At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mark15:33
We often focus on the physical aspects of the crucifixion.
To be sure, these are not trivial. Medical doctors have analysed the physical trauma of the flogging, carrying the cross to Golgotha and the crucifixion itself and it is a picture of horrendous suffering that Jesus endured without narcotic and with His composure intact.
But the physical and emotional suffering pale into insignificance when we consider the spiritual suffering...
Yesterday we made it clear that hanging on the cross was synonymous to being cursed by God.
It meant being under God's wrath.
It meant utter separation.
Mark describes it as three hours of darkness that culminated in Jesus crying out, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me." It's telling that Jesus cries out in Aramaic - this was probably the first language He learned as a child - it has expression of complete and absolute desolation.
Here, squeezed into three hours of darkness is the wrath and separation from God that I deserve and that you deserve heaped onto Jesus. Squeezed into three hours of human time is your eternity-without-God and my eternity-without-God. The suffering of the cross is beyond intense. Here on the cross He is the scapegoat, chased out into the wilderness of God-forsakeness in our place.
And He carries that burden faithfully and successfully because just before He dies (more on that in the next day or two) He says: "It is FINISHED! - The debt is paid in full!"
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
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Theo Groeneveld theo @ emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at emmdev[dot]blogspot[dot]com/
