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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 27. We work our way through 
the passion narrative in our Lord's Supper services. Our focus tonight will be just 
on two verses, verses 45 to 46, but I wanna read the larger context. 
The crucifixion of Jesus is given in verses 32 to 54. So I'll read 
that section now. So beginning in Matthew 27 at 
verse 32. Now, as they came out, they found 
a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his 
cross. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that 
is to say, place of a skull, they gave him sour wine mingled 
with gall to drink. But when he had tasted it, he 
would not drink. Then they crucified him and divided his garments, 
casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
the prophet. They divided my garments among 
them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Sitting down, they 
kept watch over him there. And they put up over his head 
the accusation written against him. This is Jesus, the king 
of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified 
with him, one on the right and another on the left. And those 
who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, 
you who destroyed the temple and build it in three days, save 
yourself. If you are the son of God, come 
down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests also, 
mocking with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, 
Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, 
let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 
He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. 
For He said, I am the Son of God. Even the robbers who were 
crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. Now from 
the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over 
all the land. 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?' Some of 
those who stood there when they heard that said, this man is 
calling for Elijah. 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. The rest said, let him alone. 
Let us see if Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried 
out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, 
the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and 
the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were 
opened. And many bodies of the saints 
who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves 
after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared 
to many. So when the centurion and those 
with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things 
that had happened, they feared greatly saying, truly, this was 
the son of God. And many women who followed Jesus 
from Galilee, ministering to him, were there looking on from 
afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, the mother of James and Joses, 
and the mother of Zebedee's sons. Amen. Well, let us pray. Holy 
Father, as we gather now before the foot of the cross, we acknowledge 
this is sacred space, and we pray for the guidance of the 
Spirit as we consider these words of our Savior from the cross. 
Give us grace and guidance now. Lead us into worship and to praise 
and adoration as we contemplate the Savior going through what 
he went through on our behalf. For certainly, the apostle tells 
us, Jesus in the institution of the supper tells us, as often 
as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's 
death until He comes. And we do so corporately now, 
we do so as well in remembrance of Him, not ourselves. So forgive 
us for our sins and unrighteousness and fill us with your Spirit. 
And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, 
the crucifixion proper is given in verses 32 to 54. We have the 
crucifixion, verses 32 to 38, and then the mockery of our Lord 
while He is on the cross in verses 39 to 44. The death of Jesus 
is recorded here in verses 46 to 56. And then when we break 
that down further, I want to consider this evening the cry 
of dereliction in verses 45 and 46. There were seven sayings 
of the Savior from the cross, and this is the fourth saying 
of the Savior. It's a difficult verse in terms 
of interpretation with reference to our triune God, so that's 
why I want to spend a bit of time on this subject. So you 
have the cry of dereliction in verses 45 to 46, then comes the 
mockery of the bystanders in verses 47 to 49, the death of 
Jesus proper in verse 50, and then signs and wonders in verses 
51 to 53, and then finally the response of the soldiers and 
the women. The soldier cries, truly this 
was the Son of God. So we'll look at that or investigate 
those sections. in the coming months. But tonight, 
I wanna look first at the darkness over the land in verse 45, and 
then the cry from the cross in verse 46. But notice the cry 
or the darkness over the land. Notice the time is indicated 
in verse 45. Now from the sixth hour until 
the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. So this would 
have been 12 noon to 3 p.m. Remember that it was the Passover, 
and it was precisely at around 3 p.m. for the time of the slaying 
of the offerings of the daily sacrifice. The time of the official 
slaughter of the Passover lamb began while our Lord Jesus Christ 
was on the cross. We have studied, or we are studying, 
the book of Exodus in our Wednesday night Bible study, and we have 
recently studied the Passover. Exodus 12 is a long, detailed 
section concerning that feast. And we understand it to be typical 
in nature. It pointed forward to this great 
redemptive act of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that because 
in 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle tells us Christ, our Passover, 
was sacrificed for us. And so what we have in this instance 
is the type and the anti-type. We have the Lord Jesus going 
to the slaughter at the time of the official slaughter of 
the Passover lambs. And then notice that there was 
darkness over all the land. Now brethren, noon to three does 
not mean darkness in Israel. That would have been just as 
odd there as it would be here. It is not typically the case 
that we have darkness unless there is an eclipse. Some have 
suggested that that is precisely what took place. There's no evidence 
to confirm that. I'd rather side with C.H. Spurgeon. He underscores that 
it is the sympathy and the mourning of nature itself. In other words, 
it's nature's response to nature's God being crucified. Spurgeon 
says, this darkness was supernatural. It was not an eclipse. The son 
could no longer look upon his maker, surrounded by those who 
mocked him. He covered his face and traveled 
on in tenfold night, in very shame that the great son of righteousness 
should himself be in such terrible darkness. Thomas Manton, similarly, 
says, At the passion of Christ the earth trembled, the sun seemed 
to be struck blind with astonishment, and the frame of nature to put 
itself into a funeral garb and habit, as if the creatures durst 
not show their glory while God was manifesting His anger for 
sin and Christ was suffering. So it wasn't an eclipse, it was 
rather a supernatural event. As well, it is the appropriate 
setting. In Luke's gospel, in chapter 
22, verse 53, Jesus says, when I was with you daily in the temple, 
you did not try to seize me, but this is your hour and the 
power of darkness. So it was fitting and appropriate 
that the Son of God on the cross would experience this darkness. As well, this is an expression 
of divine judgment. I mentioned the Passover a little 
while ago. Well, the Passover is given in 
conjunction with the 10th plague. Well, prior to the 10th plague, 
you have the 9th plague, which is darkness that has come over 
the land. After the darkness that has come 
over the land, there is the execution of the firstborn, and then comes 
the redemption of God's people. That same pattern is obvious 
in this instance. You've got darkness, you've got 
the execution of the firstborn, and then you've got redemption 
on the heels of that. So it is significant, and I suspect 
that these older brothers are correct. No eclipse, Rather, 
it is supernatural manifesting nature itself and their response 
to the Son of God's suffering. Now, notice the cry from the 
cross. There's several things we need to consider here. First, 
the cry itself. Look at the language of the Savior. 
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, 
it's implied that this pierced the silence. There's no indication 
that there was silence, but there's no indication that there was 
a lot of noise. I think the text itself, at least 
implicitly, suggests that it was probably pretty quiet along 
with this darkness. And so in the ninth hour, about 
the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice. Now notice 
that, a loud voice. He's been up all night. He's 
been scourged twice. He is now hanging on a cross, 
and nevertheless, he cries out with a loud cry. And he says, 
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is my God, my God, why have 
you forsaken me? So the words of Jesus pierce 
the implied silence. Davies and Allison suggest the 
crucified finally speaks. When he does, it is not to human 
beings, but to God. He's not calling out to man in 
this cry of dereliction, rather he is crying out to God. Notice 
as well that the words that he uses are Hebrew and Aramaic. Davies and Allison, again, why 
the Aramaic is given at all. The answer is presumably twofold. 
One, the words were Jesus' last words, and therefore seemed especially 
important. And two, without them, the misunderstanding 
about Elijah would be unintelligible. We wouldn't know why these persons 
would have said, why is he crying out to Elijah, if we did not 
have the Aramaic slash Hebrew, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. As well, I mentioned that this 
is the fourth cry of the Savior, from the cross amongst seven. The first is, Father forgive 
them, Luke 23. The second is, today you will 
be with me in paradise, Luke 23. The third is, woman behold 
your son, John 19. Fourth is this one. Fifth is, 
I thirst, John 19. Sixth is, it is finished, John 
19. And seventh, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. So those are the seven sayings 
of the Savior from the cross, and they're very instructive 
for us, each and everyone, theologically. So that's the cry itself. Secondly, 
we need to make some theological considerations. The doctrine 
of the Trinity teaches us that there is one true and living 
God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So how 
do we explain, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some 
have taken a stab at it, and I think they are altogether incorrect 
or wrong. In the first place, the cry of 
Jesus does not indicate any division among the persons of the Trinity. 
The cry of Jesus does not indicate any division among the persons 
of the Trinity. One commentator who's world-renowned, 
who is an excellent man, whose commentaries for the most part 
are most excellent, he's a New Testament scholar, gets this 
exactly wrong. He says, if we ask in what ontological 
sense the Father and the Son are here divided, the answer 
must be that we do not know because we are not told. That's incorrect. That assumes that there was some 
sense ontologically where there was a division between the Father 
and the Son. That is unacceptable in Christian 
theology. That is unacceptable with reference 
to a biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Second, the cry of Jesus 
does not indicate a dissolution of the hypostatic union. In other 
words, Christ is not undone. Christ is one person, two natures. And what we have here is not 
a dissolution of that union, of the natures in the one person. John Gill gets this right. He 
says, when he is said to be forsaken of God, the meaning is not that 
the hypostatic union was dissolved, which was not even by death itself. The fullness of the Godhead still 
dwelt bodily in him. That's Christian theology. That's 
the doctrine of the Trinity. As well, the cry of Jesus does 
not indicate that the three persons of the Trinity are suffering 
on the cross. There is a famous man that supposes 
that that is the case as well, following some guys that were 
off theologically. So the guy that's famous, I don't 
want to necessarily mention his name, followed some neo-orthodox 
guys, and they were wrong, and he is wrong as well. It's not 
the triune God that is suffering on the cross. It is the second 
person of the Trinity, according to his humanity, suffering on 
the cross. That is a distinction necessary 
with reference to the hypostatic union. There are things that 
Jesus does when he's on earth that is an expression of his 
divine nature. There are things that Jesus does 
that are expressions of his humanity. when Jesus suffers, when Jesus 
dies, when Jesus bleeds, when Jesus eats, when Jesus sleeps. This is not true of the divine 
essence. This is rather true of Christ 
according to his humanity. So whatever is happening on the 
cross, and I hope to show you what is happening in just a few 
moments, we don't have a division between the persons of the Trinity. 
We don't have dissolution in the hypostatic union, and we 
certainly don't have all three persons of the Trinity suffering 
on the cross for us men and for our salvation. Now thirdly, we 
need to appreciate the scriptural background. The scriptural background 
is Psalm 22, the psalm that I read at the outset of worship. And 
basically, Psalm 22 is the psalmist crying out to God with reference 
to his present distress. And the psalmist does this in 
a beautiful and blessed way. Very instructive for us as the 
people of God. He first petitions for God's 
intervention based on God's proven faithfulness. The first 10 verses, 
the psalmist rehearses the faithfulness of God Almighty. Secondly, there 
is a petition for God's intervention based on his present calamity. In other words, the distress 
that I'm suffering, I pray to you God to vindicate me or to 
deliver me. And then the psalm ends with 
an answer of God and the resultant praise. Verses 21b to 31. So I stopped at the part that 
deals with Christ on the cross. I didn't read to the end with 
reference to his exaltation, his current session, and the 
fact that God Most High vindicated him and God blessed him. So the 
Psalm, Psalm 22, is written by David, but it transcends anything 
that David underwent. Verses 11 to 21 give a detailed 
description of crucifixion, many hundreds of years before the 
crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alec Motier says we are 
listening in Psalm 22 to David the prophet looking forward to 
the suffering Messiah. So Christ takes Psalm 22 on his 
lips as he's on the cross. Now notice, fourthly, there are 
various views with reference to the passage. Again, this may 
seem a bit pedantic and a bit nitpicky, but we need to understand 
what is happening or else we compromise our understanding 
of the doctrine of the Trinity or of the person of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. So the various views of the passage. The first is the view that he 
was expressing the opinion of others and not his own. In other 
words, he is expressing the view of others around him, but not 
his own position. Calvin maintains that in his 
Institutes of the Christian Religion. Secondly, the view that it only 
seemed like Jesus was being forsaken. No, when we read the Gospels, 
we see that Jesus was, in fact, forsaken. That was not a new 
thing with reference to our Lord. He is opposed by his country, 
he's opposed even by his disciples, and he's opposed by all the people 
of Israel. So it's not some sort of a supposition 
or a view that it was only like, or only seemed like, he was being 
forsaken. Others suggest that on the cross 
he actually prayed all of Psalm 22. But the only thing that has 
been captured by the evangelist is verse 1. I don't know that 
that's necessarily the case. But I think the most pernicious 
one, the most dangerous one, the one that we need to guard 
against, the one that explains why I don't ever pick hymn number 
351, it's the view that the father abandoned the son. It is the 
view that the father abandoned the son. The idea that the father 
turned his face away from the son. That is popular in modern 
hymnody. It is popular among feeling-oriented 
Christians. It is popular among persons that 
are theologically ignorant. But that's not what's in view 
here. The Father never turned his back 
on the Son of God. May it never be. The fact that 
Psalm 22 goes on to indicate that the Father does hear the 
Son. As well, the fact that Matthew 
28 demonstrates that the Father does hear the Son. The fact that 
the cross was always the plan of the Father. Isaiah 53. It pleased Yahweh to bruise Him. Matthew chapter 26. We see it 
in 24, and then again in 52 to 56. This wasn't a haphazard. Jesus didn't accidentally end 
up on that cross. As Peter tells us in Acts 2.23, 
it was the predetermined plan of God Most High that He go to 
that cross. Romans 3, 25 to 26, Paul the 
Apostle speaking about propitiation. In fact, you can turn there just 
to see the Father's activity in the work of Jesus Christ on 
our behalf. Notice in Romans chapter 3, verse 
21, we'll start. But now, the righteousness of 
God, apart from the law, is revealed. This is in contrast to Romans 
1.18, where the apostle says, the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who 
suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And then Paul gives a vivid description 
of the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. He starts with the Gentiles, 
he moves to the Jews, and then in chapter 3 of Romans, he summarizes 
specifically in verses 10 to 20 that there is none righteous. Everyone is guilty before a holy 
God. So the contrast between the wrath 
of God revealed is now, verse 21, the righteousness of God 
apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and 
the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus 
Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, 
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being 
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is 
in Christ Jesus. Now notice, whom God set forth 
as a propitiation by His blood through faith. To demonstrate 
His righteousness because in His forbearance God had passed 
over the sins that were previously committed. To demonstrate at 
the present time His righteousness that He might be just and the 
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So the apostle, 
in short compass, explains to us how the redemptive work of 
Jesus Christ not only manifests God's grace, and not only manifests 
God's mercy, but it also upholds God's righteousness. In other 
words, God in the cross can be both just and the justifier of 
the one who has faith in Jesus. So it's not as if Jesus ended 
up on that cross in some unknown way. The fact that the father 
never wavered in his love for the son. John Flavel on the suggestion 
that the father stopped loving the son or turned away from him. He says, that is impossible. 
He can no more cease to love Christ than to love himself. 
His love was not turned into wrath, though his wrath only 
was now manifested to him as our surety. It's another way 
of suggesting that it was according to his humanity. Jesus, as our 
surety, took upon him the wrath and the curse and the fury of 
God. Jesus, as our surety, went to that cross in our stead. Jesus, according to his humanity, 
as our surety, took it himself, the punishment and the wrath 
of God Most High that was due for us. Brethren, this is the 
very essence and core of substitutionary atonement. Penal substitutionary 
atonement. This is being, you know, explained 
away in modern evangelicalism. One has gone so far as to suggest 
that the concept of penal substitution is child abuse. Cosmic child 
abuse where the father strikes his son. That's not it at all. It is the reality that without 
the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And it is the 
reality that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away 
sin. So God sends forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the 
law, to redeem those under the law. He comes to deal with us 
through the surety. And the surety is loved by the 
Father all throughout this effort to save His people from their 
sins. Now, fifthly and finally, the meaning of the words. What 
they don't mean, I hope is obvious, but what do they mean? My God, 
my God, why have you forsaken me? In the first place, it underscores 
the reality that the Father did not deliver the Son from the 
agony of the cross. The Father did not deliver the 
Son from the agony of the cross. Remember the doctrine of the 
hypostatic union. Remember the doctrine of the 
true humanity of Jesus Christ. He assumed our humanity with 
all of the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, 
and yet without sin. Isn't it true of humanity to 
cry out in distress? Isn't it true of humanity to 
cry out in times of difficulty and hardship? Isn't that one 
of the blessings of God most high is that he's given us the 
Psalms of lament, that he's given us the writings of Jeremiah the 
prophet, so that when we have agony, when we have sorrow, we 
pray God's word back to him. You've got to understand there's 
a whole category of lamentation in the Bible, and that is a means 
by which the people of God through the history of the church and 
the history of the people of Israel and express their grief 
to God. So the reality that the Father 
did not deliver the Son from the agony of the cross. Why have 
you forsaken me to this kind of suffering? Now brethren, if 
this all sounds odd, just think back a couple of chapters to 
the Garden of Gethsemane. You see the excruciating soul 
sorrow of the Savior when He cries out to the Father, if it 
is possible, let this cup pass from me. That's perfectly appropriate 
to true humanity that is facing and knowing that they're going 
to suffer the wrath of God. What else are you supposed to 
cry out? What else are you supposed to speak? What else do you do 
when it seems as if God has turned His back on you? It didn't happen, 
but that's how we can perceive it. And brethren, remember that 
the absence of God's favor for a time does not mean God's absence. You need to get that. That is 
just, you know, a fundamental truth in our religion. The psalmist 
says in Psalm 23 verse 4, Yea, though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death, How do we walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death? Not by skipping, not by singing 
zippity-doo-dah. That shadow or that valley of 
the shadow of death is punctuated by darkness, by grief, by hardship. But notice the psalmist does 
not interpret his present state in the valley of the shadow of 
death as the absence of God. No, just the opposite. I will 
fear no evil for thou art with me. Could it be the case that 
even though the Father didn't deliver the Son from the agony 
of the cross, that the Father was just as much with Him as 
He was with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He was with 
Nicodemus, when He was all points in His life, just like we experience 
and just like we know? We know that this is the direction 
because the parallel line in Psalm 22.1. Jesus quotes the 
first half, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The next 
part says, why are you so far from helping me? And from the 
words of my groaning. Again, in this current situation, 
we're in, as a man, he is suffering in our stead, as our surety, 
the torture of physical execution. There is a parallel meaning in 
Isaiah the prophet 53.10. I've already mentioned it. Yet 
it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has put him to grief. I think 
what is in view specifically is the withdrawal or the suspension 
of God's favor and not again God's presence But the same sort 
of thing, and I hate to even put it in the human analogy, 
but when we're at our lowest, when we're at our worst, when 
we're in the depths of despair, God hasn't abandoned us. That's 
just second blessing, perfectionistic, bad theology that God withdraws 
from His people. The very essence of gospel truth 
is Romans chapter 8. We're reminded of that this morning. 
What shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord? What the apostle describes in 
context isn't all the good things in life. Oh, when we're at the 
baseball game. Oh, when we're at the family 
picnic. Oh, of course God is with us. He's talking about horrific 
things, bad things, martyrdom, suffering, persecution. So the 
withdrawal of favor, Matthew Poole says it must be understood 
with respect to God's consolatory manifestations. John Gill says, 
but he was now without a sense of the gracious presence of God 
and was filled as the surety of his people with a sense of 
divine wrath which their iniquities he now bore. Remember, as surety, 
2 Corinthians 5.21 is true. God made him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us. Now what does God do with reference 
to Christ who is our substitute and our surety? He punishes him. He inflicts upon him wrath and 
fury and justice that is owing from our sin. Turretin goes the 
same way, but as to a participation of joy and felicity, God suspending 
for a little while the favorable presence of grace and influx 
of consolation and happiness that he might be able to suffer 
all the punishment due to us. In other words, brethren, as 
our surety, he is suffering what we deserve, and according to 
his humanity, which is true humanity, it evokes from him this cry of 
distress. My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me? And as I mentioned, the reason 
for it is penal substitution. We're going to end our service 
tonight singing what we always sing after the supper. That's 
not a ritual, it's not a rite, it's not a checklist. Reformed 
Baptist headquarters doesn't mandate that thou must sing that 
song. But it's a wonderful expression 
at the end of the supper concerning gospel truth. And it heralds 
the truth that Christ died for his people. And in that particular 
hymn it says, In my place condemned he stood. And I ask you again, 
brethren, under the wrath and fury and justice of God, what 
would we expect for our Savior to cry out? This is as appropriate 
as a statement as ever has been given. Matthew Henry said, Christ 
was made sin for us, a curse for us. And therefore God loved, 
or though God loved him as a son, he frowned upon him as a surety. He deals with Christ with reference 
to us. So it's the reality that the 
father did not deliver the son from the agony of the cross. 
But secondly, the reality that the son did not shrink back from 
fulfilling the will of the father. Notice, my God, my God. That, whatever the forsakenness 
is, however we describe it, wherever we find ourselves in terms of 
what this means or doesn't mean, it never separated the father 
from the son. It never introduced division 
in that trinity of persons. It never dissolved the hypostatic 
union. Typically when Jesus prays, he 
prays to his father. Here on the cross, here as our 
surety, he cries out to God. But it's not just God, he cries 
out, my God. So Christ did not interpret whatever 
he meant by forsakenness as God's having turned his back on him. 
as God's having renounced him, as God's hiding his face from 
him. Oh no, the father is pleased 
in the work of the son. The father never is ruptured 
in terms of his love for the son. There's no breach between 
father and son. The Lord Jesus Christ, as surety, 
evidences his trust in Yahweh by calling him my God. Again, Matthew, Henry, that our 
Lord Jesus, even when he was thus forsaken of his father, 
kept hold of him as his God, notwithstanding. As well, this 
is a manifestation of the degree to which our blessed surety suffered 
for us. Now, if we ask the question, 
is Jesus really confused? Is Jesus seeking out information? Is Jesus hoping that the Father 
will say, well, you know, son, we transacted in eternity past 
for you to undertake this. I don't think he's seeking out 
information. I think he's expressing his distress. He's expressing the great lengths 
he is going to in terms of suffering for us men and for our salvation. 
That is an indicator that what happens on the cross isn't fiction. What happens on the cross isn't 
simply story. What happens on the cross is 
certainly not fable, but what happens on the cross is reality. 
And the Son of God, who owned true humanity, suffers under 
the wrath and fury of God in our place, as our surety, and 
it evokes from Him this cry of the psalmist, My God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me? And then again, finally, with 
reference to the analogy with Gethsemane. If the prospect of 
the cup, remember, in Gethsemane, that was the issue of his exceeding 
soul sorrow. It was the prospect of the cup. 
If that brought on exceeding soul sorrow, The drinking of 
the cup, which he is doing here, is certainly going to manifest 
that sorrow as well. So again, I ask you, what better 
language could the Savior produce in terms of his suffering in 
our stead on the cross? The theology is not that the 
father turned his back on him. The theology is not that the 
father hid his face from him. The theology is not that the 
father was upset with him. No, the theology is consistent 
with Trinitarianism. It is consistent with a biblical 
and robust Christology of the one person, two natures, who 
according to his humanity took on the wrath and fury and judgment 
of God in our place. In my place condemned he stood. As I said, we'll sing that at 
the end of our worship this evening. Well, in conclusion, just a few 
thoughts. In the first place, and it doesn't 
come out a lot in verses 45 and 46 properly, but we have to appreciate, 
and I don't mean, wow, this is great, but appreciate the depravity 
of man. The darkness of verse 45 displays 
the divine displeasure and judgment for man's sin. Again, I don't 
think that's a stretch, brethren. Creation itself responds to the 
works of God. Look at what happens later on 
in verse 51. Think about that. There's no sort of naturalistic 
explanation for that. I mean, you might be able to 
say, okay, well, this tearing of the veil from the top to the 
bottom. Not the bottom to the top. Notice 
the way, the directions, from the top to the bottom. God comes 
after sinners. Sinners don't go after God. That, 
you might say, well, you know, it was a phenomenon, bad fabric. 
And then you might say, well, you know, earthquakes are pretty 
common. Earthquakes happen. I mean, they just had one recently, 
I think, in California. I mean, California has them all 
the time. Where we lived in Palmdale, we lived right by the San Andreas 
Fault. That was the idea that California was going to eventually 
fall off in the ocean. If Newsom continues, it might 
just do that. But you might be able to maintain 
that. But you get to the rocks splitting. 
That's a bit more difficult in a naturalistic world to sort 
of explain. And then this bit about the graves opened and many 
bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and 
coming out of the graves after his resurrection. They went into 
the holy city and appeared to many. You see, brethren, a naturalistic 
Explanation doesn't get at this. It was supernatural in nature. 
As well, the words of Christ in verse 46 were not, why has 
man forsaken me? He understood that. It was why 
has the father? And then the description of the 
psalmist in Psalm 22. You can go back there for just 
a moment. Whenever you're feeling peculiarly proud about how great 
you are, get a good view of Psalm 22 and what it describes in terms 
of men. You say, well, that's the Jewish 
leaders. Okay. Well, that's the Roman governor. 
Okay. That's just the nation of Israel 
in the first century. Okay. But what does the apostle 
say? He was delivered up because of 
our offenses. Oh yeah, there's specific guilt 
in the Jews in the first century. I'm not gonna lie to you. Brethren, 
that's the reality. Let His blood be upon us and 
our children. But it's not the case that had 
we been there, we would not have been, oh yeah, let's see this 
crucified man. But notice what we have in the 
description by the psalmist. Again, the first half of the 
psalm, he asks God to intervene based on God's proven faithfulness, 
verses 1 to 10. And then he petitions God in 
verses 11 to 21 to intervene based on his present calamity. 
In other words, my life is such a mess right now, Lord God, please 
intervene. My life is in such a horrible 
state, please intervene. Notice how he describes the enemies. Verse 12, many bulls have surrounded 
me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled 
me. Notice verse 13, they gape at 
me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. Notice in verse 
20, deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power 
of the dog. And then again in verse 21 with 
reference to the lion, save me from the lion's mouth and from 
the horns of the wild oxen. These are beastly characters 
that participate in the crucifixion of the Son of God. You cannot 
leave the passion narrative and think that man is okay. You cannot 
leave the passion narrative and say, I don't know what all the 
big deal was because man is basically good and he's basically moral. 
No, none of us, not one of us, according to the apostle, according 
to the entire Bible, specifically the apostle in Romans 3. Secondly, 
we see and ought to appreciate the wrath of God in this passage. The wrath of God spent on the 
surety for us men and for our salvation. But understand that 
if you're not a participant, if you're not a believer in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, what we see imaged on the cross is going 
to be true in eternity for sinners who do not come to Jesus. In 
other words, they will receive a punishment of both sense and 
loss. Scripture tells us they will 
go into outer darkness. There will be weeping and wailing 
and gnashing of teeth. And that punishment of sense, 
obviously, is that pain, the eternal torment associated with 
your sin, but as well, this punishment of loss. And what theologians 
mean by that is the deprivation of all the good from God. Now, 
God is present in hell. God is what makes hell, hell. 
But it's the goodness of God. Consider the most wretched man 
living on the face of the earth today. I don't know who you just 
envisioned, but just say for a moment that sometime over the 
last several hours, he got to, well, he has, he's been breathing 
air. He's probably had a drink of water. He may have had a nice 
lunch. He may have had a nice steak. 
He may have had the best and the most wonderful affair that 
a man could have. He rather is receiving goodness 
from God vis-a-vis common grace. When you get to hell, there's 
no more common grace. There is only deprivation. There is punishment, not only 
of sense, but of loss. So the darkness and the suffering 
of the Savior underscores the great wrath of God. Listen to 
Flavel again. He said, if he had not cried, 
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We must have howled 
out this hideous complaint in the lowest hell forever. O righteous 
God, O dreadful, O terrible God, thou hast ever forsaken me. If Christ does not cry this out 
on our behalf, then we will cry it out because of our sin against 
a thrice holy God. Thirdly, we ought to appreciate 
the glory of Christ. The Savior is mocked in verse 
43 as trusting in God. He doesn't abandon that trust. 
Trust is only confirmed and fortified when we get to this cry of dereliction. 
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Again, he doesn't 
say God, God. He says my God, my God. It's 
not praying to him as father in terms of nature with reference 
to his position as second person of the Trinity. He's praying 
as our surety. He's praying as one of us. He's 
praying according to his true humanity. And so he cries out 
to God, but he cries out to my God. So he is mocked for this 
trust in God and he manifests or confirms or demonstrates that 
trust in God even while he is experiencing the wrath and fury 
of God. The Savior is punished as our 
surety and as our covenant head. And finally, before we transition 
into the supper, the conscious observer at the foot of the cross 
must readily and happily admit there's no place for man's works 
in the scheme of salvation. In other words, brethren, it's 
all Christ or it's no Christ. It's not a mingling, it's not 
a piecemeal, it's not a bit of my works, a bit of his works, 
and we'll sort of present it to the father and hopefully he'll 
accept it. No, the apostle Paul in Galatians 
2.21 says that I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness 
comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. No one wants to 
stand at the foot of the cross and say, what you did was in 
vain because I'm a pretty good guy, I'm a pretty good girl, 
I can mingle my works with a little bit of faith and get accepted 
by God. Luther comments on Galatians 
2.21. He says, whoever seeks righteousness apart from faith 
in Christ, whether it be through works or satisfactions or afflictions 
or the law of God, is nullifying the grace of God and despising 
the death of Christ, even though he may speak otherwise with his 
mouth. See, brethren, for our forefathers, 
they did not take lightly this suggestion that somehow man's 
works mingled with faith is going to get us into heaven. No, for 
our forefathers, it was grace alone, through faith alone, in 
Christ alone. Every other approach was condemned. 
Every other approach was anathematized. Every other approach was seen 
for what it is, and Luther uses very pointed language. He is 
despising the death of the Savior, even though he may claim otherwise. So when we come to the foot of 
the cross, we need to appreciate there are no works. There's no 
goodness, there's no benefit that we bring to this equation, 
but it's all of Christ. And His glory is manifested as 
our suffering surety. As Paul will call Him in Hebrews 
chapter seven, He is the surety of a better covenant. You had 
sureties in the old covenant, but they couldn't take away our 
sin. The surety of the better covenant 
secures redemption for His people. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for this account 
of the Savior on the cross. And God, as we consider what 
it doesn't mean, help us not to lose sight as to what it does 
mean. Our Savior went through much 
on behalf of His people. He suffered for us the very wrath 
and fury and curse of God Almighty. As Paul says in Galatians 3, 
He was made a curse for us. Lord, we don't even begin to 
understand or appreciate these things as they are communicated 
to us. So help us to meditate, help 
us to contemplate, help us to be drawn out in love and in worship 
and in adoration. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord, amen. Well, you can turn back to Matthew 
chapter 26 as we transition now into the sacrament. Just a couple of reminders. The 
ordinance of the sacrament of the supper is for believers only. It is not for unbelievers. It 
is not a converting ordinance. It is not something given so 
that people will get saved.