Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Here is the audio and notes from this morning's sermon. The video will be up later in the week. Listen here.

Matthew 27:37-43

37 A sign was fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!” 41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Trusts – peitho – to convince, to rely on with inward certainty, have full confidence, or complete trust.

• Easy to trust in the light.
• Not so easy to trust in the dark.

Since the beginning, our trust has been tested.

Matthew 27:45-46

45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice (screaming in Greek), “Eli, Eli, llama saba cha ne?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Jesus asks the question that at one time – all of us will ask - why have You left me?

1 Corinthians 13:12

12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

We can see God in one of two ways...

NOWHERE

No where
Now here – even though I don’t understand

• If you are seeking complete understanding of everything that happens in life – you are going to be disappointed.
• If you are seeking God’s presence – you are going to be comforted.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

We only see part of the story.

• God is good
• God is for me
• God is with me

God is good
Only God is truly good. –Mark 10:18

God is for me
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? –Romans 8:31

God is with us
I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. -Hebrews 13:5

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take

Seek - yoda - To Know

Know God

Why is replaced by what

2 Corinthians 5:21

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Why is replaced by who

God comforts us and restores us