1. “My God, My God…” Matthew 27:45-46

2. Foundational Verse About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) Matthew 27:46

3. Outline  What’s the meaning of forsakenness?  What’s the reason of forsakenness?  What’s the benefit of forsakenness?

4. Meaning?  12 midnight through 3 — Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:20-30)  3-6am — Betrayal of Judas, abandonment of His disciples, and arrested and condemned (Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-52)

5. Meaning?  6-7am — Jesus stands trial before Pilate (Matthew 27:11-14)  8-9am — Jesus is sent to be crucified (Matthew 27:32-34)  9-noon — Jesus is crucified and mocked (Mark 15:25, Luke 23:34)

6. Meaning? From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. Matthew 27:45 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep… Genesis 1:1-2

7. Darkness represents Chaos

8. Meaning? In that day,” declares the Sovereign L ORD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. Amos 8:9-10a

9. Darkness represents Judgment

10. Meaning? This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 3:19

11. Darkness represents Mischief

12. Meaning? About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) Matthew 27:46

13. To remove all that is good

14. To absorb our punishment for sin God is a righteous judge, a god who is angry with sinners every day. Psalms 7:11 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the L ORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6a Reason?

15. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9

16. What are the benefits? We will never be forsaken “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5b-6

17. Benefits  There’s no more punishment for sin (Hebrews 10:17)  We stand before God just as righteous as Jesus himself (2 Corinthians 5:21)  We’ll always receive help in order to live on earth (Hebrews 4:16)  He’ll never give up on us (Ephesians 1:13)