April 11, 2023
Scripture: Matthew 27:46 – “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).” (Psalm 22:1)
What it means
Here’s a little post-Easter devotional for you…this is the bitter end for Jesus, and He had just endured more physical pain than any human being in the history of mankind. Beaten, whipped, thorns crushed onto his brow, stakes driven into his wrists and ankles and left to die a slow, agonizing death hanging on a cross…for a crime of which He was innocent of. And yet…that wasn’t the worst part. Jesus had always shared a special, close, inseparable relationship with His Father. All during His life, everything revolved around conducting His Father’s business, and God had always been there for Him. But in His hour of need, when the rest of the world was against Him, the one person whom Jesus needed the most had seemingly gone AWOL…and that was the toughest part. The pain was horrific, no question, but He had expected it. He had done His best to warn the disciples, so He knew it was coming, but when He needed the loving reassurance of His Father, all He heard was silence.
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” This is actually the fulfillment of more OT scripture from Psalm 22:1, but Jesus was now officially all alone in this. Even God had left Him to His own devices…and shortly after that, He breathed His last.
What it means to me
The short explanation of why God was absent from Jesus during His hour of need was simply that He couldn’t be in the presence of sin…and Jesus had just accepted all of the sin of mankind and taken the punishment for it all. Not just for the people of that day, but for your sin as well…and mine. Good Friday was anything but good for The Master, but hang in there…the news got much better on Sunday. Jesus conquered death itself and rose from the dead, and yes – He also got reacquainted with His Father. You see, it was always Plan A from the start, and Jesus got it right…and thank God that He did!
As we put another Easter and Lenten season in our rearview mirror, let’s not ever forget what Our Savior accomplished on our behalf. As we discussed during Maundy Thursday, let’s remember – remember who we are, remember how The Lord would want us to represent him, and remember the perfect sacrifice made on our behalf – thank you Jesus!
I saw this online from Bob Goff – thought it was rich enough to share with you:
“Darkness fell. His friends scattered. All hope seemed lost. But heaven had just started counting to three.”
Here's the service from yesterday - so blessed by our choir and David, Melissa, Fonda, Tammy & Beverly - thank you for a special Easter!
Love you guys, talk to you on Thursday!
In Christ,
Brian