You may be wondering why tonight’s sermon is entitled, “Christ’s Words of Faithfulness.” Certainly, the words He speaks here sound like anything but faithful words, as He cries out with a loud voice to His Father, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” At Christ’s Baptism, the Father had spoken from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” But now on the cross this beloved Son of God is forsaken by His Father. It sure doesn’t seem like God was faithful towards His Son.
And yet, the Father had sent His Son to do this very thing - to give His life on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins, becoming sin for us, suffering the wrath of God that we deserve, so that through faith in Him we might become the righteousness of God in Him and escape that wrath. Jesus knew all along what lay before Him at Calvary. He told His disciples on a least three different occasions that He was going to be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, that they would condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged and crucified, and that on the third day He would be raised from the dead. What He never mentioned, though, was the fact that He was also going to be forsaken by His heavenly Father. It’s not that Jesus didn’t know this, however. He knew the words of Isaiah, who had prophesied that the Messiah was to be stricken and smitten by God and that it was the will of the LORD to crush Him and put Him to grief. Jesus knew He would have to drink the cup of God’s wrath and yet prayed in the garden that if it were possible this cup might pass from Him. But with His words of agony here, it’s almost as if being forsaken by God came as a surprise to Him. Why should He, who was God’s beloved Son from all eternity, now for these final three hours on the cross be forsaken? What had He done to deserve this?
There were many others in Jesus’ day who had undergone crucifixion, and justifiably so for their crimes. They would have felt the same physical pain that Jesus had, although even here He might have suffered more, having been beaten with rods and sticks, whipped, and crowned with a crown of thorns. But the greatest agony that a person can experience is not the physical suffering and death that everyone faces in this world (to a lesser or greater degree), but the agony of being forsaken by God. The Scripture says that God is the giver of all good gifts, that all such gifts flow from Him, which include not only the gifts of creation and life in this world, but salvation and eternal life with God in glory. To be forsaken by Him is to be deprived of all these gifts. The darkening of the sun was a sign of this. To be forsaken by God is not only to be without the light of day, but without the light of God’s Word and promises, to be without the light of His merciful face. Sunday services are concluded with these words: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. On the cross Jesus suffered the absence of all of this.
And that’s what hell is. By being forsaken by God, Jesus was experiencing hell. He was not only experiencing physical death, but the death that is separation from the One who is Life and gives life. He suffered this, because, just as the Scripture says, God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. In God’s eyes Jesus had become a sinner, the sinner of all sinners, and for this reason had to experience the forsakenness and wrath of God that all sinners deserve, in order that we who truly ought to be forsaken might not be, provided we take refuge under His wings. And this is why these words are faithful words, because first of all, by them Jesus shows us that He faithfully fulfills the words of Scripture, which say that He must suffer for us in our place. But second, because He does this for us, God is faithful towards us. Having forsaken His Son on the cross in our place, He will never forsake us who are in Christ by faith.
Because Jesus was forsaken by God, suffering both His temporal and eternal punishment for your sin on the cross, you will never have to cry, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” There may be times in your life where it might feel like God has forsaken you. There are a number of Psalms written by David in which he utters his feeling of being forsaken by God. God doesn’t seem to be listening; He doesn’t seem to care; He doesn’t deliver David right away; He delays His help; He allows David to suffer. Some day He would allow David to die. But through all of this David clung to God’s promises that He was the God of David’s salvation, that He is a very present help in time of trouble, that even though it seems like God isn’t listening, He is; He did hear David’s cries for help and answered and delivered him. For David, though he felt forsaken by God, he wasn’t. And finally, in faithfulness to His promises God delivered David from all his troubles, even from this feeling of forsakenness.
In the Lord’s case, the forsakenness was real. God turned His face from His Son, since He could not look upon the sin that He bore there. And yet, His forsakenness, too, was temporary and over at the end. Having accomplished all that His Father had sent Him to do, Jesus completed His work on the cross with the words, “It is finished,” and “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Had the forsakenness continued, Jesus would still be lying in the grave somewhere. But God did not allow His Holy One to undergo decay. He raised His Son from the dead, only to exalt Him to His right hand and give Him the Name that is above every Name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.
This is good news for you and me, because since Christ was not forsaken to the grave, but raised from the dead by the Father, so all of us who belong to Him, who are in Him by faith, will ourselves also not be forsaken to the grave, but be raised from the dead on the Last Day, when Jesus comes again for us. Because Jesus took all your sins upon Himself on the cross and suffered the forsakenness by God that you deserve, you who have been baptized and clothed with Christ will never have to be forsaken by God, either in this life, in the grave, or in the life of the world to come. To you are spoken the Lord’s words of faithfulness that He will never leave you or forsake you, that He is with you always, even to the end of the age, and that where He is you will be also. These are faithful and true words, stamped with the blood of Christ.
So, the next time you feel forsaken by God, whether it’s on account of some sin you’ve committed or because you don’t feel His presence and think that for some reason He’s left you, remember these words of faithfulness. Remember that your Lord was forsaken for you, so that you who trust in Him might not be. God will not abandon you whom He has purchased with the blood of His Son. He is the God of your salvation, a very present help in time of trouble and your merciful heavenly Father for Christ’s sake. He will never turn His face from you, but will always lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.