Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 45 – 46

• We know from Mark Chapter 15 that Jesus was crucified around 9am. The sixth hour would be noon and so in total, Jesus was on the cross for 6 hours, from 9am to 3pm. Now, from 12pm noon (the sixth hour) to 3pm (the ninth hour) there was darkness over all the land. The word in the Greek for “darkenss” is skotos and it means darkness of night or darkness of sight. This is interesting…I’ve said this before and I continue to find this to be even more true Bible study time after Bible study time again…I think we, I, us, men, women, in totality have only begun to see and understand what happened at the cross of Calvary.

• Hold the thought of darkness of blindness just for a moment…for three hours, the earth, in the Greek – the entire earth – lay under complete, spiritual and physical blindness…and at the ninth hour (3pm), Jesus cries out with a loud voice, “My God, My God.” Never before had He referred to the Father as “My God.” It was always, “Abba,” or Father…Daddy…but here, in this thickness of darkness, Jesus erupts…after three hours of silence…three hours of darkness…a voice is heard of a Son that is lost. What on earth happened? What in heaven happened?

• John Chapter 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In the arche the beginning without beginning…the infinite, the eternal now…always was…always was this way…the Word, the Logos, the Word that became flesh, Jesus the Son was with God, God the Father and the Word WAS God. Somehow One. Somehow there is and was distinction of Personhood and yet at the same time, Oneness of unity. Always was this way, from the beginning without beginning.

• And the Word, still in perfect unity with the Father, became flesh and dwelt among men. Perfect Son and Perfect Father in Perfect Oneness just as had been ever since ever…but Jesus had a job to do. For the Father so loved the world that He sent His only Son to secure for His creation, salvation unto eternal life. To lead the coup against sin, man’s ever present patriarch and to overthrow the power of sin, the right and reign of sin….which is death.

• 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that this Perfect Son, this Jesus the Christ of creation, “For our sake He who knew no sin was made to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And so the weight, the whole, the consummation, the complete kingdom of sin was present at the cross as Jesus faced the penalty of sin…death…and yet was without sin Himself. The substance of sin met face to face with the glory of God, (check this out, man) hidden from the eyes of man as darkness was upon the earth and as Jesus accepted the penalty of sin, in that acceptance, He accepted the responsibly, the liability, the culpability, the ownership for every sin as well…He who knew no sin, became sin.

• And He cries out for the first time in all of eternity, never before anything like this from the arche and never again will there ever be…He cries out in the greatest of loss…, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” What happened? Jesus was forsaken. Why? Psalm 22, begins with this prophetic proclamation, and goes on to say, “It is because You are holy,” and Habakkuk 1:13 and Isaiah 59:1 both announce, “You of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”

• Darkness fell upon all the earth. Blindness. Here is a depth of glimpse perhaps further today than before at that cross on the hillside. All men forsook Him. All men, all women, all creation, all the earth, covered with darkness of blindness. Jesus disappeared, He became nothing to all of creation…and for a moment in time, as sin charged the very heart of the Savior and the confrontational convergence caused even the earth to quake, the Father in complete and undefiled holiness, withdrew Himself from His Son and Jesus became nothing to all of heaven and nothing to His Father. Never before and never will there be someone so alone in all of eternity…and Jesus is broken.

Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 47 – 50

• Jesus made seven statements while on the cross. “Father forgive them, for they know now what they do.” “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” “Woman, behold your son! Behold your mother.” “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” “I thirst.” “It is finished!” “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”

• Matthew gives us only one statement and its crazy, some of those who stood there thought He was calling for Elijah!? What He did was quote Psalm 22. What He said was Eloi Eloi, not Elijah, Elijah…but some standing by never get past one word…I mean He said, “Why have You forsaken Me?” Not, “Come to save Me!” So they get the message all wrong. They miss the meaning completely. They miss everything really!

• Maybe for some but not for me and man I pray not for you either, this simply will not do. There are so many talking heads out there and especially in the “church” that have position or power or some sort of jurisdictional force because of their name and I respect that, they’ve been running this race, but one word from Jesus? Half heard. Can’t do it man. I’m going in. I am going in to see Jesus, myself. And here’s the thing…the dangerous thing in that…I’ve got to have the non-stupidity to do it comprehensively and thoroughly.

• God help our younger generations and any folks for that matter who have been disenchanted with the church or organized fellowship and so they take it upon themselves to doctrinally go it alone…WAY MORE WORK…no direction, guidance, authority or corrector in their lives? They have to put in work or they will be tossed around by all sorts of half truths and junk theology…and end up graceless…most likely towards the Body of Christ…no NEED to say, “Father forgive them…”

• Many end up holiless! (New word!) Their lives won’t resemble paradise as promised by Jesus in John 10, caring for themselves intensely because man they’re just always trying to recover…feeling forsaken at times…thirsting…and never coming to the peace that is there when sin is finished and living in the constant spiritual presence of God because you’re actually like Jesus but, “oh man that’s just legalism,”…that statement is a mess…one word won’t do…I’m going in…I’m going thoroughly after every word!

• And you know what I’ve found? That love does win. Love is everything and all of God. And I’ve found that THAT love is only found in relationship…a relationship that I have a part in and my part is humility and brokenness. Believing from WITHIN Jesus.

• So are the reformed folks right? No. Are the legalists right? No. Are the bad pastors and bad churches right? No. Are the good churches and good pastors right? No. There is no one right, not one upon this earth. Jesus alone is right. But love is His way. Forsaking of Himself is His path and passage. Love and courage and honesty and humility is His and the truth. And believing from within Him, thoroughly going in is where there is life! So many live and stake their claim on one word…just like these around Jesus…but you heard wrong…

Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 51

• Can you imagine the priests and the people in the temple that day? No one could see or go behind the veil or they’d be goners…only once a year could the high priest go alone and that was a gamble! Now the veil rips and they are essentially in! There is no room separation anymore! They see it all! Terror must have flooded their hearts…then after a moment or two…, “Hey, we’re not dead!” And perhaps a few moments later…well, there’s really no reason now for the high priest to do his thing again…we’re all in now…It’s like it’s finished…the covering of sin…the lawful appeasing of God year after year…what now then?

• Everything else pauses, all talking heads muted, time for everything to stop…no more figuring out, no more condemnation of self, no more exaltation of self, no more darkness, no more thirst, no more trying to recover, no more feeling forsaken…press stop on all that noise…it’s all finished because of Jesus…and you, you’re welcomed, acceptable, adequate, admissible…so…go in. You’re world may shake and the rocks you’ve set up as foundational stones may split…so be it…that’s a good thing…what if you heard wrong?

• In a moment, on the cross, God the Father went from Dad (Abba) to God for Jesus so that for all of eternity, He could go from God to Abba (Dad/Father) for you…