CRUCIFIXION
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.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Matthew 27:45–50 (NKJV)
As we read this account in Matthew our hearts are naturally broken, we react with great sadness and grief. We wonder what good can come of this?
However these five sentences contain the most profound act of LOVE ever to happen in human history.
So let us look at this with the proper perspective.
God in His infinite wisdom chose to reconcile the world and us to Him by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus was fully God and fully man, a sinless, unblemished offering.
The perfect sacrifice for sinful man, and the only thing that could remove the stain of sin upon a fallen world.
As darkness descends upon the land for about three hours, we see that just like today there are two types of people represented here, believers and scoffers.
Jesus cries out He says “ My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” You see, He had never been separated from Father God from all eternity past.
We can sense the anguish in Jesus by the fact that He calls out to the Father twice, also in Jesus’s birth tongue, indicating great stress. This act of separation we can never understand in our human reasoning and understanding. This is the moment that Jesus had every single sin ever committed placed on Him, and He carried the weight of the whole world’s sin, from creation until Jesus’s final return.
”For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.“
II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
Now versus 50 is very important, it says Jesus cried out again in a LOUD voice, and yielded up His spirit. This word yielded literally means dismissed. You see His life was not taken from Him, He willingly gave it for us.
Now you may ask, “What did He say?” That is found in John 19:30 and the purpose for it all.
”So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.“
John 19:30 NKJV
The purpose of reconciliation between God and man was finished by the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, on that cross!
We here at Calvary Chapel San Clemente pray that you will reflect on this most precious act of LOVE, FORGIVENESS, and RECONCILIATION. And that it will move you to draw closer to Him today and everyday.
Steve Ford, Oceans And Devotions
