Turn with me this morning to Psalm 22 as we read the first eight verses of Psalm 22 and also Matthew 27 where we read together verses 45 through 53, the text for the sermon this morning being verses 45 and 46. For those of you who are visiting with us, we've been taking an opportunity, as we look forward to observing our Savior's death on the cross, as well as celebrating His resurrection, we've been considering the words He spoke from the cross as recorded in Scripture. This morning we consider the fourth word of Christ from the cross. We read together, first of all, Psalm 22, verses 1 through 8. Hear now the word of God. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groanings? O my God, I cry out by day, for you do not answer by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One. You are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust. They trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved. In you they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusted in the Lord. Let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. In Matthew 27, beginning at verse 45, through 53, the first two verses here that we read, being our text this morning. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When some of those standing there heard this, they said, he's calling Elijah. Immediately, one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him. And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs. And after Jesus' resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, this morning as we consider this portion of the Word of God, our focus is once again brought to Calvary. Where in somewhat of a puzzling way, as it were, the spotlight shines and the darkness that surrounded the cross that day. Boys and girls, when Christ spoke His fourth word from the cross, it was completely dark. And that's where our focus must be. That's why we say the spotlight, in a sense, shines on that darkness to draw our attention to that darkness. Nothing could be seen. Yet, you see, so much was revealed and so much was accomplished on that day. And we must understand, beloved, that God made the cross of our Savior the most decisive event of all time for all history in the sense that it was there that the battle for eternity was fought for the souls of men. It was there that what is utter foolishness in the eyes of the world became the power of God to salvation to those who believe. Yes, Jesus Christ came for such a time as this. Now boys and girls, when you celebrate Christmas, when you celebrate the birth of the Christ child, that precious baby in a manger, never forget that He came for one purpose. He came for one most important purpose and that was to descend into the hell of the curse of the cross. In Philippians 2, Paul says that Jesus Christ emptied Himself. He emptied Himself, we know, by taking on a human nature. Paul speaks of His humiliation and the cross is where His emptying and His humiliation of Himself was complete. Beloved, our Savior hung on the cross, mocked, spit on, cursed by men. It was there that men stood shaking their fists at Almighty God. But how different the work of our Lord on the cross from the mighty men and the heroes and the temporary saviors of the world, those who are known for the great visible things they do in the sight of men. Those who are then raised up on a pedestal and honored by men. But Jesus Christ's greatest work, the greatest work ever done, the most severe part of His work was hidden from the sight of men as He was removed from the sight of God. We consider this morning Christ's word of abandonment. Considering, first of all, the context of that word. Secondly, the reality of that word. And then finally, the outcome of that word. Our Lord had been hanging on the cross for about three hours already. His body, beaten, torn, and bloodied, nailed to the cross with the intention by His crucifiers of torturing Him in the worst way, with the most excruciating pain that man can inflict. You see, the first three hours of His crucifixion definitely looked like the work of man. For three hours, those who physically crucified Jesus were casting their punishment of judgment upon Him. Their goal was His pain. Their goal was His death. That was the end as far as they saw it. But their punishment of judgment also included their taunting, their mocking, their laughing, Save yourself. He saved others. But He can't save Himself. If you are who you say you are, come down from the cross and then we will believe in you. Surely we will. But they didn't understand that the reason He didn't come down was exactly because of who He is and what He was doing. And congregation, what's interesting and amazing and I think comforting is that during those first three hours as Jesus hung there for all to see, His suffering was not the focus of His attention. He was the attention of the people. He was the main event that afternoon, but His focus was where it had always been, and that was on His people. The first three words of Jesus which He spoke from the cross as we've considered already were words of comfort and salvation and intercession. He interceded for them when He said, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. He promised the glory of paradise as he said to the criminal beside him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. And he provided for the comfort and the care of his mother with his beloved disciple when he said, dear woman, here is your son, here is your mother. But you see, congregation, at noon, things changed. Verse 45 says, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land. For three hours the light of the sun went out. That same sun that stood still by the hand of God for Joshua so that God's people could gain the victory. That same sun that is shining even today. That very same sun gave up on Jesus and went out on Him, turning away from the captain of the army of the heavenly hosts. This darkness was not an eclipse as some have tried to tell us. It was the time of the Passover, which was the time of the full moon. It cannot be explained, I believe, by any other natural event. It was nothing less than a miracle from the hand of God. And with the miracle of this deep darkness, God was announcing the coming, the arrival of His wrath against sin. Now we know, of course, that all of this was the work of God. We know that earlier in the Gospels it tells us that Jesus turned and looked resolutely toward Jerusalem for the work that He was about to do. We know that Jesus Himself orchestrated the path to the cross. He used the hands of wicked men to try Him in the earthly courts as well to nail Him to the cross. But this was all part of the plan of God. But at noon, the judgment of the cross in a specific way was taken out of the hands of wicked men, out of Christ's enemies, as the judgment of God descended upon His only begotten Son. And the Savior is silent as He submits in obedience to the wrath and punishment of His Father upon the sin of His people. Sin committed against the Most High Majesty of God. And you know what? Even in the darkness, even as Christ endured the wrath of God, his focus was still on his people as he was working to secure salvation for you and me who believe. This deep darkness which sets the stage for Christ's word of abandonment, this darkness ushered in the wrath of God, this darkness which must have been intense and unforgettable introduced torture far more deadly than any man could ever inflict. In Scripture, darkness is a symbol of judgment. And of course, there are many prophecies we could turn to to support this. For example, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zephaniah, and Amos, and especially Joel in chapter 2 when he prophesies of the day of the Lord. He says, Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. For it is at hand, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness, pointing, of course, to the final judgment when Jesus Christ comes again. And then in verses 30 and 31, we read of that same chapter, we read of that which is also partially fulfilled here in this text. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun should be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. Lord, this particular darkness was God's judgment upon our sin laid upon His Son. And as Joel speaks of pointing to the final judgment when Jesus Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead. And this darkness on that afternoon, which was the context of Christ's word of abandonment, meant judgment as the judgment and chastisement of God for our peace was laid upon Him. During that darkness, the wrath of God was, as it were, burning itself out in the very heart and soul of Jesus so that as our substitute, He suffered most intense agony, indescribable anguish, and terrible isolation or forsakenness of heart and soul. Beloved, so often I think we flippantly talk about Jesus being punished in our place. We mean it well, of course. But we really don't understand what that means. Believers cannot, and by the grace of God, will not ever really know what that truly means, that Jesus Christ suffered in our place. But we must understand, beloved, that hell came to Calvary that day, and the Savior descended into it and bore its horror in the place of His people. And that's what the writers of the Apostles' Creed meant when they said he descended into hell. We confess our faith in the Apostles' Creed in a particular order. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, was buried, descended into hell. But we need to understand that the writers did not put that in order, chronological order, in time of the way the events took place. But the writers put it in the order of severity. He descended into hell, was the pit of His humiliation and suffering, but He descended into hell on the cross. During those hours of intense darkness, Jesus suffered indescribable agonies. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. He became a curse for us. You see, for Jesus. That cross was the very Word of God as it says, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. He understood the full weight of the meaning of that Word of God. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities as the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. During those three hours of darkness, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tasted the full cup of God's wrath as He tasted death to the full and as He suffered all the terror and anguish of hell itself and as He reached the lowest depths of hell in agony and anguish at the end of the three-hour period, as the text says, Jesus cried out in a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? With this word, Jesus also then expresses the reality of abandonment. He really was abandoned by His Father. He was obedient. And He quietly submitted to every last bitter drop of the wrath of God. As He hung on the cross, Jesus was rejected by earth and heaven forsook Him. He hung in the balance with no place to call home, we could say. And during that darkness, God saw on Him all of the sin and rebellion of His people. and turned His face away from Him. Now, we cannot understand, nor can we fully or accurately measure this word forsaken as Christ endured it. As best we can, we can only try to describe it, we can only explain it as the feeling of being cast out, rejected, intentional separation, and total eternal abandonment. You see, that's hell. Hell, beloved, is the absence of God's grace and favor, but the very presence of God's wrath, His full wrath against sin. Hell is a place, we know, where unbelievers, along with their father, the devil, will spend eternity. But what makes it hell? The absence of God's grace and favor, and the presence of God's eternal wrath against sin. Jesus had only ever experienced perfect fellowship with His Father. He said, I and My Father are one. And He said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father, but now on the cross that afternoon. That sin which separates man from God brought complete separation for Christ from His Father. And in the place of divine intimacy, during this darkness there was only a wretched barrenness and an impenetrable cry of horror. Joel chapter 3 also says, The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake. Beloved, during that darkness, Jesus Christ was completely out of His Father's favor. People of God, the crimson and scarlet stain of sin covered each and every one of our souls. And that stain could only be taken out by a miracle stain remover. And boys and girls, maybe you've heard your mother say, if you've ever gotten bad stains in your clothes, it's going to take a miracle to get that stain out of there. I don't know if I can do it. It takes a miracle stain remover to remove our stain of sin. And John the Baptist himself announced the coming of that miracle stain remover when he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And on that awful afternoon, which was so beautiful for believers, that we call it Good, Good Friday, and rightly so, Jesus Christ removed our stain as all the misery, corruption, and guilt of sin was laid upon the Son of God. He was crushed with His life squeezed out of Him so that it's no wonder He shouted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Remember, congregation, before this, Jesus Christ never uttered a single word of complaint. never one. But now with this cry, it's as if he is saying, I can understand the world rejecting me. And I can understand the nation rejecting me. I can understand my family and even my disciples forsaking me. But why you, oh my God, why do you forsake me? But surely He knew why, didn't He? He knew why. He knew better than us that it was because of our sin. But you see, He had to live through that answer Himself. He had to discover the full breadth and depth of the guilt and punishment for our sins and to feel the full extent of it. Nothing was withheld from Him. Nothing of God's wrath was withheld from the Son of God. He came for such a time as this. This question, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Was a question of astonishment that it was this bad. That condemnation and rejection by God would be this terrible. And beloved, he suffered that in his human nature. That's why he had to be God in order to endure it. And we must wonder how many souls there are that are pathetically naive to the suffering of hell. the torture that is waiting for all those who are outside of Christ. I said this morning in the earlier service that even the word hell is used so flippantly. We've all heard it used in slang language. We've heard things being described as cold as hell, which doesn't seem to make sense. We've heard things described as being hotter than hell. We've heard pain described as being more painful than hell. We have no clue. We have no clue. And don't be fooled, not one of you. Look at the cross of Christ. Consider the truth of the cross. God will not shrink back from punishing the wicked and the rebellious. He will not change His mind against those who spurn the cross of Jesus and reject the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Don't ever think that God will not punish. Because the cross and Christ's word of abandonment proves that He has punished and He will punish and it will be terrible. But for those who are in Christ by grace through faith, they receive the greatest comfort even from this word of abandonment. How? Because that word of abandonment, beloved, should have been our word, your word, and my word. By being completely forsaken by God, Jesus Christ completely took our place and He suffered all that was really and truly ours. Think about this. Do we really understand? And I mean really. Do we really understand the separation that hung over our heads and still hangs over the heads of those who do not believe on Him. You see, in this word of abandonment, Jesus Christ says to His people, God turns away from me so that He might once again turn toward you. God punishes me and takes away your punishment. He crushes me beneath His anger and lifts you up in His love. He was condemned and sentenced so that we might be set free. Yet there are times, yet, we must confess that we still feel abandoned, that we have been forsaken by God. When things are going tough, sometimes we don't feel His presence every passing hour as we sing. We think He's turned away from us. But the truth is that in those times we have forsaken Him. We have turned away from Him. We have drifted away from God. The truth is God will never leave or forsake His people for Jesus' sake, which is our comfort also from this word of abandonment. And we must also confess that even the wicked in this life are not yet completely separated from Him. As they receive God's common temporary favor given to all men. But in those times of distress, beloved, when we think that God has forsaken us, then even then our Lord on the cross is also our example of where to turn. He cries out, My God, My God. As you notice, there's a quotation from Psalm 22. In the pit of hell, He doesn't call Him Father, but He calls Him My God. Jesus Christ cries out to God Almighty and even in this time of abandonment, he never rejects God, but as it were, professes his faith in the midst of pain. He is my God. He is my strength. And with Job he could confess, even though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Our Lord did not give up his confidence in his God. He knew, as David confessed in Psalm 22, that God is enthroned on high. He had the confidence that he would not be forsaken forever. His cry of abandonment. In which He utters the anguish of hell from the depths of hell was a profession of faith in His Father who reigns from the heights of heaven. Yes, His cry was a cry of anguish and discouragement to be sure, but it was not a cry of despair and hopelessness. We might become discouraged at times, but we must never despair. Because God is Almighty. He is our refuge and strength, our ever-present help in time of trouble as the outcome of Christ's word of abandonment makes clear. Christ's cry, as the text tells us, marked the coming of the end of the darkness. He had been forsaken. Love's redeeming work is done. The time of darkness was almost over. The sun would be turned back on. And a new and blazing brilliance would shine on a world for which perfect blood had been shed. And God Himself testifies to the perfection and the completeness of the cross when He says in verses 51-53, and at that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs and after Jesus' resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people with the power of His own hands. God tore that massive curtain which had kept the people away from God's presence, kept them from being consumed by His holiness. But that separation no longer exists for those who are in Christ Jesus. The way is now open forever because Christ has endured that separation. Now congregation, notice who it was who came out of the tombs. The holy people. Saints. Believers came alive, but not one who died in unbelief. Jesus Christ gave up His life so that new life would be given to His people. The power of the cross, beloved, is that in Jesus Christ there is the power of new life for you and me, only for those who believe. And that's what baptism is all about, isn't it? Baptism, the sign and seal of the washing away of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. Boys and girls, you're used to infants being baptized. Parents bring their newborn children to the baptismal font to receive the sign and seal of God's promise that for those who repent of their sins, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you may have the assurance, you can be, you must be assured that your sins are forgiven you. that your sins have been washed away as water washes away the dirt of the body. And the same is true for adults who are baptized. Those who know their sin and misery by the grace of God, who testify to their sin, who confess their sin, and say, I believe. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that He died for me. I believe that my sins are completely washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ, as Wesley has done this morning for adults too. They claim the promise of God. They claim the forgiveness. Yet for those who did not believe, the mocking continued, didn't it? Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him. You see, they didn't understand. The most severe and crucial work of Christ was hidden from their sight. Christ's word of abandonment, which we could also say is a word of anguish, describes the horror of the darkness. It describes separation from God. It describes the reality of hell. No eye was allowed to see that horror. No eye could look upon that horror. No one was allowed to look at the torment of hell. As an elderly beloved sister said to me after the morning service, what grace of God upon His Son that He did not allow anyone to see Him suffer hell. but therefore the eyes of those who rejected Jesus Christ are also blinded to His saving work. Yet the eyes of those who believe on Him see Christ's work in the darkness by the grace of God. In the darkness, the light of the world conquered the darkness of sin and Satan. And by faith, God's people see in that very darkness, they see a beautiful picture of life. And just as darkness covered the suffering of Christ for our sin, the blood of Jesus Christ covers His people before the sight of God. And that blood atoned for us so that the curse has been removed. Joel says in chapter 3, verse 16, But the Lord will be a shelter for His people and the strength of the children of Israel. Christ's word of abandonment and anguish ends up being the believer's word of acceptance and assurance. Because Christ was temporarily forsaken on the cross for those three hours, we will never, as believers, be eternally forsaken. Beloved, is this your comfort this morning? Can you claim this as your own? If it's not your comfort, there's only one place to turn. And that's the cross of Jesus Christ. The same Christ who hung on that cross says, Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Only there at the cross of Jesus will you find redemption. Because there on the cross, Jesus suffered the depths of hell. Therefore, those who believe on Him are able to draw water from the wells of salvation, as Isaiah says. But you see, without the cross of Jesus, you will suffer His word of abandonment. You will experience the torment and the darkness of hellish separation from God forever and ever. Christ's word of abandonment means that those who find refuge under the covering of His blood are not abandoned, but they are adopted as sons and daughters of the King. You see, adoption really is the opposite of being abandoned, isn't it? God has accomplished salvation and made a way for us to be included into His family. Adoption into God's family means life forever and ever. Where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more tears. Jesus Christ cried with a loud voice, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So that we as believers might be able to say, My God, my God, why have you accepted me? But not only to ask that question. To have the only answer for the sake of Jesus Christ. Our Savior was abandoned in complete darkness so that His people might be received into His light. Do you live in the shadow of His cross? Do you live by the light of His cross? Beloved, from His word of abandonment to His word of assurance, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we praise You once again for the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. May our lips never tire of giving You thanksgiving and praise for the greatest work accomplished on our behalf, so undeserved to us, by us, but freely given to us for the sake of Jesus Christ. What comfort this is for Your people. For we know, O Lord, as well, that you are the one who protects your people, your children. You never leave us or forsake us. You guide us throughout this life, even in the midst of danger and trouble. What comfort. Father, if there be any here this morning who do not have that comfort, prick their conscience, work in their heart in a mighty and a powerful way that they might recognize their sin, confess it, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved even as He has promised. and to enjoy this comfort reserved only for your people. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen.