|
|||||||
|
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
Calvary’s "Why" Question
Disney Films put out a wonderful family movie called Finding Nemo. It is about a little fish named Nemo who becomes separated from his father. In addition to being separated, Nemo was lost! The entire movie centers around Nemo's father searching for his son.
This message is about another Father and a Son Who were separated—but not lost—from each other. Nemo's father didn't know where he was. This other Father never lost sight of His Son. Nemo found himself separated because of disobedience to his father; this Son found Himself separated because of obedience to His Father. Nemo was able to help himself to freedom; this Son had the power to remove Himself from the situation but chose to stay. Nemo managed to escape death; but this Son chose to accept death on a place called Calvary.
This message is about one of Jesus’ last words as death approached. He asked this question of His Father, “My God, My God, why hath thou forsaken Me?” This was Calvary’s big “Why” question. It began as the cry from the heart of our Lord! It was like the cry of one who came to the edge of an overwhelming despair. It was the cry of light penetrating the dark abyss of death! It reflected the agony of the pain and loneliness of desertion.
Christ’s desertion was so painful it could be defined as separation, but not just any separation—the separation of a Father and Son. One commentary said that it was, in fact, the Great Separation when God, the Father forsook Christ, His only begotten Son. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan stated this was “The Crisis of Christ!” Martin Luther said it was “God forsaking God”! The “why” question causes us to ponder the very idea that God would "forsake" His only Son. Such a thought staggers the feeble human mind. Whenever one asks, “Why?” there is a deep search for an answer.
But before we can correctly answer this question, we must identify this speaker. Who was He? He was the Son of the Most High God. He was a Son Who, up until this time, had enjoyed a wonderful relationship with His Father. God, His father, had spoken in Matthew 3:17 and said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”!
Father and Son were united as one so much so that when Jesus prayed for His disciples, He asked His Father to give His disciples the same oneness! And so with this knowledge of our speaker, we understand Why He would ask about the sudden loneliness He now experienced on Calvary’s cross. It was beyond the human psyche, for what father would forsake his only son? In the past, whenever Jesus had a need, God had met His needs.
Now amidst His pain and agony, He felt abandoned by the very one He knew He could depend on!
It began with the time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Instead of praying, Jesus’ disciples fell asleep. Then He was arrested. If that wasn’t enough, those who were closest to Him deserted Him. After all, they were His disciples! He had predicted their desertion, but yet He uttered, “. . . I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32).
On the night of Jesus’ arrest, one of His disciples betrayed Him. Another disciple, who was a part of His inner circle, denied Him—not once or twice, but three times.
And yet the abandonment at the cross was different. You see, the disciples had not experienced the power that would come on the Day of Pentecost. They hadn't experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit that was going to take place in the Upper Room. So I can understand how, despite the disappointment of their desertion, Jesus could still endure the journey.
But while Jesus hung on the cross, there was NO fellowship and NO deliverance from God. Instead of feeling the loving comfort of a Father, He experienced the loneliness of separation. And so I think I can understand the fourth Word, which asks the question, “Why?”
We are not alien to the word, “Why?” Most of us spend our entire life asking that very same question. We are forever asking, "Lord, why me?" We ask why God has permitted the loss of health or wealth, or allowed sorrow, heartache, and tragedy to mar our happiness! We ask why God seems indifferent to the glaring sin, crimes, and violence in our times. We ask why God does not keep men from making wars and indulging in misery and massacres? We ask why there are 9/11 experiences, tsunami experiences, hurricane experiences, and earthquake experiences.
But if I may respond to the question at hand—“Calvary’s Why Question” was about a cancer called sin. In Romans 3:23 there is the indictment, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Then there was the penalty, Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death…” Unfortunately, this was the problem—the cost was too expensive so there was no amount of money that could satisfy the debt. Then there was a dilemma—there was no one worthy to take on the task! And so God had to step in and provide an antidote for the penalty of sin. John 3:16 explains why He did it, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
This leads us to the answer found in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” You see, God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin. That's why the cry was so painful. It was a scream of One Who endured your Hell and my Hell on the cross! But the good news is, It was all for the joy of purchasing our salvation! |
|||||||
 |
|
||||||
