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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, looking at the Gospel reading tonight, those words of Jesus,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
I think it’s safe to say that most, if not all, people like to be alone sometimes.
But I think it’s also safe to say that no one likes to be forgotten.
No one likes to be forgotten on their birthday or any other special times to
them, and more so, no one likes to be forsaken. In Jesus’s words tonight, most
Bible translations used forsaken in this verse. Some of them use abandoned or even
forgotten, but I think forsaken is the best because it just seems stronger.
Stronger than forgotten or abandoned. Forsaken, really it means completely
abandoned or completely forgotten, completely helpless. Jesus already knew
what being forgotten was like. He was forgotten by his parents once when they
left him behind in Jerusalem forgotten but not forsaken because they did go
back for him and found him in the temple and Jesus was forgotten by his disciples
in the Garden of Eden a Garden of Gethsemane sorry about that the Garden
of Gethsemane but Jesus was forgotten and not forsaken because he was still with
Heavenly Father in prayer in the garden, but now on the cross he’s forgotten even
by his father. Jesus is forsaken, completely abandoned, and completely
helpless. No one’s on his side at this point on the cross. He’s alone, he’s
abandoned, helpless, forsaken. God’s not coming to help him. Elijah’s not coming
either. Perhaps it’s accurate to say that literally Jesus was left for dead. Now
these words, there’s all kinds of theological discussion about it, about
how God the Father forsake his own son. Did God really forsake him? Jesus is
God, so how can God forsake him completely? Well to be honest that’s a
whole nother sermon, or a Bible class to talk about that, or a discussion over
adult beverages, perhaps is even better, but Martin Luther questioned this
actually too and asked this, God forsaken by God, who can fathom that? But
Luther goes on to say about these words, he says, we can look at it this way, the
Father turned his face away from Jesus, the Son of Man, who was laden with the
sins of humanity, without forsaking the sinless Son of God who was and remained part of the
Trinity even in His crucifixion. Yeah, it’s still confusing, I know. But who can fathom
it really that Jesus and His Father remain one and yet being forsaken by God? Well, maybe
we can explain it this way yeah Jesus is God but he’s also human he’s both and
that’s what was forsaken his humanness that the the human Jesus the sinless son
of man Jesus who took on all of the sins of the world of all people and took them
to the cross and dies with them there at this point in the crucifixion with
all of the sins of the world on him of every human being of all of humanity all
of that on him even God the Father cannot bear to look at him he forsakes him now
no matter your theological take on this on these words they truly reflect pain
and suffering for Jesus even if Jesus really wasn’t being forsaken by his
father he really feels that way and expresses that why have you forsaken me
they’re powerful words they’re very faithful words because in those words
Jesus is carrying out fulfilling prophecy about his suffering and death
that goes back to King David in the Psalms that we’ve written the song that
we read tonight Psalm 22 which Jesus basically quotes on the cross my God my
God why have you forsaken me he’s not just quoting the psalm he’s fulfilling
God’s plan for this suffering Messiah to come into the world and to even be
forsaken by his father these are very faithful words of Jesus from the cross
that he’s forsaken so that we would not be forsaken and we aren’t forsaken but
there sure can be times when we feel like it sometimes times when maybe when
you think say or do something that is so bad that it causes you to feel that
there’s no way no way that God wants to associate with me much less forgive
me. Your sin is so evil, so disgusting, so ugly that not even you can look at it,
much less God look at it. I think you know the sins that I’m talking about.
Sins that can really hurt other people. Sins that you plan and carry out with
great malice. Sins that lie or deceive or cheat on purpose. Sins that are sexual
in nature? Sins that you know darn well are wrong and you do them anyway. Sins
that you never thought that you would commit and even vowed not to, maybe even
sins that you actually enjoyed. Yeah those may make you feel forsaken by God
and deservedly so because simply put God can’t look at sin. The Old Testament
book of the prophet Habakkuk says of God, your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing, and yet there we are, evil and in wrongdoing, and
you may feel completely forsaken by God, completely abandoned, completely helpless,
even left for dead, but it’s for this reason, for your sin and what it does to
you and others that Jesus is on the cross dying and being forsaken anyway
that’s why he’s there because of those evil disgusting ugly sins that you
commit he’s there suffering for you to pay for he’s there being forsaken for
you and being forsaken so that you would not be everything happening to him being
forsaken, abandoned, completely helpless, left for dead, that should be you and
should be me, but it’s not. For Jesus, no one is coming to help Him. Elijah doesn’t
come to save Him, but it’s because Jesus has no need of help in this situation.
He’s doing exactly what He came to do for you, to be forsaken so that you would
not be. He’s forsaken because of all the ugly sin that he’s bearing and Jesus’
words aren’t even a cry for help, but they’re from the depth of your death and
despair, suffering what you and I should be suffering. When we see
Jesus forsaken and abandoned on the cross, this is our sin and death
that’s being abandoned and forsaken. In our sin we should be completely
abandoned and forsaken by God, we should be left for dead, but we’re not because
Jesus is faithful and because of that God does not forsake us. In fact, just the
opposite, God has words of life for you, words of life from the cross, words that
give life even in the death of our sin and how bad it can be we hear words of
life tonight in Jesus because they are faithful words again faithful to carry
out God’s plan of salvation faithful in suffering and death and being forsaken
Jesus is faithful to carry out what God wants for us to forgive us to forgive
any evil, disgusting, ugly sin and pay for them with his life. We may forsake God
but he does not forsake us. We may not be faithful but he is. Christ is faithful on
the cross because he has faith in the promise that God would not forsake him
either. Jesus was going to live again. Jesus is forsaken for this time on the
cross very temporary because three days later he would rise again fulfilling
Psalm 16 that says you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead nor will
you let your faithful one see decay and he did not see decay because we know
three days later Jesus was alive again and still is Jesus is faithful he is
with us so that we’ll never be forsaken ever by God in our needs in our death or
on the day of judgment on the last day so if you don’t like being forgotten or
forsaken or abandoned by God because of your sin got good news God has not
forsaken you Jesus God’s Son was forsaken for you in place of you your
evil disgusting ugly sin was piled on him carried to the cross nailed it there
and paid for it there I like to look at the event of the crucifixion in light of
Jesus’s words here being forsaken you think about it just physically what’s
going on Jesus on the cross he suspended between heaven and earth he’s not
touching either one he’s stuck in between he’s forsaken by earth and by
heaven earth has put him on the cross and is killing him God the Father is
forsaking him turning his eye from him Jesus literally is in no man’s land
hanging on the cross that’s how much he’s willing to suffer for you to be in
that place where no other person can go stuck between earth and heaven and dies
there that’s how faithful Jesus is to do that even under such circumstances to be
forsaken for you so that you are never forsaken by God may God grant it and
bless us with it amen now may the peace of God which passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
