Cries From The Cross Series

Have you ever had a moment or season in life where you felt like God had forsaken you or turned his back on you? Maybe it was when you were young in your faith…or maybe it happened just yesterday. These moments typically happen when our backs are up against the wall and we can’t seem to find the way forward. They also tend to happen when we’re at our lowest, maybe experiencing some type of physical, relational, or spiritual pain.

One of our pastors tells the story of a young adult that came into his office several years ago with this cry for help: “Can I just be brutally honest? I feel like God is crapping on me!” Only, they were in such a raw state, they used a different word! In the pastor’s office! What they were declaring is that even though it is theologically impossible (because Romans 8:1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus), it FELT like God had it out for them. And if you’re honest, you’ve probably felt that before…that at worst, God has it out for us, or at best, that he has abandoned us.

Many of you know my love for Paul Tripp’s devotional New Morning Mercies which I’ve used for years and years. This past Thursday, which also happens to be our day to finalize the Sunday sermon, the devotion was absolutely on point with EXACTLY what we were trying to articulate in the sermon draft…listen to the following quote:

"I love that the Bible’s description of life in this fallen world is accurate and familiar. Psalm 90 is one of the most honest and descriptive psalms. How’s this for honesty? ‘The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away (v. 10). Here’s what the psalmist is saying: “Your life will be short and will be marked by difficulty.” Not very good news is it? But it’s true. You live in a fallen world that itself groans, waiting for redemption. You live with flawed people who think, say, and do wrong things. You live in a place where corruption, immorality, injustice, pollution, and disease still live and do their ugly work. You live in an environment that does not function according to God’s original design. Every day is marked by little troubles, and big trouble will enter your door as well. In all this, you are tempted to feel alone, forsaken, poor, and unable. In all this, you are tempted to wonder whether God exists, let alone if he hears or cares."

Turn with me this morning to Matthew 27 for our final message in our series called Red Letter Prayers. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve learned a lot over these past few weeks about HOW Jesus prays and also the CONTENT of his prayers. I’ve been both ENCOURAGED to sculpt my prayers as Jesus prays and also CHALLENGED by the fact that I don’t always pray in these ways as I should. Today’s prayer is quite possibly Jesus’ most emphatic (and maybe even controversial) prayer.

Matthew 27:45-51

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

This moment is what one might call the Mount Everest of our Christian faith. Let me help set the stage – the Jewish nation recognized their time based on their schedule of prayers. And so they started the “first hour” of their day at 6 AM…so the “ninth hour” translates to about 3 PM. In Mark 15:25, we learn that Jesus has been on the cross since the “third hour” (9 AM) meaning that Jesus has now been hanging on the cross for nearly six hours…and is moments away from death. He’s been humiliated, abandoned, and beaten severely. He’s gasping for air and so his prayers are brief. And so much of the Christian storyline that we believe and talk about, hinges on this very moment…THIS very prayer. And so this morning, I want to invite you into this moment of Jesus uttering his very last prayer.