Monday, February 26, 2007
Mark 15:33-34 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" -- which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
PORTRAIT OF OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR (PAINTED BY NUMBERS): SIX TORTUROUS HOURS
Today we color in the last number, six (for the six hours Jesus suffered on Calvary). We dip our paint brush into liberal amounts of black.
The time when Pilate's soldiers carried out the crucifixion order was 9:00 a.m. At 12:00 noon an eerie darkness settles over the earth. God causes the sun He created to stop shining. This supernatural mid-day darkness continues till 3:00 p.m.
What message is God conveying? It's a "visual aid" to the world that His Son is enduring the dark horrors of hell. His Son is enduring the punishment guilty sinners justly deserve.
The Psalmist describes the hellish woe Jesus experienced amid the darkness like this: "My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me? Why are You so far away from helping Me, so far away from the words of My groaning? I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like pieces of broken pottery. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay Me down in the dust of death. A mob has encircled Me. They have pierced My hands and feet" (Psalm 22). The Father -- for sinners' sake -- treats His Son as if He were a worthless worm. He ignores Jesus' cries for help and lets them die away unanswered. He utterly forsakes Him. This is hell!
We can't comprehend the depths of agony Jesus endured for us when deserted by His Father during those hours. This much we comprehend (it is the central doctrine of our faith and joy of our hearts): Because the Savior was forsaken by God as our Substitute, the heavenly Father's way of looking at us has been drastically changed. He has become for us a God of mercy and loving Father instead of a God of wrath and stern judge. Through faith in the Crucified we have become His beloved children whom He will never abandon.
