Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words forsaken and God.
Reading
Matthew 27:45-50—Forsaken by God
Optional Reading
Psalm 22:1-19
Keys for kids
- God the Father forsook Jesus on the cross.
- And punished Him for our sin.
- That was the worst experience for our Savior.
Questions
- Why did God forsake Jesus on the cross?
- What physical event mirrored the forsaking of Jesus?
- Why did Jesus die on the cross?
Catechism
WSC 84
What doth every sin deserve?
Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? (Ps 22:1)
Jesus willingly went to the cross to die. Jesus willingly faced the righteous punishment for sins—not His, but those of all who would be saved. Jesus willingly became a curse. Willingly. But not trivially. He was willing—but it was not easy.
Why!? Why!? May the words of His groaning be burned in our ears and our hearts. As savage as the beatings before the cross were, as excruciating as the pain of death by crucifixion was, the full pain was in the abandonment by God. And this was not just an ignoring abandonment. No, it was the withdrawal of love and the carrying out of divine wrath upon His sinless Son.
The unnatural darkness of this judgement was reflected in an unnatural darkness of the earth. For three hours—noon to 3pm by our time—the land was dark. The physical world blinked and shuddered at this horrific abandonment. For a limited, yet real and agonizing time, God the Father forsook the human nature of God the Son so that the Father might lay on the Son the iniquity of us all.
Then Jesus, forsaken, died.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 22b, 104a
Prayer
- Rejoice that Jesus was forsaken by His Father so that you might be saved.
- Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.