“About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.’” Matthew 27:47 (NIV)
Excruciating pain pulsated with each weakened beat of His heart. His back ached against the coarse cross. Splinters dug into His skin with every move.
His hands, sides and feet burned with searing throbs as sweat and blood raced down His body. There was no diluting this pain as Christ’s tears could not outrun God’s desire to reunite His children to Himself.
How could Jesus endure the cross? With such suffering for a thankless people, why didn’t He call down the angels to deliver Him?
To bear the burden of our sin, He had to take on sin, something He never knew, and carry it on His shoulders to steal its’ deadly power.
Before He drew His final breath, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”
In Psalm 22, we find the psalmist begins the psalm with the exact words of Jesus, words penned hundreds of years before Jesus spoke them. The anguish of the psalmist echoes in verses one and two. “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”
How Jesus had the strength, the courage, and the stamina to continue the crucifixion is found in Psalm 22.
“You are my strength, come quickly to help me.” Psalm 22:19b (NIV)
“I will declare your name to my people, in the assembly I will praise you.” Psalm 22:22 (NIV)
“They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it.” Psalm 22:31 (NIV)
Jesus had completely submitted to His Father’s will. He loved God more than Himself. He wanted to do whatever God asked.
He knew the cross would be both emotionally and physically excruciating. He also knew His time on it, and that anguish, would be temporary. He knew death’s grasp from sin’s foothold would be permanently obliterated. He knew He would be reunited with God in heaven and it would all be over.
Finished.
With a glorious outcome.
So, because God asked, He did it.
God gave Jesus what He needed to endure the cross, endure the ignorant ridicule and lashing out of a people who just simply had no idea.
God gave Jesus: the faith He needed to trust God, the desire to obey God, and the courage to completely submit to God.
God supplied Jesus with exactly what He needed, to do the unarguably most difficult task of His life, of any life. Jesus trusted God’s sovereignty, and God met both those needs and expectations.
Reflections:
How do I grow a faith like Jesus demonstrated, to trust God, no matter what?
How do I foster a desire to obey God, even when I don’t love His assignment?
He promises that if, “You abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask for anything you want, and you’ll receive it.” John 15:7 (NIV) Display that verse in a prominent location to remind that He will meet all needs.
We can ask Him for the faith we need, the desire to obey God, and the courage to completely submit to Him.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the cross. Thank You for Your son who completed that sacrifice for me. Please help me to remember the faith and love Jesus demonstrated on that cross. Please help me choose to be obedient to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thank you for reading! Please return tomorrow for the next post.