Sand Mountain Sermonette 89
Matthew 27:46; Matthew 27:46; Isaiah 61:10
Rejected at “Ring Toss”
“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
I will never forget something that occurred when I was attending Mrs. Montgomery’s fourth grade class. It had been raining that day so Mrs. Montgomery gave permission for a couple of students to go to her familiar closet full of games and pull some of them out for our in-door recess time. One of my favorite games brought out that day was “Ring Toss” in which two teams competed to see how many of their circular ropes (four per team marked with either blue or red wooden beads accordingly) could be “tossed” so as to land on a wooden peg affixed to a cardboard backing positioned a specified distance away (sort of like the game of horseshoes, just with rope). That day I walked excitedly up to a group of my peers who had gathered around this game as they were choosing sides, but when they reached a certain number, they told me they had enough so I would have to find another game to play. And although, I was just a kid and the game was just a game, I can still remember the rejection I felt for not having been chosen to play that day. I went over to another corner of the room and just stayed there because I felt “left out.” Eventually, I did find another game to play but that didn’t take the sting of abandonment away!
Have you ever been forsaken? The promise “to never leave you” made by your spouse at the wedding altar has not proven true? An absentee parent who promised to be at your ballgame or your graduation but who never showed still haunts you? A best friend’s betrayal continues to recycle through your mind?
The cry of Jesus in Matthew 27:46, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me…” penetrated the darkness! Yes, Jesus was forsaken, but why? Because there, on the cross, bearing our sin, Jesus was momentarily forsaken of the Father (to whom the Bible says cannot look upon sin; see Matthew 27:46), in order that we might never be forsaken! And the good news is the God who has never forsaken His children (such as Daniel in the Lion’s Den) is the same God who, through Christ’s robe of righteousness applied to every Christian believer at the time of salvation, will never forsake you or me! Christ was forsaken so we could be forgiven! As you spend time with God meditating on His word in prayer, He will begin to heal those places in your heart where you have been forsaken and renew your spirit through His Spirit for new days ahead (See Isaiah 61:10)!
Pastor Louie