who, being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." (KJV)
God sets Jesus up as the
most wonderful example of slave like obedience to all
He desired for Him that those who would follow this same
God would follow Jesus’ example. And the Father says,
"Behold my Son, Servant, Slave" follow Him!
"All my requests are
lost in one, Father, thy will be done!"
Charles Wesley.
"Faith and obedience
are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts
God; and he that trusts God, obeys God." C. H. Spurgeon.
"If for one whole
day, quietly and determinedly, we were to give ourselves
up to the ownership of Jesus and to obeying his orders,
we should be amazed at its close to realise all he had
packed into that one day."
Oswald Chambers.
B. He Went To The Cross
As A Substitute! Isa. 42 v 1. "Mine Elect"
Jesus was the Offering
for sin God had demanded; He was also the Sacrifice for
sin man needed. He was in essence our substitute! J.T.Badclay,
in his book, ‘The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus,’
tells of a brave and powerful leader called Shamil.
He was of the tribes of Dagestan! While trying to maintain
the independence of his people, on one occasion when defeatism
was prevalent among his countrymen, made a proclamation
that whoever would contend for capitulation with the Russians
would be beaten with a hundred heavy lashes. An offender
was caught. To Shamil’s embarrassment and grief he
found it to be his own mother. Following a period of fasting,
prayer and meditation, he instructed that the penalty
should be executed. After the fifth stroke, however, he
stopped the executioner, had his mother withdrawn, and
then baring his own back, insisted on taking the full
weight of all the remaining 95 strokes. His tribesmen
were so impressed by their leader’s justice, sincerity
and willingness to suffer that no one again mentioned
negotiations with the enemy.
God says, He is My Elect,
and as such I trust Him to do my will, I can depend on
Him at all times and in all situations to be my slave
like, willing servant.
Col 3:12-13
"Put on therefore,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another,
and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against
any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."
(KJV)
Beloved, as the Elect of
God, here is the pattern for life! A willing, humble submissiveness
to all the will of God, whatever it may be!
C. He Went To The Cross
As A Sacrifice! Isa. 42 v 1.
"In whom my soul delighteth"
Never was any son or daughter
so pleasing to their Father as Jesus was to His Father
when this cry of dereliction burst forth from His fevered
lips.
It’s true to say,
on the cross Jesus suffered the effect of God’s anger,
His judgement on sin which you and I deserve, but He did
not suffer God’s displeasure toward Himself.
And dear folks just as
the Father was well pleased with the Son, so the Son trusted
the father. Listen to Peter, 1 Peter 4 v 19.
"Therefore, let those
also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their
souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right"
The word "entrust"
is a banking term that means, "to deposit for safekeeping."
Peter presents God not
only as the one who is faithful but also as the one who
is Sovereign. He allows such suffering as His overall
plan and purpose. Therefore it is only logical and reasonable
that Peter’s readers be urged to trust God through
their time of suffering. If we have the same kind of submission,
obedience, and sacrificial service that Jesus had then
we will do likewise.
Jerry Bridges offers this
additional insight regarding the challenge of trusting
in God during times of suffering.
"To trust God in times
of adversity is admittedly a hard thing to do… Trusting
God is a matter of faith, and faith is the fruit of the
Spirit (Galatians 5 v 22). Only the Holy Spirit can make
His Word come alive in our hearts and create faith, but
we can choose to look to Him to do that, or we can choose
to be ruled by our feelings of anxiety or resentment or
grief." End quote!
As we hear this saying
from God’s point of view we realise afresh God looks
for that faith and trust in us just as He looked for it
in His Son!
3. Hear This Saying From
The Christian’s Point Of View!
From the believer’s
viewpoint, this fourth saying from the cross is without
doubt the most wonderfully amazing utterance ever heard.
Why, these words assure
us that in Christ we have been redeemed forever from God’s
judgement on our sin. Romans 8 v 1 Paul puts it like this.
"There is, therefore,
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
The Lord Jesus Christ endured
the full and final penalty of our sin and in so doing
satisfied all the claims of God’s justice against
us. He drained the cup! That bitter cup, love drank it
up! So that today all that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and are born again are totally acquitted, pardoned, forgiven,
completely and forever. Praise the Lord!
The hymn writer said it
well in the following words.
"If thou hast my discharge
procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine,
Payment God cannot twice
demand,
First at my bleeding Surety’s
hand,
And then again at mine.
George Matheson, a wonderful
nineteenth-century Scottish pastor and hymn writer, was
born with an eye defect that developed into total blindness
by the time he was eighteen. Shortly thereafter, his fiancée
left him, deciding she would not be content to be married
to a blind man. And so it was in response to one of the
gloomiest episodes of his life that Matheson penned his
great hymn about the security of God’s love, "O
Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go." Spurned by what he
thought was true love, he sought and found solace in the
unchanging love of God.
O love that wilt not let
me go,
I rest my weary soul in
thee.
I give thee back the life
I owe
That in thine ocean-depths
its flow
May richer, fuller be.
Surely as we listen to
this wonderful fourth saying from the cross we understand,
as never before, God’s love has no parallel in human
experience. God’s love is a powerful, immutable love
that extends from eternity past to eternity future. It
is a love that can never be deterred by our race’s
sinful rebellion against God. Because of this, the love
of God pursues and redeems us even when we are morally
and spiritually reprehensible and unworthy of His love
in every way: "God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us" Romans 5 v 8.
In other words, this fourth
saying from the cross reminds us, God’s love is so
great that He would stop at nothing to redeem those whom
He loved, even though it meant giving His own beloved
Son. In fact, the love of God is the supreme guarantee
of the believer’s security.
As for that which is beyond
your strength, be absolutely certain that our Lord loves
you, devotedly and individually, loves you just as you
are. Accustom yourself to the wonderful thought that God
loves you with a tenderness, a generosity, and an intimacy
that surpasses all your dreams. Give yourself up with
joy to a loving confidence in God and have courage to
believe firmly that God's action toward you is a masterpiece
of partiality and love. Rest tranquilly in this abiding
conviction.
Could we with ink the ocean
fill, And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth
a quill, And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God
above would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain
the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.
4. Hear This Saying From
The Unbeliever’s Point Of View!
From the unbeliever’s
point of view, this fourth saying from the cross must
surely strike the most solemn warning a Holy God has ever
given to those who have not turned from their sins to
Christ for Salvation.
John Blanchard’s book,
"Whatever Happened To Hell?" when published
some years back, certainly rocked the evangelical world.
Many so call Evangelical Christians have come to a point,
although not saying it outwardly, believe inwardly that
perhaps we really have got it wrong. Maybe there is no
hell, or maybe it won’t, after all be eternal, perhaps
it will be there for a time and then God in His love and
Great Mercy will obliterate it forever.
Many of God’s dear
people have, whether realising it or not, slipped into
the unbeliever’s mode of thinking with respect to
Hell!
Multitudes of people today
live carefree, frivolous lives; never giving thirty seconds
thought to the place called eternity. They most certainly
do not give much time or thought to this place called
Hell. Well, Heaven, now that’s a different thing
altogether. Most people, if honest, in the secret recess
of their hearts want to think that after all is said and
done they will be granted a place in heaven. Oh, I know
there are many who call themselves Atheistic in belief,
but let me tell you friends, listen to the testimony of
a stewardess on any flight and ask her thoughts with respect
to her passengers in a time of trouble or turbulence during
a flight and she will testify to the fact that if any
climbed on board that flight with atheistic convictions,
during that time of fear and falling descent there were
no atheistic beliefs to be found. Suddenly, everybody,
but everybody finds a need to pray!
"The Scripture makes
it clear that man is condemned eternally. A. A. Hodge
in his theology says there is no word more emphatic for
eternal than the one used of hell in the New Testament.
Leon Morris says the word was applied to an age that was
never to end. Ajith Fernando in his
outstanding book, A Universal
Homecoming, reminds us that sixty-four times the same
word is used to remind us of heaven's eternality. "Would
it
not be logical to conclude
that in the seven occurrences of 'eternal' to describe
the antithesis of these blessings (eternal punishment),
the idea is that of duration without end?" Hell's
eternality is also talking of an unending, physical, real
separation from God." End quote!
Ravi Zacharias, "The
Lostness of Humankind,"
My dear friends, as I hear
again and again this fourth saying from the cross, I hear
in those words the Saviour’s most tender appeal to
those without the knowledge of sin’s forgiven. Take
refuge from the tidal waves of God’s Holy Wrath and
Retribution in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and do it
now. Let me remind you beloved, there is no place to hide
from God but in God, not now, not ever.
Paul reminds us in Romans
8 v 32!
"He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will
He not also with Him freely give us all things/"
Consider what God’s
love for us has already cost Him: He gave His own beloved
Son to die in order to accomplish our Salvation. Having
paid so great a price to redeem, He won’t allow the
process to stop short of the goal. And if He has already
given His best and dearest on our behalf, why would He
withhold anything from us now?
For the believer this wonderful
fourth saying shouts at us, trust me at all times and
in all things. For the unbeliever this amazing saying
shouts out at us trust me for time and eternity!
"All I have seen teaches
me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
