The Word of Abandonment

James Fetterly's sermon focuses on the profound significance of the cross of Christ and the moments of Jesus' abandonment and anguish as described in Matthew 27. Fetterly highlights four key ironies observed at the crucifixion: Jesus, mocked as king, is the true King; He appears powerless but possesses ultimate power; He did not save Himself to save humanity; and His cry of despair on the cross actually demonstrates His trust in God.

Fetterly then explores the theological implications of the cross, emphasizing how Christ's suffering and death provide the foundation for human justification before God. Despite human sinfulness, God declares believers righteous through faith in Christ's sacrifice, fulfilling the law's demands on their behalf. This justification is not based on personal righteousness but on Christ's obedience and the grace of God, as explained through various passages in Romans and other New Testament writings.

The sermon also delves into the concept of propitiation and expiation, illustrating how Christ's sacrifice on the cross appeases God's wrath against sin and removes the believers' sins, drawing parallels with Old Testament sacrifices. Furthermore, Fetterly discusses how Christ's obedience unto death, including the specific manner of His crucifixion, serves as a substitute for the punishment humans deserve, showcasing God's grace and love.

In the closing sections, Fetterly interprets the supernatural events surrounding Jesus' death (darkness, the temple curtain tearing, earthquakes, and the resurrection of saints) as divine messages highlighting God's judgment, holiness, grace, and the establishment of His kingdom. These events affirm God's sovereignty, the justice and mercy embodied in the cross, and the promise of resurrection life for believers.

The sermon concludes with a prayer of thanksgiving for the sacrifice of Christ, the revelation of God's love and righteousness, and the hope of salvation and eternal life granted through faith in Jesus.

Transcript

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Today I would like for us to consider the cross of Christ and the word of abandonment, the word of anguish, the word that Jesus spoke from the cross where he says, "Eloi, Eloi, lama, sabothani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The word of abandonment, the word of anguish. In Matthew's account, chapter 27, let us pick up the reading starting in verse 35. In this account there are at least four ironies of the cross. We have those that are mocking the king, they're mocking him and saying that he is powerless, they are mocking him and deriding him saying that he can't save others and then he cries out in despair. Matthew chapter 27 verse 35 we read, "And when they had crucified him they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him which read, 'This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.' When the two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left, and those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, 'You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.' So also the chief priest with the scribes and elders mocked him saying, 'He saved others, he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel and we will believe in him. He trusting God, let him deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.' And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying,'Eli, Eloi, Lamasabhani.' That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And some of the bystanders hearing it said, 'This man is calling Elijah.' And one of them at once ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine and put it on a sponge and filled it with sour wine and put it to the reed and gave it to him and took drink. But the other said, 'Let us wait and see whether Elijah will come and save him.' And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit and behold the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after the resurrection. They went into the holy city and appeared to many." Well that is the reading of the scripture there. And as I said there were four ironies, four ironies.[Silence][ Pause ][ Pause ] Perfect. What were those four ironies? The first irony is that the man who is mocked as king really and truly is king. The man who was utterly powerless is in fact the man that is all-powerful. The man who didn't save himself and doesn't save himself is the only one that can truly save us. Furthermore, the man who cried out in despair is really the man that trusted in God on the cross. Now, a question may be is if we were to read the account that is found in this gospel or the other gospel is what does the cross mean? What does it mean for us? Well, theologically we can go to the epistles and they explain the cross of Christ to us. One of the many meanings is that Christ suffered and died on the cross to provide for us the basis of our justification before God. However, those of you that are reversed in your Old Testament, you know what Proverbs says."He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord." If we're fallen in Adam and if we have sinned where we have original sin and actual sin, how is it that Holy God can proclaim or announce us as being right in his sight? That's a good question, isn't it? Well, Romans tells us in chapter 3, if you just want to flip there, I'll hit a few passages in chapter 3 and elsewhere. It says that we are justified, we're declared righteous by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In other words, what happened on the cross is where God was using Jesus to legally declare us righteous, those who would believe in him. Later on in chapter 3 verse 26, it says it was to show his righteousness, God's righteousness at the present time so that he might be the just and the justifier. God is not going to sweep his holy demands underneath the rug at all. He is just and he's the one that makes us just. How does this happen? Well, one of the components that makes that happen is for us to believe or have faith in Christ. A couple of verses later in chapter 3 verse 28, we see, "For we hold that one is justified by faith." That's how it happens, by us trusting in Christ, which is apart from the law. Chapter 4 verse 5, Paul continues on helping us to explain the cross and our justification,"And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly." His faith is counted, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. This is what's occurring at the cross. God justifies sinners based upon the righteousness of Christ. Righteousness is still upheld in Christ and then it is accrued, it is accounted on those sinners who believe in him so they are righteous. Furthermore, in chapter 5 verse 9, Paul says, "Since therefore we have now been justified." We've been justified by Christ blood. And if that's the case that we have been declared not guilty, he says, "Much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God." Friends, it's your end Christ. This is great news. This is the best of news. Your sins are covered in the blood of the Lamb. Not just the ones that you had before you believed, but the ones that you have presently committed, maybe even this morning, and the future ones. He's declaring you righteous. Not because you have kept the law, but because Christ on your behalf has kept it for you. Remember, Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness. If you were just declared not guilty, that would only put you back in the garden. But he's saying, "Now my righteousness is your righteousness. You've met the law when it's never occurred." This is great. Not only does Christ suffering on the cross and death provide the basis of our justification, but as I have alluded, it also completes our obedience and our righteousness. No doubt we could look to Romans chapter 5 verse 19, which talks about the first Adam and then discusses the last Adam. Our first parent in the garden represented all of us. He was in covenant relationship with God. He needed to have perfect obedience, and he failed. We read in Romans chapter 5 verse 19, it says, "For as one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners." All of mankind fell in him. So by one man's obedience, we just heard about the first Adam, and now here's the last Adam. So by the one man's obedience, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, many will be made righteous because of his obedience. No doubt you guys remember 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. It's one of those that is tattooed in our minds. It is always before us because it talks so, so pointedly about the gospel. What is the gospel in one verse? Here it is. It says, "For our sake, he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Hold on, let's unpack this just for a second."For our sake, for the sake of God's elect, for the sake of those that Christ came to save." God the Father made God the Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin. He was the spotless Lamb to be sin, to be sin for us."So that on the cross he bore the infinite wrath of God, not just for everyone who would believe in him, but for every sin that every one of them would do." Now you know that one sin would damn a person to an infinity and an eternity of wrath and condemnation, correct? Now just think about, now don't think about yourself, think about somebody else, okay? If somebody else was to sin not once, but twice, now there's two eternities that they need to pay because one sin is enough to damn a person to hell, correct? And then they commit another one and another one and another one and another one. I mean, how many sins can a person do in a day's time? Two days' time. A decade, two decades. How many decades have you lived? How much judgment do you deserve? How much judgment do I deserve? And yet on the cross, Christ absorbed all of that wrath in a moment. Is that not amazing? I don't understand that, but that's what occurred. God the Father made the Lord Jesus Christ who knew no sin to be our sin. He bore that wrath, He bore that judgment, He bore that condemnation so that those that believe in Him would not experience that. So that they wouldn't experience the dereliction cry that He had, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" Christ was forsaken is what we deserve. You remember on the Day of Atonement that there were two goats that were brought before the people, and they would lay their hands on that goat. Why would they lay their hands on that goat? That goat was innocent. That goat had not committed any sin at all. And it was a transfer, it was a physical way for them to think about. I deserve this judgment. My guilt I'm placing on the head of this animal. One animal was sacrificed. That goat was the Atonement, right? It was the covering. It was the covering of sin. It was propitiation. It was the appeasement of God's wrath. They deserved to die. That goat died in their place. But the other goat we don't talk about as much. The other goat in Leviticus chapter 16 we call the scapegoat. You remember that one, the scapegoat? The scapegoat was led outside the camp. Remember the camp is where the presence of God is. And in the center of the camp that's where the temple or the tabernacle was. But no, this goat was taken from the tabernacle, from the temple, and it was led outside their camp, outside the presence of God, and was led into the wilderness. He didn't escape. He represented the abandonment of God. That goat would wander away from the presence. That's what we deserve. And Christ on the cross filled all of that, all of that. His life was the life that we never lived, fulfilling every aspect of the law. And that is what is credited to us when we believe in Him. So that we wouldn't be that scapegoat, abandoned, forsaken, outside the presence of God. The Old Testament is so full, dripping with grace all over the place. He's the God that is gracious and kind. He's the one that provides the sacrifice. He's the one that provides an atonement for us. Well, if that first goat was propitiation, the scapegoat is expiation. He takes our sins and He sends it away as far as the east is from the west. Philippians 2, verse 8, talking about Christ and being found in human form. He took on flesh. He dwelt among us. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient, obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. That obedience is what is counted towards our righteousness. Or later on in Philippians chapter 3, verse 9, it says that this is Paul talking about Himself. He was a Pharisee. He was one of the elite ones that was separate from the common people that were God's people. But no, he was saying, "I counted myself to be... Boy, I was in the right tribe. I was in the right club. I kept all the right rules." He said, "All of that I considered to be a great asset when I was a works' righteous worker. But then," he says, "when I came in contact with Christ, or rather when Christ came in contact with me and shown His blazing glory on that Damascus road, I saw everything that I once counted as gain. I now consider loss." That which was an asset is now a liability. And when he looked at Christ, he's like, "I have no righteousness." As he says in Philippians 3, 9, he says, "Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law." I don't want any of that. That's Scrubylon. That is trash. That is something that I don't want to touch anymore. My righteousness is as filthy rags. I don't want a righteousness that comes from the law. I can't do it. I'm already fallen in Adam, and I've sinned since then. I'm under the judgment of God. I don't want the righteousness that's tainted. He says, "But he wants that which comes through faith in Christ. I'm going to trust in him as my Lamb, as my sacrifice, as the one that has come and fulfilled the law, that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Well, let's take some time and let's go back to Matthew chapter 27. I've told you the meaning of the cross from the Epistles and even picking up some thoughts from the Old Testament. But what does the Gospel say about this? How would the Gospel describe for us the meaning of the cross? Look at verse 45."Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour." There was darkness. Jesus was probably crucified at 9 a.m. our time. And then about at the sixth hour, which would have been around noon, there was darkness over all the land. We might call this supernatural darkness. In the Old Testament, the day of the Lord is called a day of darkness. Maybe you remember that in Isaiah where it says the day of the Lord. There will be the sun darkened. Or in Joel when he talks about the day of the Lord, he says the sun shall be turned to darkness. And Joel in the third chapter, he says the sun and the moon will be darkened. Amos says the same thing in several places where there will be no light. Zephaniah picks up the day of the Lord and he says will it not be thick darkness, a day of wrath, the day of the Lord? Darkness is associated with judgment. Maybe you remember 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 talking about those fallen angels that have not kept their domain, but they have been placed in chains in gloomy darkness reserved for judgment. Revelation chapter 6 talks about the seal being opened up that great day where the sun became black as sackcloth. What should we do when we look at this darkness? We should see that God through the Holy Spirit is telling us that when the sun was blotted out, when darkness was over all of the land, that God is just, he is wrathful, and he punishes sin. That darkness tells you something about God. He will not sweep sin underneath the rug. There was darkness over all the land. Not only was there darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, but look at verse 46. In about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "L.I. L.I. Lama Sabathani." And then we are given the translation because we need it. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And there we see the sovereign departure. This is great mystery. Mysteries upon all mysteries. We don't understand the Trinity. We know that there is one God and three persons, and here we come across another mystery. How is it that God the Son could be forsaken by God the Father? We sing about it often, don't we, in our hymnbook? His robes for mine on 181. It says that God is estranged from God. Well, we don't want to jump into heresy by any means and saying that Jesus stopped being deity by any means. No, that's not what it means. That's not what it means to be forsaken. But the relationship between them was severed in some way. Just like that scapegoat was forsaken, Christ was forsaken. Furthermore, we also know that if there was this sovereign departure that this would tell us that God is holy and He is separate from sin. Look at verse 50. There we read, "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit." Here we see that Christ is the self, is self-giving, and is self-giving death. His body was like no other body because it wasn't fallen man. Let me take a little bit of your time and tell you about crucifixion. Christ willed Himself to death. He told His Spirit to depart from Him. You can't do that, but Christ did. Understand the travesty of crucifixion by the following. Crucifixion was a form of punishment that had been passed down from the Romans to the Persians, the Phoenicians, and the Carthaginians. Roman crucifixion was a lingering doom by design. Roman executioners had perfected the art of slow torture while keeping the victim alive. Some victims even lingered until they were eaten alive by birds of prey or wild beasts. Most hung on the cross for days before dying of exhaustion, dehydration, traumatic fever, or most likely, suffocation. When the legs would no longer support the weight of the body, the diaphragm was constricted in a way that made breathing impossible. That is why the breaking of legs would hasten, but this was not done in Jesus' case. It wasn't necessary because He gave up His Spirit. The hands were usually nailed through the wrist and the feet through its instep or Achilles' tendons, sometimes using one nail for both feet. None of these wounds would be fatal, but their pain would become unbearable as the hours dragged on. The most notable feature of crucifixion was the stigma of disgrace that was attached to it. One indignity was the humiliation of carrying one's own cross, which might weigh as much as two hundred pounds. Normally a quaternion or four soldiers would escort the prisoner through the crowd to the place of crucifixion, and a placard bearing the indictment was hung around the person's neck. Why do I show all of that gruesome detail about what Christ suffered? Because He died. Not days later, but that day. He yielded up His life as a substitute for those of us that deserved that death. This is to demonstrate that God is gracious and loving for His people. Furthermore, we also see in verse 51, "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." There we see the sanctuary devastation. It was torn not from the bottom up where man works their way to heaven, but no, God opens up. The Holy of Holies, the presence of God on the day of atonement when people were coming there to celebrate the Passover. Their temple was empty. Their temple was void. But God is saying, "I am making a way for heaven to come to you." This shows us that God has open arms granting access for all that would believe in His Son. Furthermore, in verse 51, we see after the curtain being torn in two, it says, "And the earth shook, and the rocks split open." Maybe we could call that soil disturbance if we're just trying to keep on alliterating things. The earth shook, rocks split open. Have we ever read where the kingdom of God would shake this earth? The renewing of the heavens and the earth when God would reformulate everything, God is establishing His kingdom even there. Furthermore, we read in verse 52, "The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, and they went to the holy city and appeared to many." Resurrection, it occurred after Christ, of course, because He is the first fruit. But here it's telling us that death does not have the last word. God is punching a hole through death and bringing forth life. And that tells us that God is life-giving. He is giving us resurrection life. Isn't this glorious? Obviously, we can go to the epistles to find out what the cross means. But I think this text out of Matthew 27, the Holy Spirit is telling us exactly what the cross means. It is not left to one's own interpretation. Well, let's praise God for all of this. Bow your heads with me. O Lord, we do thank You for Your goodness and for Your grace and for the cross of Christ. We ask, Lord, that You would use these words in our hearts so that we would worship Christ, so that we would submit to Christ, so that we would trust in Him and Him alone. Almighty God, we do thank You for Your Son. We thank You for Your Holy Spirit that has given us Your word so that we might know You. Bless this word in our lives. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.[Music]