In dire trouble - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2023

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?
Matthew 27:46.

In dire trouble
On the cross of Calvary Jesus Christ suffered excruciating pains. For three hours He had suffered under the scornful eyes and contemptuous calls of a crowd of curious onlookers.

At twelve o’clock midday the sun darkened. Three further horrific hours followed. No-one dared to utter a word. During this period of time God poured out His judgment on His own Son, who “bore our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). There God called Him to account for all that we have committed, making Him “sin”, i.e. the embodiment of evil. God dealt with His Son, as if He had Himself committed those sins.

The Lord Jesus Himself was sinless! He was pure and spotless. He was holy and innocent. He died indeed as the substitute for all who believe in Him, in order to reconcile them with God. He bore their sins and atoned for them once for all time. He met all of God’s righteous demands, laying down His life as the ransom for many.

For three hours the judgment of God surged over Him like waves in the sea. He felt as though He was sinking in deep mire. That was the horrific sensation that our sins caused Him! Deeply troubled in His soul, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God was, after all, His God in whom He fully trusted to the very last hour. How it must have pained Him that He, God’s beloved Son, had been thus abandoned!

Today’s reading: Micah 3:1-12 · Proverbs 28:11-19