The Cross of Christ Pt. 4 - The Savior's Desolate Cry

I have been asking God how I should write this post because we have come to the climax of Jesus' main reason for coming to this planet...to bear the sins of those who despise Him. We have all despised Him. Been disobedient to our parents, lied to our parents, cheated on a test or quiz, had a temper tantrum, and/or been angry with someone; we all have done those types of things. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That, in itself, makes us enemies of God. I will share with you what God has put on my heart.

Jesus, hanging suspended on the cross, is watching and waiting for God's ultimate wrath to be poured out on Him. At about noon, the sky begins to darken. It is a solar eclipse, but a supernatural act of God, (solar eclipses can only occur during a new moon. It is a full moon, because it is Passover). The doors of heaven are closed shut and God the Father is about to turn His back on His very own Son. Jesus is about to be treated like He was the worst sinner of all time. At this time, Jesus looks towards heaven and, all at once, God's full, righteous, and furious wrath comes crashing down upon Him. He is being treated like He committed the most heinous form of adultery, like He committed the most brutal murder, like He said the most slanderous comment, like He said the most hurtful lie, and on and on and on...it goes. Do you get the picture?

The one, who knew no sin, became sin for Us. He drank every last drop of God's wrath for our salvation, so that we might KNOW HIM. He cries in agony, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He is doing it all alone. Have you ever felt alone? Nobody is coming to your aid. You don't have any friends to talk to. Don't forget that you have God. During this time, Jesus did not even have the Father. He was bearing our sin ALL BY HIMSELF. C.J. Mahaney provocatively says it in His book The Cross Centered Life, "Before being nailed to the cross, Jesus already knew what it meant to be forsaken; He had become intimately acquainted with being rejected or abandoned by men. Yet whenever it happened, He could always say, 'Though forsaken by men, I am not alone, for My Father is always with Me.' But not now. He who for all eternity has never been alone is now wholly abandoned." 1 Why? Because God is holy and just. He hates sin. Seeing the monstrous appearance of His Son is an impossibility for the Father. That is why the Father turned His back on His own Son. During the most lonesome part of His life, Jesus does not just feel forsaken; He was forsaken. We will begin to look at the most important words that Jesus cried out.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." What does that cry sound like to you? Happy, sad, desolate, forsaken, joyful, beautiful. To me, it sounds like a scream of utter distress and anguish over something so beautiful. This cry is one of the most despairing cries in all of Scripture. IT BREAKS MY HEART. You want to know why. Jesus cried this cry so that we may never be forsaken by God. I will say that once again. Jesus cried this cry so that we may never be forsaken by God. Hold that thought. Stop whatever you are doing and reflect on that thought for a moment. Jesus was forsaken by God, so that we may never be forsaken by Him ever. We are His. Nobody or nothing can pluck me out of His hand. I will never be forsaken by Him. Wow, that just boggles my mind. I cannot even fathom His incredible love for me, but I believe it with all my heart. I am accepted, because HE WAS FORSAKEN.

Philippians 2:5-11, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Amen, So be it!

1 - C.J. Mahaney's: The Cross Centered Life Pg. 93