Today we’re going to pick up from where we left off yesterday in the last seven words (sayings) of Jesus Christ. Just like yesterday, we’re going to take a look two of the final sayings of Jesus Christ from the cross. I didn’t say this yesterday, but I do hope that you will share this with others as well! I look to bring us all together through the gospel of Christ so that we can all grow together spiritually.
The third saying of Christ:
When Jesus
John 19:26-27 NKJVtherefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
What is love?
You may recall that I mentioned how I had the opportunity to speak at two seven last words services in recent years. In those opportunities, this word was the first one I ever had to speak on publicly! I will always hold this saying close.
Alright, so in the first two sayings, we saw Jesus praying for forgiveness and then forgiving the criminal. I want you to recall that I mentioned how love and forgiveness go hand in hand. God is love and He is always in the loving mood. The greatest gift is love, that’s what the apostle Paul said, and I certainly believe he was right when he said that.
Paul said (1 Corinthians 13:4-5), “Love suffers long (endures) and is kind. Love is not ‘puffed up’. Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Again, I say to you, we need to understand what love really is and this is it – God’s love.
God gave the world His only begotten Son out of His love for mankind. Jesus walked in this kind of love, taught in this kind of love, and lived in this kind of love. He could see those that followed Him as He hung there on the cross. Jesus saw His mother (remember He was born a virgin’s birth), and we also see that the disciple, John, was also there at the cross. From the cross, we see that Jesus was not concerned for Himself but concerned for those He considers His.
God’s love is a suffering love, and Jesus was literally suffering on the cross but still showed the love that drives the Lord. Again, Jesus clearly shows that He lived what He preached while hanging on the cross. I want to again point out that you should not ever be in pain when you are in love or showing love towards others. The Christian’s love is an enduring kind of love
Forsaken by God?
In His next saying, we see the more human side of Jesus come to the forefront. As I just mentioned, Jesus was born of a virgin but He did not come from the seed of a man. God gave His arm; He placed a piece of Himself into Mary and Christ was born into this world. Here is what Christ said in His fourth saying from the cross:
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama
Mark 15:34 NKJVsabachthani ?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
You can also find this saying in Matthew 27:46. So, what’s going on here? We see Jesus suddenly shouting out to God, “why have You forsaken Me?” I find this scripture to be one of the more controversial scriptures for those who do not understand the Godhead.
Those that are confused about the Godhead often use this scripture when they question Christ being God. They have asked me, “How can Jesus be God but cry out to God on the cross?” We sing a hymn in our worship service titled “Holy, Holy, Holy” – I’m sure you have probably sung this song at some point in your life if you have attended a church worship service. In it, we sing, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”
God in three persons means the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost). All three parts of the Lord are equal, active, but each person plays a different role. The Father dwells in heaven and called forth His creation. The Spirit has always been present and moving in the world; He currently serves in the role as Comforter (Helper) and dwells in all believers. The Son is Christ (the Messiah in Hebrew) and served the purpose of being mankind’s propitiation, and now sits at the right hand of God (the Father) in Heaven.
Hopefully, that clears up the Holy Trinity, if not, be sure to ask questions in the comments below. What we see in this scripture is two-fold and one is a bit more obvious than the other. Firstly, and more obvious, is that we see the Son crying out to His Father (Jesus cries out to God). The question that I feel we should ask is, why? Why is Jesus crying out that the Lord has forsaken Him?
I talked about this in a recent Bible study that you may want to read. While on the cross, Jesus was hanging as the sacrifice for all of mankind’s sin. In these moments, our sins, the whole world’s sins, were being transferred to Jesus. Jesus was becoming sin! Jesus was becoming exactly what His Father could not stand.
One day God is going to punish sin by casting it and it’s practitioners into outer darkness – that is to say away from His presence for eternity. This casting away is known as the second death and that is the spiritual death that awaits all of those who blasphemed the Spirit. Blaspheming the Spirit is the one sin that the Lord will not forgive (Luke 12:10). There is one sin that Christ could not atone for and did not die for – blaspheming the Spirit. All other sins were being placed on Christ, the Father could not endure the iniquity, and the Son began to witness the feeling of being cast away from the Lord.
Forsake: to abandon (to leave). The Lord turned from Christ because Jesus had become sin (impure). Jesus suffered the Lord’s wrath on the cross in becoming our propitiation of sin. The torments of hell are going to be so great because the Lord will not be present in that place of outer darkness. I believe Christ was in torments on the cross physically, mentally, and spiritually; it was so great that He cried out to His Father, “why have You forsaken Me.” For the first time ever, the Son was without His Father and it tormented Him dearly. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to know that feeling whatsoever!
Alright, let’s stop right there! Again, I hope that you will share this with others and I hope that you’re enjoying these seven last words of Jesus Christ. Tomorrow is Good Friday, and we will take a look at the three final sayings of Jesus Christ! See you tomorrow!