The Fourth Cry from the Cross

“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

The fourth cry from the cross is the middle cry where the Lord quoted from Psalm 22.

There was darkness over all the land for three hours in the middle of the day. Even when complete solar eclipses occur there is only complete darkness for a few minutes at the most. The first time we find darkness in the Bible is in Genesis 1: 2 where the earth is without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The last time we find darkness is when the fifth angel pours out the fifth vial upon the seat of the beast making his kingdom full of darkness. This means that these three hours of darkness were given to make a special point. In Rom 8: 22 we read that the whole of creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now. And Psalm 19 tells us “the heavens declare the glory of God”. Isaiah 1: 3 “The ox knoweth his master and the ass his owner’s crib but Israel doth not know…” At this stage the Lord Jesus Christ was on the cross dying for our sin but creation knew that this was a time when it should remain silent as their true Lord and Master suffered for our sins. These three, long hours of darkness bear testimony to the fact that creation, so marred by sin, still remains loyal to the Lord. The Egyptians experienced darkness in the ninth plague, which came just before the final plague of death. Darkness is associated with the void, death and judgement. 

As a general rule, in the Bible, men forsake but the Lord doesn’t forsake. In Judges 6: 13 Gideon thought that the Lord had forsaken Israel but he found out that, Israel had forsaken God when they sinned and forsook His Law. The Lord does tell Isaiah that He had forsaken Israel for a short time because they had forsaken Him but by the time we get to 64: 2 we find that they will no longer be called “forsaken”. However, in Psalm 22 and while the Lord was on the cross we read that the Lord had forsaken someone.

This cry was made at the ninth hour; for the Jews that was the hour of the evening prayer. Their day starts at sunset and finishes at sunset and they prayed to start the day. Unlike us they didn’t have clocks and judged their time from the sun so we can’t state that it was at an exact time by our system, however, it was at an exact time by their system.

In Isaiah 50: 4 we read of the Lord Jesus Christ the the Lord woke Him morning by morning so that He could learn and that the Lord God had opened His ear. We also read that it was His custom to rise while it was still dark each morning to pray (Mark 1: 35). We can also assume that the Lord took care to pray each evening as well. However, this was the first time in His life when He did not come to the Father for prayer. This was also the time when the Passover lamb was sacrificed  and the time of the evening sacrifice (Ex 12: 6; 29: 41).

The Lord prayed to God three times when He was on the cross, the first time He addressed God as “Father” and the last time He addressed God as “Father” but here, in the middle cry, He addressed His prayer to “my God”; and the statement is repeated for emphasis. When He made the first cry it was light and when He made the last cry the light had returned but this was made during the time when He was bearing our sins and the intimate moments of fellowship were denied Him. He prayed “My God, my God” because He had been forsaken for a time. However, even during the time that He was forsaken He was able to cry out to “My God.” Even sinners have access to God. While Christ was sinless, He was bearing our sins.

The Lord asked the question “Why?” Even though He was quoting Scripture the question was still on His lips. We know from Hab 1: 13 that the Lord is of purer eyes than to behold evil and He was not able to look on His Son at that time because He was under the burden of our sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, sinless and perfect, took our sin and made it as though it were His very own so that He could be “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

This passage has some similarities to Luke 16: 23. In that case the rich man looked up from torment and saw Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. Christ was experiencing all the torments of hell at that time. The true torment of hell is the understanding that we are completely cut off from God. The rich man was in torment and he begged Abraham to send Lazarus with one drop of water to to cool his tongue. However, Abraham told Him that there was a great gulf fixed and none could cross that gulf. The Lord Jesus Christ, at that moment, looked across that great gulf and saw, in the distance, that the Father had turned His back away and they could not communicate. At that moment in time the very Godhead was torn because we are sinners.

This moment explains the agony of the Lord as He prayed in Gethsemane. He knew that He would soon be physically and emotionally tormented but He also knew that, in those three long, dark hours, He would experience all the eternal torments of Hell in His perfect sinless soul. However, Gethsemane looks back to Isaiah 63 where we read that He trod the winepress alone. I looked for help but there was none to help so He brought salvation with His own right arm. When the Lord Jesus prayed in the Garden, He was confirming that He was the only One Who had the capacity to provide this perfect salvation, and He was able to do it entirely alone.

Now He was experiencing all the torment that had caused Him such agony in prospect. However, the Lord Jesus Christ reached out His Divine, sinless arm and reached across that great gulf and became the bridge Himself. There was no other person who could cross that bridge, there was no one who could go up to heaven and then come back to tell us the way. He humbled Himself and came down from heaven so that He could make the way for us to go up to heaven (compare Deut 30: 11-14 with Rom 10: 6-11).

The Lord Jesus Christ personally experienced all the torments of sin. He knew the deep dark torments of hell. The darkness was associated with judgement and all our sin was judged on the cross. Apart from the Lord’s cry on the cross the only times that we read about forsake in the New Testament have to do with forsaking everything to follow Christ, some who have forsaken the way of the Lord and the fact that all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will never be forsaken (Heb 13: 5). He was forsaken so that we would never be forsaken. 

We can also see from Psalm 22: 11, that all the hoards of hell were arrayed against the Lord Himself. He was alone but He was able to win the victory alone. He came to this earth to die for our sins because He was the only One Who could guarantee success. God only acts perfectly so, in order to remain consistent, He would only offer us this perfect salvation. However, any salvation is only as good as the saviour who provides the salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only possible perfect Saviour so He was the only One Who could provide this perfect salvation.

It is good for us to rejoice in our perfect Saviour. Everything has been done for us and all we have to do is enjoy the benefits of what He has done. Once we have been saved we know that He will never fail us not forsake us so this perfect salvation is also perfectly secure because our future is guaranteed by our perfect Saviour.

However, this perfect salvation came at great expense even though we don’t have to pay any price as it is a gift. What should be our response to such a great gift? We can take the gift and the benefits or we can look at the gift and appreciate the Saviour Who did so much for us. In Luke 7: 36-49 the Lord told a parable about a woman who was forgiven much and her response was to wash His feet with her tears, on the other hand we read about the Jewish rulers who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. These people didn’t understand or appreciate their God. Our God has done all things well (Mark 7: 37).