Moment of Meditation: Forsaken (Mark 15:34)

riginal Broadcast: Lent 2009

Monthly Theme: The Passion according to St. Mark

And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice,
"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means,
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
(Mark 15:34)

Forsaken

Stricken. Smitten. Afflicted. Forsaken. All words to describe Jesus at the ninth hour of the day on Good Friday. This fourth Word of Jesus on the Cross comes as a quote of the twenty-second Psalm. He had hung between Heaven and earth for six hours--rejected by men, forsaken by His Father.

He was forsaken because He had become sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus had committed no sin, but as He was nailed to the Cross, He became the very embodiment of sin as your sins and the sins of everyone who had ever lived, is living now and ever will live, were placed on His shoulders. That's why there was darkness for three hours. That's why there's the agony in His voice. That's the only place where forgiveness can be found.

He was forsaken so that you would be accepted. He took the punishment for your sin so that you would be found not guilty. He left this world without a friend so that you could sing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Your friend laid down His life so that you could have eternal life. He was forsaken so that you would never feel forsaken. Amen.