Okay, now Mark chapter 15. The title of this message may
seem what? Strange. The title of the message,
I'm calling this, God Forsaking God. How can that be? Notice what the Lord Jesus Christ
declares in verse 34, My God, My God, why? Has thou forsaken me?" God forsaking
God. How can this be? As we behold
the Lord Jesus Christ dying for the sin of His covenant people, my heart breaks with grief that
my sin caused Him to suffer like no other man. I wish that really had an effect
upon us. Like it ought to. Like it should. I'm reminded of the words penned
by the prophet of God, Jeremiah, Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? I believe we can hear the Lord
Jesus Christ saying these words from the cross. Is it nothing
to you, all ye that pass by? Christ crucified. Is it nothing
to you? O ye that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow that is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath
afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger." Christ crucified. What is that to you? What is
that to me? This sight we have before us
here as the Lord Jesus Christ dies for us was so horrible to
look upon that God caused total darkness to descend upon the
land. At high noon, He blotted out
the sun." Now, there's a lot just in that statement, and we'll
come back probably next week and look at that. But here we
see the total accumulation of all the sins of God's elect made
to meet together on Him all the sin of all God's people of all
ages They come together and the Lord lays them on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that sin and the darkness
of that sin is so great that the sun is blotted out. Now you think about that. You
know, that's exactly what the prophet of God Amos said that
would happen hundreds of years before. In Amos chapter 8 verse
9, these words are recorded, "...and it shall come to pass
in that day Sayeth the Lord that I will cause the sun to go down
at noon. It happened, didn't it? Blotted out the sun. I will darken
the earth in a clear day at high noon. It was darkness over the
land. Now as you look carefully at
verse 34, when this happened, the Lord Jesus cries before He
gives His life. He cries out, My God, My God. Why has thou forsaken Me?" You
know, we can find that saying way over in Psalm 22. Psalm 22
is the psalm of the cross. We'll be studying that as we
work our way through the psalms, and we'll come to Psalm 22 and
talk about those sayings. This cry of the Lord Jesus Christ,
it was not a cry of ignorance. Nor was it the cry of a mere
helpless man. This is the cry of God Almighty. This is the cry of the God-man.
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully aware of what is taking place
and the reality of what is happening. The reality of what is taking
place. The reality of what is being
accomplished as He hangs there stripped naked before God and
men. the salvation of His people being
accomplished, the Scripture being fulfilled, the holy justice of
God being satisfied. For it is recorded in Isaiah
53, He shall see of the prevail of His soul and shall be satisfied. His righteous servant shall justify
many, for He shall bear their sin. What an amazing love! What an amazing sight! And what
an amazing love the Savior does have for His people as He hangs
with our sin, being cursed of God. Hearing His love, not that
we love God, but that He loved us and He sent His Son to be
the sacrifice for my sin. And he cries, my God, my God,
why has thou forsaken me? God forsaking God? How can that
be? I don't claim to understand it.
Preach it, I do. Explain it, I cannot. Believe
it, I do. Understand it? No man can understand
that. I can identify with Martin Luther
as he meditated upon this verse for hours. For hours. And he made this statement, God
forsaking God, no man can understand that. I can understand something
of the why, and we'll talk about that in a few minutes, but the
how, how can this be? And yet it is so, for He died
not just as a mere man, He is God manifest in the flesh. Now, we'll come back in a few
moments and look at this statement of the Lord here, but I want
to look at these other six statements the Lord makes from the cross
in His hour of triumphant glory over sin, over death, over the
devil, over hell, and what these things teach us about the gospel
of Jesus Christ, His person and His work. Now, I want to begin,
turn to Luke chapter 23. We had these verses last week. in Luke 23. In Luke 23, in verse
33, they would come to the place which is called Calvary, and
there they crucified Him with the two malefactors, or these
evildoers, these two thieves, the one on the right hand and
the other on the left. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in
verse 34, it's recorded, of Luke 23, said, Forgive them, for they know not
what they do." Father, forgive them. What do these words reveal to
us about the gospel of our blessed Savior? Father, forgive them.
Well, I think it teaches us a lot. It teaches us that the Lord Jesus
Christ is our needful mediator. We need the Lord Jesus Christ
to stand for us before God as our advocate, as our intercessor,
as our mediator. I dare not come before God in
the merit and strength of myself. I see my need of someone to pray
for me. Father, forgive old Tom. He's an ignorant fool. Have mercy on him for my sake. You see the need of the Advocate,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He prays, Father, forgive them.
He prays for His covenant people. Forgive them. Forgive them. I know this, those for whom He
prays, they will be saved. Father, forgive them. He prays
for His elect. He prays for His enemies. He
prays for those and for the salvation of His
covenant people. When we were yet enemies in our
mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled us by the blood
of His cross. He intercedes for us. He is our
mediator. Those for whom He prays, they
must be saved. No wonder there were so many
conversions When Peter preached just a few days, a few weeks
later at Pentecost, no wonder so many were converted. When
Peter preached, 3,000 souls were added to the body of Christ.
You know why? The Lord said, Father, forgive
them. And they were. And He had mercy
on him. You see, my friend, we must have
a mediator to pray for us. We must have a mediator before
the holy throne of God to represent us. A mediator appointed of God. A mediator that has a perfect
argument before the justice of God's throne. What's his argument? To forgive us. Father, my blood
was shed to put away their sin. His blood in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sin, through His blood according to the riches
of His grace. Father, forgive them. The only
Mediator that's ever given for us to save us is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He prays for us. There is one
God and one Mediator between God and men. That is the God-Man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, the life. No man comes unto the Father
but by the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the door.
He is the way. He is truth. He is life. He's
the only intercessor. Christ Himself. He's able to
save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He
ever lives to intercede for us. He's the only Mediator. He's
the only intercessor. He prays for His people. He intercedes
for His people. He's the only advocate we have
before God. He is our High Priest who paid
our sin debt. Therefore, He says, come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Seeing we have a great High Priest,
you see, I need Him to pray for me. I need Him to be my Mediator. I dare not come in my own flesh,
in my own righteousness, in my own strength, I must have a Mediator. That's what that teaches us.
Now, the second saying is this, and there are seven of those
sayings. The second one is found also in Luke 23. And I don't
know that they're in any particular order, but I'll go through these
as we come to them. In Luke 23, verse 39, we see
the Lord Jesus Christ Crucify between two thieves.
Do you see that? We talked about this last week. Verse 39, and one of the thieves
said, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. Verse 40,
the other answering rebuked him, thus saying, Dost not thou fear
God, seeing that we are in the same condemnation? And we indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. This man
hath done nothing amiss. And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember
me when You come into Your kingdom. And the Lord said to him, verse
43, truly, truly I say to you, today you'll be with me in glory. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ.
What do you see here? He's King in salvation, isn't
He? He's King in salvation. Now, we brought a message on
this last week, so I'm not going to say too much about it at this
time. You can get a copy of that message
out there on the table out front. But we do see the Lord Jesus
Christ exercising His authority, giving salvation to whom He will.
One sinner is left to perish in his own sin, while the other
is taken to glory by His sovereign grace and sovereign mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ is no weak,
defeated, Frustrated, impotent Savior, even in the hour of His,
what we might say, in the flesh, His flesh being totally beaten
down, yet as God, who can forgive sin but God only? God in Christ
pardoned that wretched sinner and took him home to glory, having
put away his sin. He has all power. as the King
in salvation. He's King in creation, King in
providence, and He's King in salvation. He said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. Today you'll be with Me in glory.
These are the words of God our Savior, Christ our King. Aren't you glad He's King? Aren't
you glad He has all power to save to the uttermost? Now here's
the third one. Turn to John 19. We'll come back
to Luke. 23 in a moment, but now turn
to John 19. Here's the third saying, John
19, verse 25. There stood by the cross of Jesus
his mother. Now we know his mother's name
was Mary, but she had a sister-in-law also named Mary, the wife of
Cleophas, and then Mary Magdalene. So the three Marys here. When
Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by
whom he loved, And we know that to be John. He said unto his
mother, Woman. Now notice he doesn't address
her as mother here. He says, Woman, behold thy son. Then he said to the disciples,
said to John, Now John, she's your mother now. You take care
of her. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home and John cared for Mary. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ
as the righteous servant of God. We see the Lord Jesus Christ
as the obedient Son, honoring the very law of God. God speaks
from heaven and said, this is my beloved Son whom I am well
pleased. The Lord Jesus Christ will magnify
the law and make it honorable. Our Lord in His last moment upon
this earth in the flesh is concerned about the woman who gave Him
birth. He's concerned about her future,
about her welfare. Now evidently, either Joseph
was dead or no longer able to take care of Mary, so the Lord
instructs the apostle John to take her in. And in doing so,
he is honoring his own law. That's what he's doing. You remember
what the law of God says about our parents? Honor thy father
and thy mother. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ is doing. He's honoring the law of God
by providing, we see Him providing for His mother. He was born of
a woman, was subject under His own law, and honored it for us. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem us who were under the law. You see, even in His
death, He is honoring the law of God for us. What can we learn
here? We see the Lord providing for
His own people. Caring for His own. Loving His
own even in death. He loved us. Gave Himself for
us. We see Him also working out for
us a perfect righteousness that He freely imputes unto His people. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputes righteousness without works. The Lord Jesus
Christ honored God's law in every precept of that law. Now, we
think about ten commandments, don't we? But you know, there
were over 800 precepts of that law. And the Lord Jesus Christ,
every jot, every till of that law, He magnified and worked
out for us a perfect, justifying righteousness and then freely
gives that unto us. Woman, behold Thy Son, and He
provides for her." Now something else we see here in John 19.
Look down to verse 30. Or rather, verse 28. John 19
verse 28, After this Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, He said, I thirst. Now this is recorded in Psalm
69 verse 21. He said, I thirst. Now there
was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled the sponge with
vinegar and put it on a hyssop and put it to his mouth. And
when he received the vinegar, he said, it's finished. It's
done. He said, fourthly, here's the
fourth statement. He said, I thirst. I thirst. What do you see in that statement?
We see our Savior as a real man. As God, He created all things. He created the oceans. He created
the water. He created all things by the
Word of His power. But here we see Him as the real
man dying of thirst. And He said, Behold, I thirst.
Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ suffering like no other. Suffering
for our sin. Suffering like no other as He
bears the full weight of our sin and the full fury of God's
wrath being laid upon Him. And the sword of God's justice
bringing about His execution and death for our sin. You remember
that scripture from Zechariah? Arise, O sword! Smite the shepherd. That's what's happening here.
We see the Lord Jesus Christ as the God-man mediator, suffering
like no other, and He's bearing the hell of God's wrath, and
He cries out, I thirst! A man of sorrow and grief. Sin brings with it,
you know what it brings? Suffering. Suffering. He is called
in Scripture the man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. He took
on Him, not the nature of angels, but He took on Himself our humanity
to die for our sin. He was tempted and tried in all
points like as we are, yet without sin. He suffered thirst like
no other so that we might drink of the well of everlasting life. Remember John chapter 4, verse
13 and 14, when the Lord sits down on Jacob's well, being wearied
in body, and He asks that woman there for a drink of water? And
He says to her, Whosoever drinketh of this water,
that natural water, shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. but the
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life." You remember what the woman said?
Give me that water. I say, Lord, give me that water.
You see, he suffered so for my sin, thirsting so, suffering,
that we might drink of the water of life freely. Freely by His
grace. And then in John 19 verse 30, When the Lord had received the
vinegar, He said, it's finished. It's complete. It's over. It's done. Mission accomplished. He bowed His head and He yielded
up His Spirit. It's finished. Here we see Christ
the victorious one. He's not dying defeated. He's
dying in victory. Christ the victorious one. He's
not merely saying that His earthly ministry is over, although that's
true. That His life in the flesh is through. There's much more
here. You remember His first recorded
words when He was just a young lad when He was in the temple?
And his parents couldn't find him. And they went back and found
him. And they said, don't you know
that I must be about my father's business? And then his last words
recorded here are, finished. Finished. Turn back just a few
pages to John 17. John 17. It's finished. It's
finished. I must be about my father's business. In John 17. Verse 2, Thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as Thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. Now look at verse 4. I have glorified Thee on the
earth. I have finished the work You gave me to do. Oh, that's
the good news. The work wasn't started. It's
finished. It's finished. It's done. It's
done. He can truly say, mission accomplished. Mission accomplished. What was
accomplished? The whole will of God in regard
to our redemption is complete. He said, I came to do Thy will,
O God. The whole of His work the Father
gave Him to do is complete. He came to seek and to save that
which is lost. He saved them at the cross. He
fulfilled all Scripture, for He dies for our sins according
to the Scripture. What is finished? The will of
God complete. The work the Father had given
Him to do complete. All Scripture fulfilled. The
law of God satisfied. Righteousness established. It's
finished! It's done! We're not to bring
our work and add it to His, are we? We'd just mess it up, wouldn't
we? His work is perfect. His work
is complete. His work is finished. Finished
to such an extent, to such a degree, that God says, it is well done. We're accepted in the Beloved.
It's finished. Now, I want you to turn back
to Luke 23, verse 46. Here's the sixth statement. Luke
23, 46. Luke 23, 46. And when Jesus had
cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands
I commend My Spirit. And having said thus, He gave
His life. He laid down His life. They didn't take it from Him.
He said, I give my life. Father, into Thy hands I commend
my spirit or my soul. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ
being accepted of God. He is the accepted One of the
Father. He's our forerunner. He has entered
into glory for us and is seated on the throne of God to represent
us. Father, into Thy hands I commend
my spirit. He said to that thief, you'll
be with me in glory right soon. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place? He that has
clean hands and a pure heart, who has never lifted his soul
to vanity, who has never sworn deceitfully, that is a fit description
of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Our forerunner has entered in
for us and is seated on the throne representing us. Now, notice the last part of
verse 46 in Luke 23. Having said thus, he gave up
his spirit. As the sovereign Lord, he dismissed
his soul from his body. He laid down his life for us
freely and willingly. Remember what Pilate said? Don't
you know I have power to crucify you or to release you? And the Lord corrected him. You
don't have any power over me, Pilate, except that which is
given to me of my Father. I have power to lay my life down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Our forerunner has entered in
for us. to represent us. He ever lived to intercede for
us. Now, let's go back to Mark 15, verse 34. Mark 15, verse 34. And we see the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here's the seventh statement. My God, my God. Why? Why? Not how. He didn't ask how. Why? Why? Has thou forsaken me? Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ
as the sin offering, as the Lamb of God being sacrificed for our
sin. John identified Him. Behold,
the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. He was manifested to
take away our sin, and in Him is no sin. I want you to turn
with me. Let's read this together. 1 Peter
chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Verse 24. 1 Peter 2, 24. Why was he forsaken? Here's the
reason. 1 Peter 2, 24. Who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That we being dead
to sin, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. He bare our sin in His own body
on the tree. Why was He forsaken? I'll give
you three things. First of all, we see substitution,
don't we? God made Him sin for us who knew
no sin that we might be made to righteousness of God in Him.
Christ suffered once for our sin, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us unto God. Why was He forsaken of God? Because
my sin was laid on Him. Isaiah 59 verse 2 said, Our sin
hath separated us from God. When sin was put on Him, the
Father had to turn His back on the Son. He too holy to look
upon sin with favor. You see, I deserve to be forsaken,
separated from God. I deserve the wrath of God, the
punishment of God for sin. And the Lord Jesus Christ there
on Calvary is every believer. He's my substitute on that cross. He's every believer deserving
of death and judgment for our sin. He's the substitute. Why was He forsaken? Sin. Something else we see. Secondly,
the reality. The reality of this. The reality. I wish I could get a hold of
this. The reality of this. This is no type. This is no example. This is no symbol. That was under
the old covenant. The sacrificial lamb was a type
of Christ. Abel's lamb was a type of Christ.
The sacrificial lamb was a type of Christ. This is no type. This
is reality. This is the actual and the Lord
Jesus Christ in person dying for our sin. He didn't bring
the bullock, did He? He brought His own blood. and lay down His life for us. The reality of the Lord Jesus
Christ dying for our sin is actual and personal. This is not a mere
legal transaction between the Father and the Son. This is the
reality of Christ dying for our sin. This is real desertion. This is real guilt. This is real
sin being laid on Him. This is real separation. This
is real darkness. This is a real payment for sin.
This is a real ransom being paid. This is a real atonement. This
is a real redemption. This is real death. Sin demands
death. You see the reality of this?
Substitution. He actually died for my sins. Thirdly is this, satisfaction. Satisfaction. He shall see the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who
can condemn? It is Christ who will die. Satisfaction. Now listen, none for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ paid the sin debt can ever be forced to pay
it again. He paid it in full. There's no
condemnation to those who were in Christ Jesus. One old songwriter
years ago said, God's justice cannot twice demand. Can it? Does the law of the state of
Kentucky, a man who is on death row and sentenced and executed,
how many times can the law of the state of Kentucky execute
that man on death row? One time. When He paid the debt,
it's paid. The Lord Jesus Christ fully paid
the debt of God's elect. And there is no condemnation
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Substitution, reality,
satisfaction. Let me give you this in closing.
I found this the other day. Do you remember the song by John
Newton, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch
like me? But he also wrote this. Now listen to these words. The
title of this song, this is written in 1799, I Saw One Hanging on
a Tree. Now listen. In evil long I took
delight, unawed by shame and fear, till a new object struck
my sight and stopped my wild career. You remember old Newton
was the slave trader. I saw one hanging on the tree
in agonies and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me as near
his cross I stood. Sure never till my latest breath
can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his
death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned
the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sin, his blood had spilt,
and helped to nail him there. Alas, I knew not what I did,
but now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul
be hid? For I the Lord have slain." A second look he gave, which
said, I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom
paid. I die that thou may live. Thus while his death my sin displays. Get a hold of that. While his
death my sin displays. In all its blackest hue, such
is the mystery of grace, it seals my pardon too. With pleasing
grief and mournful joy, my spirit now is filled, that I should
such a life destroy, yet live by Him that I kill." Oh, I tell you, what a blessed,
blessed gospel we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and
Him crucified. Christ our substitute.