Sermon -- Good Friday: The Fourth Word (March 29, 2024)

This year, we observed the Service of the Seven Words from the Cross.  This is one of the sermons following the selected reading.

THE FOURTH WORD — Matthew 27:45-49

     At Noon, darkness covered the whole earth, for the sun had stopped shining.  God so loved the world, but the hatred, the hostility, and the horrors of all the world were heaped upon the Son.  The shame, the iniquity, and the rebellion of all mankind were put on this man.  Every one of our dark moments, every filthy thought, and every dirty deed weighed on Jesus.

     God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  But Jesus was cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Sorrow produces weeping.  The anguish and torment results in gnashing of teeth.  Jesus stood in the stead of every sinner on earth.  Bearing all sin, Jesus was cut off, cursed, and condemned.  God had forsaken his only begotten Son.

     From the cross, Jesus recited his Psalms: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from the words of my groaning” (Psalm 22:1)?  God had foretold it in the Psalms: Jesus would be forsaken—God forsaken by God. 

     My God, my God, why have you forsaken your only begotten Son?  For you.

     He was abandoned so that you would be adopted into God’s family.

     He was rejected so that you would be reconciled to the Father.

     He was banished so that you would belong.

     He wore the crown of thorns so that you would receive a crown of life.

     He was cast into the darkness so that you would be the children of the light.

     He was forsaken so that you never will be.

     Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46)? 

     This is why: For you.