The passage we come to today is the fourth of the seven sayings from the cross. To say that we approach this tenderly and cautiously would almost be an understatement. This is a mysterious time. Whenever our Lord utters the words, my God, my God, why? Why? Why hast thou forsaken me?" When he says those words, the people standing there recognize if they knew the Old Testament Scriptures at all, they recognize it is a direct quote from the 22nd Psalm. Before I turn to Mark chapter 15, I'm going to read a number of verses from Psalm 22. This is a psalm of David in a very difficult time, but it goes way, way beyond David's situation and the difficulties that David was going through. David said, I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. I've never seen the righteous forsaken. And yet he cries in Psalm 22, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy." Whenever we come to this question that our Lord says, why hast thou forsaken me? It somehow hinges around the holiness of God. O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel, Our fathers trusted in Thee. They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto Thee, and were delivered. They trusted in Thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him." Is this not an amazing passage of Scripture that absolutely parallels the experience of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross? Can anyone read this and miss that? But thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me about. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I'm poured out like water. All of my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of my bowels. Does that help you understand why when they pierced him in the side there came forth blood and water. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of the earth. For dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. Be not far from me, O Lord, O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword. my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns." And so goes Psalm 22. We come to Mark chapter 15, verse 33. And when the sixth hour was come, for our time, that's noon. That's noon. When the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, the ninth hour is an amazing time. Tonight perhaps we'll look at a little bit of that whenever we discuss some of the events that surrounded the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the ninth hour, the ninth hour, at the ninth hour, the time of this is given, the ninth hour. I'll go ahead and say it significantly, it is the time of the evening sacrifice. It is the time that Elijah on Mount Carmel, confronting the prophets of Baal, after their worship of the sun god, and the sun has risen to its peak at the sixth hour. And then it begins to descend, and at the ninth hour, at three in the afternoon, Elijah stands and prays. and God sends the fire. It was the time of the evening oblation, the evening sacrifice. It is the time that the priests were in the temple doing their work at the ninth hour, the ninth hour. Jesus cried with a—this is significant—with a loud voice. not a weakened voice, not with someone that is at the point of death and has no strength to go on, but he cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lamas sabachthanai, which being interpreted is, my God, my God, why? the middle word of the middle saying, "'Why hast thou forsaken Me?' In Psalm 22, The cry is, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In Psalm 22, in order that in Psalm 23 I might say, the Lord is my shepherd. Because he really died, I simply walked through the valley of the shadow of death. In the light in the light hours, in the hours of the sunlight, He suffered the injustice of men. But in the darkness of the noonday till three o'clock, He suffered the judgment of God. Here we see at the cross man's hatred of the sin-bearer. and at the same time we see God's hatred of sin. There's a solemn law in the Old Testament. It's in Deuteronomy chapter 21, verses 18 through 23. The law is this, that if there is a child that is incorrigible, rebellious, stubborn, and self-willed. The parents can, at their discretion, bring to the elders of the city, to the gate of the city, the place of judgment. They can bring that child to that place and say, we can do nothing with this child. This child brings us shame and sorrow and heartache. We can do nothing with this child. and we bring you this child for judgment." And that child could be stoned to death. There is no record in the Old Testament Scripture of that law ever being enforced. There is no place in Scripture of it ever being carried out. Fact is, one of the most rebellious children we read about in the Old Testament is David's son Absalom. And whenever King David's forces were winning back the kingdom over the rebellion of Absalom, when he had run his dad out of town and taken over the throne, and mocked his dad by having physical relationships with his dad's concubines, basically in public. David cried and said, no, watch out for my son, take care of him. See to it that no harm comes to him. Joab killed him anyway. But David's cry was spare him. Now that's a rebellious child. But God the Father from heaven said of his son on three separate occasions, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And now that one who well pleased his father cries, my God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me?" If it were not for calling attention to myself, the thing I would do right now is remove my shoes and stand here. because we tread on holy ground when we come to this place. I do not know that now, in this life or even in heaven, we will ever comprehend what took place here. I don't know if we'll understand the height or the depths or the width of what is taking place whenever we come to this saying from the cross. Jesus has been on the cross for some time now. He has suffered physical pain and abuse. He has been betrayed by a follower. He has been forsaken by his friends. He has been denied by the one that was perhaps the closest to him. He's been humiliated. He's been mocked. He's been scorned. He's been ridiculed. His claims have been cast into his teeth as being false because of the situation in which he now finds himself. But dearly beloved, physical suffering alone could never pay for our sins. So it comes a time now that he goes beyond the physical suffering. He goes beyond the spitting in his face, and the crowning of thorns, and the lashes on his back with the cat-of-nine-tails. It goes beyond carrying the cross, and it goes beyond driving the nails in his hands and dropping it into that socket in the ground that he made. It goes beyond that. The physical suffering, to some extent, we can identify with. But what happens now, we have no concept. And there is no illustration I can give you of what takes place now, except just simply to say this is what takes place. At Jesus' birth, the night sky was filled with light. But at this time, the brightness of the noon hour is shaded in darkness. A darkness that is not a natural darkness. It is an unnatural darkness. It is a darkness that goes beyond what would normally be experienced. It is a darkness at noonday. Now the sins of the world are gathered together. Your sins My sins are gathered together from all of the ages past and from all the ages future. The sins of the world from the time that Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit until the last rebellion on this earth. all the sins of all the ages of all the people are somehow in the divine judgment of God gathered together and are placed on Jesus Christ. And though Pilate said, I find no fault in him. Now the judgment of God, his own judgment, finds him guilty. And he suffers for sin of how we call the least kind and the worst kind. I am amazed at the degradation of man when I read in the papers things that people do. I am amazed at the cruelty of people to other people, and that's on Jesus, the One whom God the Father said, this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And yet Though David spared Absalom, wanted him to be spared, God did not spare his son. Romans chapter 8, verse 32, says, He that spared not his own son. David said of his rebellious son, Oh, spare him. Take care of my son. God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all who did no sin. Neither was any guile found in his mouth. Isaiah chapter 53 says, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to make his soul. Now I know his body suffered. I know the physical suffering is there, and we see that suffering. But He made His soul an offering for sin. There's something that we don't see. And God drew darkness across the face of Calvary's brow. Whenever Christ, the mighty Maker, died for man, the creatures sinned. My God, why, why hast thou forsaken me? All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, he who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Galatians chapter 3 verse 13 says, he was made a curse for us. And in that time when my sin is laid on Jesus. And in that time when your sin is placed on Jesus, the fury of hell breaks loose on the precious Lamb of God. Comprehend that? I don't. the true essence of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ we have no identity with. Now understand this. The one on that tree, the one hanging on that cross, is God in human flesh. As God, He is infinite in His being. He is eternal in His being. And one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. I do not know if there is a soul suffering of Jesus for that entire three-hour period that darkness is on the face of the earth from noon until three o'clock. I do not know if it's for that three-hour period, or I do not know if it's the end of that three-hour period at that instant when He cries, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? I do not know about that, and I can't approach to that. I have no idea, but I do know that as infinite God, He could suffer in an instant what we would suffer in an eternity. He could suffer our hell forever in that time. all the works of God have been Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one. In the counsel of God before the creation of this earth, God said, and the Scripture says it this way, God said, let us. Let us. Now, in the Hebrew, there are three levels of number. They're singular, plural, and three or more. The minimum of the third is three. And the Hebrew word that is used for, let us make man in our own image, is that third word. Not singular, not plural, but multiple. Let us make man in our own image. And in the creation, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit worked. The Spirit brooded upon the face of the deep. The book of Colossians says He is the Creator of all things, and by Him all things consist, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the word of the Father spoke, and it was so. So all of that is there, and there is that unity. There is that oneness. There is that oneness with no disparity whatsoever, no disagreement, no disharmony, no disunity. There is that oneness. The oneness that He prays for for us, that ye may be one even as I and the Father are one. Understand that? I really don't understand that. But it's there, it's the truth of the book. In the flood with Noah, you find the work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Moses leading the people in the wilderness and out of bondage, you find the work of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. All of this through the great I Am. Then God the Son takes the form of man and becomes clothed in the likeness of man and becomes like us in that physical appearance. And this is difficult. This is a hard thing. This is something that we really believe, but you know, being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient, even unto death. And for him to make that journey down to be with us is an amazing thing. But the father says, this is my son. I'm well pleased. The unity is still there. He comes to this time and he's rejected by his family. His nation has denied Him and rejected Him. He's been betrayed by a follower. He's been forsaken by all of those that are closest to Him. But the unity with the Father is still there. The unity with the Father is still there. But we come to these three amazing hours, or at least this amazing instant. and he cries, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now we've seen the Father call the Son God. In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 8, quoting the Old Testament Scripture, He says, "...but thy throne unto the Son," He said, "...thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." But this is the first time here that we see the Son calling the Father God, and it's in a time of being forsaken. I do not know if Jesus left His body here. I do not know how this suffering took place. I choose not to speculate about that, but I know this is something beyond me. Why? From our standpoint, a songwriter wrote the question, why? Why did they nail Him to Calvary's tree? Why? Tell me, why was He there? Jesus, the Helper, the Healer, the Friend, why? Tell me, why was He there? All my iniquity on Him was laid. He nailed it all to the tree. Jesus, the debt of my sin, fully paid. He paid the ransom for me. It's a mystery beyond understanding. Dearly beloved, I want you to know it's a mystery of love. It's a mystery of love. Don't anybody swell your chest and put your shoulders back and say, well, I must really be good for him to love me like that. Oh, no. Oh, no. It's not because we are worthy of his love. It's simply because of the nature of who he is, that God is love. And He loves the unlovely. He loves the unlovable. But the loveliest one who ever graced this earth is rejected by His Father, that I may be accepted. by the Father. What this means, what does this mean to the Father? What does it mean to the Father to abandon His Son? Someone has said that in this time God turned His back on the Son. and the physical sun that sheds forth light was darkened. I think the earth itself reacted whenever the Creator of this earth cried to the Father, Why hast thou forsaken me? We'll look at some of that tonight. The earth reacted. Religion reacted. There was a reaction all over everywhere, but the father to abandon the son. I can't imagine abandoning my children when they're bad, much less when they're good. And yet the father abandons the Son. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, at this time, at this time, there is brought to the temple sacrifice. Fact is, there's brought two offerings to the temple. One is chosen to die. The other is chosen to have the priest symbolically lay his hands on the head of that goat. And he confesses the sins of the people. For himself and for those of the nation, he lays his hands on the head of that goat and confesses those sins. and this goat is taken and offered as sacrifice. And this is taken by a daisman, by a man who has appointed the responsibility, and he is led off into a place uninhabited, out of the temple area, out of the gate of the city. through the valley Kidron, across the Mount of Olives, and into the desert areas of Judea. He is led to a place where he will die, and he is left there alone. And the daysman leaves him, and he's left at a place uninhabited. So our Lord goes to a place uninhabited, bearing our sins. There it is, folks. That's how much He loves you. That's what had to happen in order for you to have salvation. That's what had to take place if you were going to go to heaven. Somebody had to suffer your hell, and Jesus did that. He said, well, I'm not too bad. I'm a good person. Of what judgment should one be found worthy who says to a God who forsook His Son and who was forsaken of His Father? I don't need you. You want to go through all that, that's fine. It doesn't mean anything to me. I laugh about it and joke about it and not pay any attention to it. I live my own life. I live the way I want to. And if you don't do me right, I'm going to call you to account for it. Who am I to say God hasn't done me right? Who am I to question any act of God toward me or toward anyone I love? This is what He did for us. He took our place, so we might have a place with Him. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads.