FAMOUS LAST WORDS: ETERNAL LOVE
This morning we come to the fourth of the seven statements Jesus made from the cross.
Over the past three weeks, we have listened as Jesus spoke His divine words from the cross.
We heard His words of forgiveness when He said, Father forgive them.
We heard His words of salvation when He said, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
We heard His words to His biological and eternal family when He said, “Behold your mother and behold your son.”
But today as we quietly and humbly stand before the cross, and listen to Jesus fourth statement; we will hear what I believe is by far the most profound and perhaps the most mysterious words found in the word of God. There seems to be no end to the power and meaning of these words. They are like a bottomless pit. The more you reach into it, the deeper you go.
For the world and the nonbeliever, these words appear to be haunting and mysterious. But for the believer, these words reveal the greatness of God’s love and mercy.
These words reveal the endless depth of God’s love for you.
These words reveal the holiness of God’s character and why God’s holiness matters
These words reveal the great cost and sacrifice that was paid for our salvation.
These words reveal the divine purpose God has for your life and for the whole world.
I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will hear these words and that these words will inspire you to open your heart to the great love that God has for you.
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him." NKJV
THE DEFINING MOMENT OF THE CROSS
Of all that Jesus said from the cross and of all that happened at the cross, there is one moment that stands out above all the rest. I believe that Jesus fourth statement from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" reveals the most important, the most terrible, the most defining and perhaps the most sacred moment of all that happened at the cross. His haunting words reveal the one single moment that changed everything about history and eternity. This is the moment that blew wide open the doorway of eternity was for all who would believe in the eternal message of the cross.
The cross of Jesus Christ is the dividing line of eternity and history, but this fourth statement of Jesus from the cross reveals the single most defining moment of eternity.
It is the most significant and defining moment in history.
Historians may argue over certain points regarding historical events and political
Movements, but there is no other single moment in history that matches this moment.
This moment not only changed history, it forever changed eternity. It is this moment that not only fulfilled the purpose and plan of God for the cross, but this moment also set into motion the future purpose of God for eternity.
This is the moment Jesus saw in the garden when He called upon God the Father to let this cup to pass from Him, but He said, not My will but Your will be done.
Other than the resurrection, I believe this is the single most divine moment in history. Why?
This is that sacred moment when Jesus reached across the chasm of eternity and paid in full with His blood and sacrifice our eternal debt of sin. You may be thinking, I thought that happened at Jesus death. Jesus paid the price for our sins here at this moment and He sealed the deal with His death and resurrection.
Without this moment there is no salvation.
Without this moment, there is no forgiveness of sin.
This moment reveals the depth of love that Jesus Christ has for you
This moment reveals how far God is willing to go to reach you for His kingdom
But most importantly, this moment, revealed the divine purpose of God for you, and that purpose is for you to spend eternity in God’s glorious kingdom.
THE SETTING AT THE CROSS
In order to fully understand this moment and to capture its meaning and power for your life, you first have to see it in the full picture of the cross.
According to Jewish customs, a new day began at 6 am. So when we read in the gospels that Jesus was crucified at the third hour, that means He was nailed to the cross at 9 am.
Now get this picture in your mind. At 9 am Jesus is nailed to the cross. Over the next three hours, between 9 am and noon, Jesus utters His first three powerful, life changing statements;
Father forgive them
Today you will be with Me in Paradise
Woman behold your son. Son behold your mother.
However, at noon, several things happen that reveal why this moment in eternity is so potent.
THE SILENCE
First, there is the silence. For the next three hours, from noon until 3 pm, the gospels describe a time of silence. For three hours nothing is said; just total silence.
It is a strange kind of silence. A supernatural kind of silence. It is a silence that is so loud it can be heard. The kind of silence that has a language all its own.
The silence is deep. It is a silence so deep in meaning that the world stands in awe of what the creator is doing for His creation.
Why the silence?
Because God has said, “Be still, be silent and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
All of creation was still and silent in awe of what the creator was doing.
The silence was a physical manifestation of what was happening in the spiritual realm because there were no words deep enough or powerful enough to express what was happening at this eternal moment.
It is a silence that knows something profound is about to happen. It was a silence like the silence that comes just before the eruption of a volcano. And it was in this silence that Jesus pushed up on the nails in His feet and with great cry of anguish He cries out; My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
This next thought is vitally important to understand.
Jesus did not cry out these words at the beginning of His crucifixion because to have done so at that moment would have been seen as a cry to be delivered from the cross, and Jesus knew that was not the purpose of God.
His cry of being forsaken, were not His last words which would have meant total defeat and hopelessness.
No, His cry came at this divine moment because this was the most important moment of eternity. It was for this moment that He came into the world. It was for this moment that He chose to lay down His life. It was at this moment that Jesus Christ physically and spiritually became the sacrificial Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.
Glory to God for this moment
Glory to God that Jesus Christ endured this moment for us
HE WHO BECAME SIN
Why does Jesus cry out at this moment on the cross? Why does the Son of God, the eternal King of glory declare with a cry that He has been forsaken by God? Why?
Why would God forsake His only Son and why at this moment?
Why didn’t He forsake Jesus the moment He was nailed to the cross?
Why didn’t He forsake Jesus when He died?
Because at that moment, that very moment, Jesus became sin. The eternal King of heaven and earth has now instantly become sin.
Look with me at 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. NKJV
The weight of that scripture is impossible to comprehend, but in simple terms, what it means is that Jesus Christ allowed God to place on Him all the sins of the world. That means every sin, including your sins. At this moment on the cross, when Jesus shouts out His cry, it is because at that precise moment, He is suffering the penalty of sin, your sins, my sins and the sins of every person.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, including your sins.
But you have to choose to believe that for yourself. You have to choose if you will believe that what Jesus Christ did at the cross is the true way of salvation.
And the moment you choose to believe in Jesus Christ, God immediately transfers the penalty of your sins for you to Jesus.
You need to hear this and understand it very clearly; it was your sin that caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross and to endure this moment.
Your sin is what this moment is all about.
Your sin is what caused Jesus to cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
When Jesus spoke those words, the angels of heaven watched in stone silence
When Jesus spoke those words of anguish, the demons of hell rejoiced in delight
When Jesus spoke those words, the floodgates of God’s righteous judgment that was meant for you and me was poured out upon Jesus as the atoning sacrifice of sin.
When Jesus spoke those words, at that very moment He was paying the price so that you and I could spend eternity in His Eternal Kingdom.
Perhaps you ask, what was the price that Jesus paid so that I could have eternal life?
The price that Jesus paid was for Him who never knew sin, to become sin.
THE GREAT QUESTION
Second, there is a great question here that compels us to seek the answer.
If Jesus Christ is the Son of God, why would God forsake Him? If He is perfect and sinless and the eternal King of kings, why would God forsake Him?
If God’s love for His Son is so great, why would He allow Him to become sin?
The answer is found in Psalm 22:3 But You are holy…
See the word “holy.” It is because of God’s holiness that Jesus is experiencing this
eternal moment on the cross. God’s holiness demands the judgment of sin.
Jesus took upon His body and in His soul the wrath and judgment of God that was meant for us. He who had never known sin, at this moment, became sin and because of your sin and my sin, the holy wrath of God’s full judgment fell upon the shoulders of Jesus.
Listen to these words from the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 53:60 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. NKJV
Think of all of the indescribable sins the world has committed. Think of the unspeakable evils that have been committed. Now see those sins and all the evil of the world as they are laid upon Jesus. Every sin… of every person…
God laid on Jesus my sins and your sins…
It is this transfer of sin from us to Jesus that caused Him to cry out.
There is absolutely no way that God can transform this sin onto Jesus without the penalty and that penalty was for Him who knew no sin, who has now become sin, and with that sin came the terrifying wrath and judgement of God.
This was God’s purpose from the very beginning, that He would lay upon Jesus the crushing weight of our sins, and because of our sins, God caused the full weight of His judgment to fall on Jesus.
How do we know that God accepted Jesus sacrifice as the sacrifice for our sins?
Let me show you how I know this;
Luke 23:44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. NKJV
The tearing of the veil in the temple is proof that God accepted Jesus payment for our sins, and notice that the tearing of the veil happened at this moment when Jesus was on the cross.
Now we can better understand why darkness covered the land at midday.
THE DARKNESS
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
From noon until 3 pm, the gospels describe a terrible darkness that covered the land.
A darkness so thick that it covered the land like a heavy blanket. It was a darkness unlike anything the world had ever experienced. A darkness so thick you could feel it in your soul.
What is the meaning of this darkness?
All of us have experienced the physical darkness that comes with a storm. But this
darkness is far different. It is a darkness that goes far beyond the physical.
The Bible speaks of an eternal darkness that is beyond anything we can ever imagine in this world. The Bible speaks of the darkness of hell that is without the light and presence of God.
The darkness that covered the land was a symbol of the darkness that engulfed Jesus at this moment on the cross. Your sins and my sins caused Jesus Christ, the light of the world to suffer this judgment of darkness.
The moment God laid upon Jesus the sins of the world, God removed His presence and in that moment, Jesus suffered for us the horrifying darkness of hell that was meant for us.
The moment the weight of sin fell upon Jesus, God immediately removed His presence and Jesus faced alone the pain and sorrow of separation from God so that we would never have to experience that pain in eternity.
IN CLOSING; TRANSFORMED BY THE CROSS
In closing, what does this mean for your life?
First, there is a message here to every nonbeliever.
By nonbeliever I mean you have never chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord of your life.
You may believe that He existed, but you don’t believe that He is the Son of God who died for your sins and you do not believe He is the only way of salvation.
There are a lot of things I could say at this point, but there is one answer that describes it best.
For God so loved the world… (John 3:16)
God’s love for you is greater than anything you can imagine.
Jesus Christ loves you so deeply that He willingly allowed Himself to endure the cross and to suffer the pain of the cross so that you could know forgiveness of sin and the eternal joy of salvation.
The simple message for you is that the cross is the only way of salvation
The simple message is that God loves you and wants you to know forgiveness of sin
God’s great purpose is for you to know Him and to know of His love for you.
God loves you so much that it is His greatest desire that you know Him and spend eternity with Him.
You need to fully understand that if you deny and turn away God’s free offer of salvation, you will have to pay for your own sins.
Second, this message speaks to every believer. Jesus allowed Himself to be separated from the presence of God so that we would never have to experience that moment.
That’s exactly why Jesus says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Because Jesus endured this horrific moment on the cross, He made this promise forever possible so that we would never have to experience it.
Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NKJV
As believers in Christ, let’s give Him glory and praise and thanks for making this promise possible, and He made it possible because of what He endured at the cross.
Because of what He did at the cross, we have eternal life, and we have the promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.
As believers in Christ, let’s live our lives for the single purpose of glorifying Him.
