Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Matthew 27:45-46 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?"
ONLY JESUS WOULD TAKE OUR PLACE IN HELL
It happened to me at a Woolworth store. I was shopping with my parents, when I turned and found my parents gone. My fear grew into a grade two panic, until I had convinced myself I had been abandoned, left behind by my parents who were surely driving home at that very moment. I did what any child would do: I sat down and started crying. Whether it's happened to you or not, the prospect of being left behind, of being abandoned is a frightening one. It's not only a terrifying thought for children, but also for parents, who have heard terrible stories of children being carried off and never seen again.
It wasn't the darkness covering the land from the sixth to the ninth hour that caused Jesus' terrible loneliness. It was the terrible weight of our sin and the sins of the whole world upon Him. It was the darkness of our deep sin-guilt that hung over Him like a cloud of anguish. Would you be willing to be abandoned by God, to endure such complete anguish and suffering? Would you be willing to take the place of someone else in hell?
Only Jesus would, only Jesus could, take your place and my place in hell. He was abandoned there on Calvary so that you and I might never be left alone with our sins. He suffered the consequence of hell so that we would never have to. Now even in your deepest darkest hour, in your moments of deepest despair, know this, that you are NOT alone. Jesus didn't only suffer hell for you and die, He also rose again from the dead the third day. Yes, like the rising sun, Christ the Son of God rose from the darkness of sin and death to keep His promises to you, to stand by you every day and finally to receive you to Himself in heaven.
Only Jesus would be willingly abandoned for our sakes. Only Jesus--would take our place in hell.
