Forsaken | Pastor Greg | 4/10/20
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
(Jesus words from the Cross)
Forgotten…Isolated…Alone…this is how some may feel in the midst of this shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic that is affecting all of us. But some of the feelings that we may have that hint of any of these emotions is nothing compared to the reality that Christ entered on that first Good Friday. The Sinless One, Jesus, tasted all of this and more as he hung on the cross in our place for our sin.
God the Father and God the Son who are eternally one with the Spirit had only known perfect fellowship. However, when our sins were placed upon the righteous one and he endured the just wrath of the Father for those sins, he experienced something that he had never known before or since. For the first time the perfect one tasted separation, isolation, and aloneness. In some mysterious way for that moment in time as the sky grew dark and Christ cried out….He was forsaken by His Father in Heaven.
Why would he willingly be forsaken? So that you and I wouldn’t be. Jesus endured the cross and bore our sin so that we could be forgiven and free. His forsakenness ensured that those who place their faith in Him and His work on that same cross would not be forsaken by that same heavenly Father. This truth is summed up in 2 Corinthians 5:21, which says, 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. The cross is the place where the love and justice of God intersect. Thankfully we who believe and receive are beneficiaries of His forsakenness.
The sacrifice of the Son reminds us that no matter how dark things look that we are never alone. God’s presence through His Spirit is always with those who belong to Him. How do I know? It’s in the book, “for he has said, ‘Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5 So never forget why this Friday is so GOOD. Jesus was forsaken so you and I would not be forsaken. Amazing love how can it be that you my God would die for me.
