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Well, during prayer meeting, 
I had mentioned that I had heard that little baby Lucy was in 
the hospital. So I checked with Shawn this 
morning, and yes, she is in the hospital, but they're cautiously 
optimistic with reference to what appears to be some issues 
with her oxygen levels. So we'll pray for her right now, 
and then we'll look to God's holy word. So let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you that you are the Lord, the giver 
of life. We thank you for the healthy birth of this little 
one, Lucy. Thank you for Sean and for Emily and praise you, 
God, that all has gone well. Pray for your blessing upon her 
as she is treated with reference to the oxygen levels. We pray 
that she would come through this well and be able to return home 
very soon. Just cause there to be great 
rejoicing in that home. We know that children are a gift 
given by a gracious God and we rejoice in your goodness to us. 
We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Well you 
can turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew's Gospel, Matthew 
chapter 27. We're working our way through 
the passion narrative of our Lord in John's gospel. We're 
in John chapter 19. And last week I had mentioned 
that there are what we call seven sayings of the Savior from the 
cross. And basically while the Lord 
is on the cross, he makes seven utterances or declarations. The first, Father forgive them, 
Luke 23. The second is today you will 
be with me in paradise, Luke 23. The third we saw last week, 
woman behold your son, son behold your mother. The fourth we're 
going to look at this morning, my God, my God, why have you 
forsaken me here in Matthew's gospel. The fifth we'll pick 
up when we return to John's gospel is I thirst. in John 19.28, and 
then the sixth is it is finished in John 19.30. And the final 
is found in Luke's gospel where Jesus says, Father, into your 
hands I commit my spirit. So we've seen the third. We're 
going to see the fifth and sixth in John's gospel, but I thought 
it would be helpful for us to consider that fourth saying of 
the Savior found in Matthew's gospel at chapter 27, verses 
45 and 46, but I want to read the larger context, so I'll begin 
reading 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 wreath. 
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. Then 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 looking 
on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother 
of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. Amen, well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we come 
to your word now. We come to holy ground with reference to 
the Savior on the cross. We pray that you would guide 
us now by your spirit, cause us to think biblically and theologically 
sound with reference to what's going on here on the cross. We 
thank you for what the Savior did for us. We know he's not 
on that cross for his own sins or crimes, but he's there because 
of our sins and our crimes and our transgressions against a 
holy God. We thank you for that doctrine 
of substitutionary atonement. We thank you for his sacrifice 
on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the 
world. Pray that you would draw out our hearts in worship and 
in praise and in adoration and in love to our beloved Savior. And forgive us now for all sin 
and unrighteousness. Open ears and hearts to any here 
that are dead in their trespasses and sins. May they call upon 
this crucified and resurrected Lord that they might be saved 
by your grace and for your glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 
Amen. Well, as I said, these seven 
sayings from the Savior on the cross depict or demonstrate or 
show to us various things that are obviously in the mind of 
the Savior while he's suffering. for us men and for our salvation. So basically in the section that 
I read, we have the crucifixion proper in verses 32 to 38 in 
Matthew 27, and then the mockery of the crucified one in verses 
39 to 44, adding insult to injury. He's suffering on the cross and 
they're mocking Him. He's suffering on the cross and 
they're taunting Him. He's suffering on the cross and 
they're making sport of the Savior. Again, all of this indicates 
or demonstrates the glory of the Savior on our behalf. In 
the book of Song of Solomon, the bride refers to the bridegroom 
as chief among 10,000 and one who's altogether lovely. And 
certainly these passion narratives illustrate that for us and show 
us that he is chief among 10,000. It shows us that he is altogether 
lovely, that he would do this not for, you know, upright people, 
that he would do this not for friends that were already favorable 
toward him, But the reality is well said by Paul. God demonstrates 
His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, 
Christ died for us. So that Christ does what Christ 
does here for the likes of us, should He vote from us, praise 
and worship and adoration. So they mock Him. But then we 
come to this cry of dereliction. That's what it's typically referred 
to. The fourth saying of the Savior, my God, my God, why have 
you forsaken me? We should notice first, though, 
the darkness over the land according to verse 45. This is a time when 
the sun is shining. It's not supposed to be dark 
from the noon to three. So in verse 45, we read, now 
from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness 
over all the land. Remember, this is equivalent 
to what we see elsewhere the time of the preparation for the 
Passover. It was the time for the slaying 
of the offerings of the daily sacrifice. The time of the official 
slaughter of the Passover lambs began. This wasn't haphazard. It wasn't a lucky accident. It 
was ordained by God. The Apostle Paul tells us in 
1 Corinthians 5-7 that Jesus is our Passover. He is our Passover 
sacrifice for us and for our salvation. And when we see this 
particular darkness, it jives with what Christ had said in 
the Gospel of Luke. He 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. Darkness oftentimes 
in the scriptures has sort of an ethical appeal. It's rather 
a time of negativity, a time of distress. In fact, Spurgeon 
makes the observation concerning this darkness from noon to three 
on this Good Friday. He says, this darkness was supernatural. It was not an eclipse. It wasn't 
some, you know, out of the ordinary phenomena. It was supernatural. 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. Manton makes a similar observation, 
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's not just a report as 
to what was, but it does sort of bring together theologically 
what's happening in terms of God's redemptive plan. Darkness 
is often associated with the judgment of God. It's often associated 
with the wrath and fury of God. In fact, one specimen passage 
you can turn to the book of Amos, the Old Testament prophet Amos. 
You've got the twelve minor prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, 
Micah, just to sort of locate it for you. Amos chapter 5. Passage I've always found very 
intriguing, not only for this light-dark contrast, but for 
the way that the prophet envisages or shows forth the very day of 
God's wrath and curse. Notice in 518, woe to you who 
desire the day of the Lord, for what good is the day of the Lord 
to you? It will be darkness and not light. Again, that's a negative connotation. 
They're longing for the judgment or for the day of the Lord. What 
the prophet is saying is you shouldn't really long for the 
day of the Lord because it's going to be a day of darkness 
for you. It's going to be a day of judgment for you. You're not 
living the way you're supposed to be in terms of covenantal 
obligation. Then notice in verse 19, it will be as though a man 
fled from a lion and a bear met him. Or as though he went into 
the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 
Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light? Is it not very 
dark with no brightness in it? The prophet declares that there's 
no escape from the wrath and fury and judgment and curse of 
God. If you're not a believer here this morning, you need to 
internalize that reality. Look at what he says. It will 
be, verse 19, as though a man fled from a lion. Imagine that 
sort of unfortunate occasion. You're out in the woods, you're 
out in the forest, and you meet a lion. What do you do when you 
meet a lion? You run. If you have an ounce 
of brain power in your head, you run. Better you shoot him 
if you have a gun, but because we're in Canada, we can't shoot 
guns out in the forest, bad things. So you run from the lion and 
you come around a corner and there you meet a bear. I don't 
know what's worse at this point. I don't know who I'd rather take 
my chances with." And then he goes on to say, or as though 
he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall. You successfully 
evade the lion, you successfully evade the bear, you get into 
the confines of your own house and you lean your hand on the 
wall and a viper bites you. The prophet says there is no 
escape from the wrath and judgment of God. Save the wrath and judgment 
of God spent on the Son of God as he's crucified on Calvary's 
cross. So back to our text, the reality 
that there was darkness over all the land isn't just Matthew 
saying Wow, this was an interesting phenomena that happened to occur. 
It is the satisfaction of divine justice going on on that cross 
by the Son of God with reference to His Father. That brings us 
then to the cry from the cross In verse 46, the words of Christ, 
he speaks in Aramaic or Hebrew, he says, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, 
and then it's translated for us by Matthew, my God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me? Why given in the original? Well, 
because it helps us to explain why there was some question concerning 
the calling upon of Elijah. Notice in verse 47, some of those 
who stood there when they heard that said, this man is calling 
for Elijah. We wouldn't understand that if 
we didn't first get the Aramaic. We wouldn't understand that discrepancy 
if we didn't first get what Jesus said in his native tongue, but 
then it's translated by Matthew for us. And it is interesting 
that when the crucified one finally speaks on the cross, he is speaking 
to his father specifically. Not that he hasn't spoken a word 
to others, forgive them for they know not what they do. He promises 
to that thief that you will be with me today in paradise. He 
speaks to his mother, he speaks to his beloved disciple, he speaks 
to the father and here specifically he says words that I think have 
been the cause of great confusion on the part of many in the life 
of the church. We're going to do some theology. 
One of the things that we have seen as we move through John's 
Gospel is that the Trinity is not an artificial doctrine imposed 
upon the text of Scripture. The Trinity is who God is. The 
Trinity is who God is. In this divine and infinite being, 
singular, one essence, one substance, one being, there are three persons 
or subsistences, the Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy 
Spirit, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence 
undivided. How are they distinguished? It 
is through the relative properties. The Father is unbegotten, the 
Son is begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from 
the Father and the Son. That's how we distinguish the persons 
of the triune God. Again, this isn't imposed on 
Scripture. John does this in the prologue. 
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the 
Word was God. So in the beginning was the Word. 
He's co-eternal with the Father. The Word was with God. He's distinct 
from the Father. And the Word was God. He's consubstantial 
with the Father. And that Word identified in John 
1, 1 is further described in John 1, 14, the Word became flesh 
and dwelt among us. So that word never stopped being 
the word, all the while assuming our humanity. So when we come 
to this particular situation, we need to understand first what 
these words do not mean. What these words do not mean. 
So when Jesus says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 
In the first instance, the cry of Jesus does not indicate any 
division among the persons in the Trinity. any division at 
some sort of a being level or ontological or metaphysical level. 
There is no distinction in terms of the being of God with reference 
to this cry. It's not that something has happened 
to give irreparable damage to the triune God. One commentator, 
a very good commentator, a very good man, a very godly man, and 
a man who's very skilled in the text of scripture, isn't so skilled 
with reference to theology proper. He says, if we ask in what ontological 
sense, ontological has to do with being, just being, the doctrine 
of being, metaphysics or ontology, you have an oncologist, those 
doctors are about the state of being. So notice, 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 wrong. We are told throughout scripture 
in this divine and infinite being there are three persons, the 
Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy Spirit, each having 
the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. There's 
no division amongst the persons of the Trinity. That cannot be. 
God cannot deny himself. He can't start being something 
he hasn't always been. And so this is wrong. Secondly, 
the cry of Jesus does not indicate a dissolution of the hypostatic 
union. Dissolution means to bring disrepair, 
to bring a breach, to bring some sort of break to the hypostatic 
union. The hypostatic union is that 
there's one person of Christ with two natures. The Word became 
flesh, never stopping being the Word, but assuming flesh to himself, 
such that he is truly divine and truly human. There's no dissolution. There's no breach there. There's 
no separation at the level of the hypostatic union of our Savior. John Gill 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 dissolved. The fullness of the Godhead still 
dwelt bodily in Him. It is impossible that there was 
a breach of the hypostatic union. And then third, the cry of Jesus 
does not indicate that the three persons of the Trinity suffered 
on the cross. Now, I think that comes out in 
popular songs. It comes out in popular sentimentality. We sometimes pray, unfortunately, 
not theologically correctly, Father, thank you for dying on 
the cross. The Father didn't die on the 
cross. The word according to his humanity died on the cross. And we need to be correct, and 
we need to be accurate, and we need to understand. One of the 
early heresies in the early church was patrapassianism, which taught 
that the father died on the cross. Well, you'd think that that was 
gone and buried, but a recent man, a recent theologian makes 
this observation concerning the cross and the trinity. The three 
then are at Calvary suffering not only from the sin of the 
world, but suffering for it. The son's passion cannot be external 
to the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are in it as they embrace 
and include the son. The pain of the cross is the 
pain of the triune God. Again, that sounds emotionally 
appealing, but it's inaccurate. It's not good theology. The Son, 
the Word, according to His humanity, was crucified on the cross. That 
doesn't mean that the Father and the Spirit were not interested 
in or connected to. Every work outside of God is 
done by the three persons. but the passion, the incarnation, 
terminate on the Son of God. So what we have here is not a 
breach in the Trinity. What we have here is not a breach 
in the union of the divine and human natures in the Son. And 
what we have here is not the three persons, Father, Son, and 
Spirit, suffering on the cross for the sins of His people. No, 
it's the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Word became flesh, 
according to his humanity, suffering on the cross for our sins. I 
would suggest, secondly, we're looking at what it doesn't mean. 
Secondly, we need to appreciate the psalm from whence the quote 
comes. If you look at your Bible, my 
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? If you're using a modern, 
when you're all using a modern translation, it's probably italicized, 
which indicates it's an Old Testament quotation. It's Psalm 22. And 
scholars have wondered, commentators have wondered, is David writing 
about David and his experience in Psalm 22? No, he's not. David 
is writing about his greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
torture, the abuse, the impact of persecution and suffering 
upon the person in Psalm 22 far exceeds anything that David ever 
experience. Now, David didn't have a life 
of, you know, health, wealth, and prosperity. He wasn't. I 
just saw a little clip of that Kenneth Copeland guy, you know, 
the world's most, you know, the richest pastor. Could you imagine 
a worse thing to be known for? The richest pastor in the world. that that would be miserable. 
What should you want to be known for as a pastor? Faithful to 
the Word of God? Faithful to the God of the Word? 
Faithful to the congregation? The richest pastor It's a horrible, 
atrocious, wicked thing to sort of be known for, but back to 
our text and back to our understanding here, David had his challenges. He was hated by Saul. He was 
hated by Philistines. He had to flee often, but everything 
that he suffered was not what he's writing about in Psalm 22. 
Psalm 22, the psalmist petitions for God's intervention based 
on God's past faithfulness, verses one to 10. The psalmist petitions 
for God's intervention based on his present calamity, in verses 
11 to 21a. And then the latter half of the 
psalm takes up exaltation. and glory and blessedness on 
the heels of the cross, the suffering comes the resurrection and the 
exaltation. Psalm 22 is about the Lord Jesus. So Jesus takes Psalm 22 and he 
prays it on the cross. And when he says, my God, my 
God, why have you forsaken me? We've already seen what he doesn't 
mean. But what is it that he does mean? 
Because there's some forsakenness going on. There's a popular hymn 
today. It's in our book. I was a bit 
hesitant to sing it because at one stanza it says, the father 
turns his face away. And it's a reflection on this 
cry of dereliction. The father turns his face away. There's a way we can say that 
that's theologically sound, but my concern is that most Christians 
don't say it in a way that's theologically sound. So I just 
choose not to pick that hymn ever. What does it mean? The Father turned His face away. Is there a breach in the Trinity? 
Is there something happening metaphysically or ontologically 
in terms of the triune God? What does it mean that the Father 
forsook the Son? What we know that is turning 
His face away does not mean completely. It cannot mean absolutely. It cannot mean unequivocally 
because Psalm 22 goes on to indicate that the Father, in fact, hears 
the Son. Matthew 28 shows that the Father 
hears the Son. He raises Him from the dead. 
The fact that the cross was always the purpose and plan of God the 
Father. And the fact that the Father 
never wavered in His love for the Son. So whatever that popular 
mentality is that the Father turned his face away from the 
Son, we have to qualify it, we have to nuance it, and we have 
to distinguish it so that we don't end up thinking that there 
was a breach amongst the persons of the Trinity at the cross. 
Because that's not what's happening. Flavel responds to the charge 
that God perhaps loved him less at this time. 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, and 
these next three words are important, as our surety. I would suggest 
that the cry of dereliction, my God, my God, why have you 
forsaken me, has to do with Jesus, according to his humanity, functioning 
as our surety, standing or hung on that cross to receive the 
punishment that was due for our sins. As some older theologians 
have rightly described it, the reality that the Father did not 
deliver the Son from the agony of the cross. Why have you forsaken 
me? It's specifically with reference 
to the agony of the cross. In fact, the rest of Psalm 22.1 
shows that forth. Why are you so far from helping 
me and from the words of my groaning in this present distress? in 
this act of crucifixion, in this act of curse bearing, in this 
act of substitutionary atonement. And I think that this cry of 
dereliction underscores the true humanity of the Savior. Just 
like Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, Father, if it 
is possible, let this cup pass from you. Everybody who understood 
what the cup of God's wrath meant would pray that prayer. Everybody 
who was forsaken of God at the level of God's smiling countenance, 
of God's close communion would know or anybody that's experienced 
that would say, why has thou forsaken me? It underscores the 
true humanity of the Lord and illustrates that what John says 
in John 1.14, the Word became flesh. He didn't become kind 
of like flesh. He didn't just sort of look like 
flesh, but he became flesh. With all the attendant properties 
associated with flesh, he suffered. He agonized, he bled, he ultimately 
dies, he eats, he drinks, he rests. Those things are not predicated 
of divinity. Divinity doesn't suffer, divinity 
doesn't bleed, divinity doesn't eat, divinity doesn't thirst, 
divinity doesn't need rest. These are all predicated upon 
the Son of God according to his humanity. So this cry of dereliction 
is a recognition of that true humanity. With reference to other 
texts in the scripture that show us the same sort of a thing, 
the prophet Isaiah 5310, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has 
put him to grief. And in that instance, as one 
is being put to grief, as one is being bruised, it is typical 
of true humanity to cry out under that distress. As well, what 
we see is the withdrawal of God's nearness and favor. Again, not 
a break in the persons of the Trinity, not a division at the 
level of metaphysics or ontology, but the smile in favor of God. Jesus knew that smile in favor 
of God throughout his earthly ministry. But here, guess what 
was absent? It was the smiling favor of God. This evokes the cry, why hast 
thou forsaken me? Again, listen to some of the 
older brothers as they comment. Matthew Poole says, it must be 
understood with respect to God's consolatory manifestation. In other words, consolation from 
the Father to the Son at this time of great grief. 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. Again, that as our 
surety focuses upon the person of Christ according to his humanity. This wasn't divinity crying out 
against divinity or for divinity. This was Christ according to 
his humanity crying out. Turretin says, 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. 
It's a blessed reality that he says what he says because it 
underscores the reality that he is satisfying divine justice. And all that that entails, the 
removal of the favor of God, the consolation of the favor 
of God at that place, at that time when he's being punished 
for our sins and our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was laid upon him. As the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 
5, God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might 
become the righteousness of God in Him. As that sin is imputed 
to the Savior and as that Savior is being punished, He is bearing 
in His own self the weight of our wretchedness and feeling 
for it the divine justice expressed by God's wrath on the cross. So when he cries, my God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me? It's not that there's a breach, 
it's that in the plan and purpose of the Most High, the Son who 
takes our humanity is going to go through this and he has resolved 
to go through this so that he can save us from our sins and 
bring glory to God Almighty. The reason for this withdrawal 
of the favor and the kindness and the smile of the Father is 
because of substitution. God made Him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us. He took our sin. Hillary says, 
nay, it was we who were forsaken and disregarded so that it was 
as appropriating our personality that He offered these prayers. 
He says, appropriating then our person and ranking himself with 
us, and he used these words, for we are bound in the fetters 
of sin and the curse is faithless and disobedient and therefore 
forsaken. Matthew Henry picks up again 
on this concept of surety. Christ was made sin for us, a 
curse for us, and therefore, though God loved him as a son, 
he frowned upon him as a surety. That's what the text means. That's 
what's being upheld. The true humanity of our Savior 
without any compromise to the true divinity of our Savior in 
that blessed hypostatic union, it evokes from Him in this moment 
of God's wrath and justice and curse for our sins to cry, why 
hast thou forsaken me? Now, in terms of the manifestation 
of this distress in the cry, he knew why this was happening, 
so it wasn't a question properly. It was to affirm the psalmist, 
or psalter, that it was of him, but it was because it was normal 
and ordinary. You know, let me just try to 
bring this to us, because that's all that matters, right? Whenever we go through difficulties, 
or whenever we go through what appears to be some absence from 
the presence of God, we cry, or we should. I don't know that 
you need to fall down on the floor and puddle the floor with 
all that, but we shouldn't be content with any breach between 
us and God. Maintain short accounts. You 
sin, confess, forsake, find mercy, and heal the breach. And that's 
not for justification. That's for the ongoing peace 
that we have with God in sanctification. But if we don't have that sort 
of closeness or nearness of God, we feel it keenly. I know that. My own experience and talking 
to others. How you doing? Well, it just 
seems like I'm going through the motions, but I'm not really 
connecting with God. Well, the fact that you're complaining 
about that's probably a good sign. Pagans don't complain about 
that. Pagans complain if God is near them. Christians complain 
if God isn't. So this whole idea of crying 
out, it's perfectly normal, ordinary behavior for a human being. that enjoys favor and communion 
with the Father and then comes to a fork in the road where that 
favor and communion with the Father is no longer present. 
The cry of the Savior on the cross is as our surety, according 
to his humanity, as the covenant mediator who's taking in himself 
the justice and the damnation and the wrath and the fury and 
the curse that is ours. We should expect this cry of 
dereliction from one who knew the nearness of God as his good 
and then in this sense did not feel that nearness. And as well, 
the fact that he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 
me? I think it tips the scale in that favor as well. He's speaking, 
again, as the surety, as the mediator of the new covenant. 
In his authorized role as the representative, as the priest, 
the high priest on the cross, he says, my God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me? He's speaking on our behalf to 
the Father with reference to this whole situation. Matthew 
Henry again says that our Lord Jesus, even when he was thus 
forsaken of his father, kept hold of him as his God notwithstanding. It's another observation. If 
the father turned his face away to have nothing to do with him 
at all, Jesus didn't get the memo because Jesus is still laying 
hold of him. In fact, Psalm 22 evidences this 
constant dependence upon the God who's overall that is happening 
to the suffering servant. There's no breach in the Trinity. 
There's no dissolution in the hypostatic union. There's no 
stopping in terms of who Jesus is and what he's accomplishing 
for us men and for our salvation. The cry of dereliction evidences 
his true humanity as he suffers the wrath and fury of God for 
us and our salvation. It's a beautiful and a blessed 
and a wonderful statement that I hope will encourage us as we 
consider our blessed Savior on our behalf. Well, before we leave, 
I think it is important for us just to remind ourselves with 
reference to what man is really like. What man is really like? We've seen that in John's gospel. 
We know that Judas was the betrayer. We know that the Sanhedrin was 
complicit and evil. They spat upon Jesus. They buffeted 
Jesus. They turned Jesus over to Pilate. 
We know that Pilate thrice confesses that I find no fault in him. 
Three times he makes this declaration. You don't have the right, Pilate, 
to just execute innocent people in the Roman Empire. That's simply 
not acceptable. So what do the Jews do? They 
exercise political blackmail. If you don't do what we say, 
then you're no friend of Caesar's. So what does he do? He does what 
they say so that he can't be accused of not being a friend 
of Caesar's. So there's just a lot of baseness and a lot of 
depravity and a lot of wickedness going on at the foot of the cross. Well, if you turn back with me 
to Psalm 22, it's described there in vivid detail. And as I mentioned in our studies 
in the passion. The gospel writers don't get 
into a long, detailed explanation of the physical torture that 
the Lord underwent. It's there, you know, just to 
understand what crucifixion is and to define that. We get a 
hint at what happened in terms of the physical torture of Jesus, 
but they don't celebrate it. There's no stations of the cross 
in the gospels. There's no waving of incense 
as we, you know, ponder when Jesus fell or any of those sorts 
of things. But where we find the most description 
of the physical torture of the Son of God on the cross is Psalm 
22. I'm always amazed when people 
balk at psalm singing in the church. Jesus isn't in the psalms. 
Jesus is the subject, the object, the author, the content of every 
psalm. It's all about Jesus. And Psalm 22 is certainly no 
exception to that. So notice how he describes the 
various persons at the foot of the cross. Verse 12, many bulls 
have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me, 
they gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water and 
all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted 
within me. This is the language of crucifixion. My strength is dried up like 
a pot shirt and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought 
me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me. 
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced 
my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They 
look and stare at me. They divide my garments among 
them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do 
not be far from me. O my strength, hasten to help 
me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power 
of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth 
and from the horns of the wild oxen. The way that he's describing 
these sinners, he's using beastly language, he's calling them bulls, 
he's calling them dogs, he's calling them lions, he's calling 
them oxen. He is saying and telling us that 
the depravity of man is such that even animals don't act as 
bad as they do. But then notice in verse 21b, 
you have answered me. This idea that the father turned 
away from the son and there was some breach, the father answers 
his prayer. He gives up his spirit. He's 
resurrected from the dead. He's ascended on high. He's exalted 
at the right hand of the most high. The father answers his 
prayer. The father gives him all blessing 
and the father conveys upon him universal empire. So what we 
have in the narrative concerning the cross is not only the glory 
of the Son of God, but it's also the wretchedness of the sons 
of men. Yes, the Jews were wretched. Yes, Pontius Pilate was wretched. Yes, Judas was wretched. You 
know, there is a sense, and I'm not one of those guys that does 
this, even though I'm about to do it, but Paul summarizes the 
Gospel in Romans 4, 25. He says that Jesus was delivered 
up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. 
Yeah, we're not Judas, brethren, thankfully. We're not that Sanhedrin, 
thankfully. We're not that Pontius Pilate 
gutless wonder that condemns a guiltless man. And we're not 
that mob of the multitudes at the city of Jerusalem, away with 
him, away with him, crucify him. We're not there asking for Barabbas' 
release instead of Jesus. But there is a sense where he 
was delivered up because of our offenses. And he was raised for 
our justification. We need to own our part in it. 
We need to understand that God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten son. And that love is not seen in 
the goodness of the world. I would argue it's seen in the 
badness of it. God so loved the world. Wouldn't 
be an incredible statement if the world was altogether lovely, 
but that God so loved the world, this world, this world, The world 
that you and I traverse, the world that you and I pollute, 
the world that you and I live in while we transgress God's 
law, where we lack conformity unto it, where we raise our fists 
at the Most High and as Christ, that He so loved that world that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that's amazing. Let us never 
forget that though there are, you know, degrees of sin, in 
fact, Jesus says this to Pilate, the ones who delivered me up 
have the greater guilt. That means Pilate had some guilt. 
If we don't have the greatest of the guilt in the crucifixion 
of the Son, we cannot conclude for a moment that we had no guilt. 
because he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised 
for our justification. I would suggest at the foot of 
the cross with reference to this fourth saying, secondly, we learn 
something of the wrath of God. The darkness and the suffering 
of the Savior underscores the wrath of God. He doesn't cry 
out when they pierce his hands with nails. He doesn't cry out 
when they pierce his head with thorns. I'm not suggesting he 
didn't cry. I don't know. I can't imagine 
feeling that degree of pain and not making some sound. Again, 
true humanity. But what is recorded for us? 
What is it on the cross that evokes this cry? It's not why 
has man forsaken me? He expected that, he knew that, 
he came to his own, his own received him not. He understood opposition 
all too well from his fellows in this arena, but it's why has 
thou forsaken me? In the history of theology, theologians 
make a twofold distinction when it comes to hell. They say there's 
a punishment of sense, sense, S-E-N-S-E, things that we feel. You can see that in the New Testament. 
You see that consciousness, that everlasting torment, there is 
a punishment of sense. But the other side is the punishment 
of loss. And what do they mean by the 
punishment of loss? It means that there is the deprivation 
of all goodness from God. It's not that there is no God 
in hell. God keeps hell helling. God is responsible for the everlasting 
punishment of unbelievers. But in this world, the worst 
sinner gets good things, don't they? They do. If the worst sinner today goes 
to a good restaurant, he can have a nice steak. If the worst 
sinner today finds a garden hose and takes a drink of water, he's 
benefiting from the goodness of God. One of the things we've 
mused on as we've gotten older is that every kid today has their 
own water bottle, always close by. We play out for hours, and 
if you had a chance, you'd get the hose and you'd take a little 
quick swing. That's a mercy, goodness. The 
worst sinner on the face of the earth is not deprived from all 
the goodness of God. God's goodness is everywhere. 
The fact that there's a sun, the fact that there's rain, the 
fact that there's seasons, the fact that there's food, the fact 
that there's drink. What's that punishment of loss? 
Hell is the deprivation of all the goodness of God. Oh God and 
His justice and His wrath and His fury towards sin and sinners, 
but all of His goodness. It's that punishment of loss 
that Jesus cries out about. Why hast thou forsaken me? Make no mistake, He's suffering 
hell on the cross. I think that's why He says, I 
thirst. He is suffering hell on the cross 
for us men and for our salvation. But what evokes the cry is that 
punishment of loss. John Flavel makes this observation, 
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. He cried that cry 
in his punishment of loss so that we, by grace, believing 
in him, will never have to. There's every reason in the world 
why God should forsake us. But the one counter reason is 
the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord. And if you are not a believer, 
I want to encourage you to believe, to look to him in faith, to understand 
that you are a sinner, God is holy, there is a judgment day 
coming, there is an everlasting hell for the devil, for his angels, 
and for those who know not God and have not obeyed the gospel. 
The way of salvation is clear. The way of salvation is simple. The way of salvation is by God's 
grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is to sing what 
we sing sometimes. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply 
to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash 
me, Savior, or I die. And when Paul says he was delivered 
up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification, 
Paul means it. So believe on Him and you will 
be saved. our encouragement for our edification. We praise you that he cried this 
cry, and we will never have to as a result. We bless you for 
the gospel of our salvation. We bless you that there is forgiveness 
with you that you may be feared. We bless you that you have given 
us a righteousness by which we are accepted in the beloved. 
And we praise you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.