Good Friday: From Forsaken to Forgiven

Read Matthew 27:1-56.

On Good Friday, believers commemorate the greatest tragedy in the history of the world: the death of Jesus Christ. The only innocent human being was unjustly executed next to two criminals in the most shameful and painful way to die known at the time: crucifixion.

This event marked the culmination of humanity’s rebellion against God. The hands of godless men put the Son of God to death. What pride. What ignorance. What evil.

But since the Fall, sin and all its darkness have marked the human race. We’ve become experts at lawlessness; experts at blasphemy; experts at trying to remove God from His rightful rule over our lives. And the cross so clearly displays all this ugliness stewing in the core of our hearts.

So, it makes sense that God pours out His wrath against sin. Yet, when we look at the cross, we don’t see that happening to us. We see it happening to Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 27:45, darkness covers the whole land for three hours, from noon to 3pm. Why? Because what Jesus was experiencing was being reflected by the physical world itself. What was He experiencing?

Matthew 27:46 – “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ that is, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

Jesus quotes from Psalm 22:1 because His heart is full of Scripture. It’s a Scripture about Himself – the ultimate Sufferer. But suffering what? In this moment, Jesus was suffering the horror of God-forsakenness.

None of the bystanders have a clue as to what’s taking place. Some mistakenly think Jesus is calling for the prophet Elijah. But He was crying out, “My God” – the only time Jesus doesn’t call God “Father” in a direct address. It’s also the only time when heaven remains silent to Jesus’ cries.

And having absorbed the full brunt of God’s wrath against sin, Jesus cries out once more “with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit” (v. 50). To the very end, He’s in control of everything, including the timing of His death.

Paul’s commentary on this event is found in 2 Cor 5:21. He says that God made Him who knew no sin – Jesus – to be sin on our behalf. So, Jesus was treated as if He had sinned all our sins. Every single one of them. He became The Sinner. And that’s why in that moment, the Father had to forsake Him by punishing Him for what He did not do.

And by faith in His finished work on the cross, we become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21). When we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, He receives all our sins and their penalties, and we receive all His righteousness. He is forsaken. We are forgiven.

That’s the heart of Good Friday. Jesus endured the wrath of God so that we would never have to. Jesus’ cries were unheard so that we would always be heard. Jesus became sin so that we could become His righteousness.

Pray that the Spirit would impress these truths deep into your heart. Pray that you would taste the sweetness of God’s love. And pray that having received His love, you would love Him and strive to live in the goodness of the cross.