Matthew 27:45-46 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

The testimony of this event is disturbing to the modern day person. The time from when Jesus was brought into the temple he was beaten, spit on and humiliated. When He was brought to Pilate, he was scourged. This is particularly brutal, a handle with nine leather bands with heavy beads and hooks ripping at the flesh. Then the crown of thorns ripping at the scalp. This whole scene was brutal.

But from the sixth to the ninth hour was the most excruciating. It was totally dark. This is from noon till three o’clock when the sun was supposed to be at it’s highest. In this darkness, God the Father turned His back on His Son. He put all the sins that have ever been and ever will be on Jesus. This was the first time ever that Jesus had been separated from the Father. And then all sin was cast upon. Jesus cries out, “My Father, My Father, why have you forsaken me?”

The reason was because He loved you and me that much. Jesus and the Father sacrificed everything for you and me. My simple mind cannot take it all in. But this is what drives me everyday to live like Christ. I cannot forget this scene. This level of suffering. All to save me from the penalty of my sin. I still fail and stumble. But I know He is there waiting for me to ask forgiveness, for me to repent and come back to Him. This is the Jesus I serve. Do you know Him in this way?