Matthew 27:45,46
Today, we open the final page of the life
of Christ on this planet before His lifeless body is placed in the tomb. Again,
these are sacred words that describe The God of the universe wrapped in human
limitations laying down His life for the creatures that have forsaken Him.
For the next six weeks, we shall be
looking through different windows of history’s record of our Savior’s death. We
shall listen to Him cry out to the Father, express His desire for a drink and
die. We shall listen as the curtain in the temple rips in two from top to
bottom. We shall watch dead men walking as tombs are opened and hear the
centurion claim: “Truly this was the Son of God.” And then, we shall return to
the Lord’s table to worship Him once again in the experience He designed for us
as a reminder.
There is an eclipse of the sun recorded
in Matthew 27:45 that is confirmed by secular history. It is as though creation
is shutting her eyes and cannot watch the Creator suffer. This phenomena
somehow slips mysteriously by those doing the dirty work of crucifixion. It
certainly had no impact on their actions.
What Jesus actually said, and why, are
very difficult to determine. Mark records that what Jesus said was spoken in a
different language. Obviously, the purpose of each Gospel writer was not to
reveal the language in which He spoke, but rather the message in His statement.
These words come originally from Psalm 22.
It certainly was not a time to merely recite Scripture. This may be the
most intimate expression ever to leave the lips of Jesus. In the closing
moments of His life, He cries out to the Father.
Some interpreters claim that Jesus is
using Psalm 22 to speak to the Jews and confirm His Messiahship. It seems far
more likely that the humanity of our Lord is surfacing here in the closing
moments of His life. It remains beyond our finite limitation to comprehend how
the infinite God could pour Himself into a finite creature. The incarnation
does, and shall remain, beyond our ability to fully understand.
Our sin passes between the Father and the
Son. Justice hammers our damnation onto Jesus who becomes the victim of our
sin. Through the miracle of His payment, grace is now free and offers salvation
to us because justice has now been paid in full. Justice and mercy meet here in
this darkest of all hours of human history. The Son suffers, the Father’s
justice is satisfied, and we are saved.
Matthew
27:45,46
Why was it dark from noon to three?
What did He say?
Why did He say it?