Jonah Albrecht

Lent 5 April 6th, 2025

Matthew 27:45-46

On the Road to Easter: Jesus Suffered the Torment of Hell

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

INI, Who became the Substitute of sinners on the cross, DFR:

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the title of a novel written by Oscar Wilde back in the early 1900’s.  It’s an interesting story and actually has a lot to do with our text tonight.  The story is about an artist who painted a portrait of the young and handsome Dorian Gray and gave it to him.  One day, Dorian casually made the wish that his picture might grow old and careworn, while he himself might retain his youth and good looks.  Lo and behold, that is exactly what happens.  He had forgotten about his wish until night when he snobbishly jilted his girlfriend, causing her to commit suicide.  To his surprise, the picture had a cruel sneer that wasn’t there before.  From there it snowballed.  Whatever he did wrong in his life showed up in the portrait, while he remained young and innocent.  When he finally committed murder, there was even blood on the picture.

Oscar Wilde was an unbeliever, but it is entirely possible that he took his theme from the Gospel.  Because in one very real sense, Jesus is to us what that picture was to Dorian Gray.  He was charged with our sins — we are declared not guilty in His sight.  That is our subject as we continue on the Road to Easter, today we see that Jesus Bore the Fearful Wrath of God in our Place.

It was 9 o’clock in the morning when Jesus was nailed to the cross. For three hours now He has been hanging there under the hot sun. Three times He had spoken from the cross and each word was meant for the comfort of those standing nearby. He prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him and were mocking Him; He promised eternal glory to the repentant thief on the cross; and He made sure His mother was taken care of by His disciple John. But without notice, at Noon, a thick darkness began to spread, first across Golgotha, then across the region, finally covering the earth. This wasn’t any normal darkness. It wasn’t cloud cover or an eclipse of the sun. This was a terrifying and smothering darkness that would not soon go away.

For three hours Jesus suffered under the glare and heat of the sun. His strength dried up like a potsherd and thirst ravaged His body, as Scripture predicted. The mockery and verbal assaults from the crowd suddenly stopped. There was silence. Darkness covered from man’s view the cruelty which was heaped upon God’s own Son. It was as though Creation itself was responding at the injustice heaped upon its Creator.

From noon till 3, these were the hours prophesied by Isaiah that it was the will of the LORD to crush Him. Jesus bore the full wrath and punishment of God over our sins. He suffered patiently and silently. Each moment becoming more and more excruciating and unbearable. Finally, Jesus breaks the silence and cries out, “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabbachtani, that is to say, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’

These are the most unusual words coming from this Man. Never before has He prayed in this way. When He was in the garden, He prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” While on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And even when His suffering had ended and He was drawing His last breath, He cried out, “Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.” Nowhere else do you find Jesus praying to His heavenly Father, “My God, My God.”

Why does He pray this way? We know the answer. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all. Jesus was charged with and made to bear the sin of all of mankind.

Imagine, for a moment, all the people whom we have hurt with angry words, careless deeds, and willful neglect. Imagine every transgression against God’s holy commandments that has been duly recorded as evidence against us, screaming for retribution, for justice. Imagine standing before the judge of all the earth whose system of justice demands that every crime be punished fairly. He allows no “time off for good behavior.” No one can make up for one sin by doing good deeds. And now consider, God in heaven laid on His Son Jesus the iniquity of us all.

Justice means to get what the crime deserves. God’s justice would demand that it is you and me suffering eternally in hell, separated from God’s goodness and grace forever. Justice has two opposites. Injustice and Mercy. Injustice means an unfair ruling. Mercy means you get what you don’t deserve. Jesus received an injustice – God’s justice so that God could should you and me mercy – the forgiveness for all our sins.

To show mercy to us meant that God could show no mercy to His Son. In this hour He could not act as a father, only as an angry judge. He could not comfort His one and only Son, but could only inflict the punishment of hell upon Him. In the depths of His soul, Jesus felt God’s anger. He could not pray “Father” but only, “My God, My God!”

Jesus also asked the question, WHY? Never before had He asked His Father this question. Jn. 17 is the longest prayer of Jesus the Bible records. There He didn’t ask the question why. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked if God could remove the cup of suffering from Him — but He didn’t ask the question WHY.

There was another man in Scripture who asked God Why. When his ten children died in a single day, when all his possessions were taken away and his body was inflicted with painful sores, Job asked, WHY? Today, Christians are tempted to ask WHY?  Why did my loved one die?  Why did God let me get this disease?  Why do I have to sit in this wheelchair?  God’s answer today is the same as it was for Job. God never told Job WHY he was suffering. Instead, God used Job’s sufferings to turn his trust back to Himself. God said, “Trust me, Job.  I know what I’m doing.  I only act in my wisdom and I know what is best.  And Job, I love you.  I would never harm you.  So trust that what’s happening in your life right now will work out for your good and my glory.”

Jesus asked Why, but He knew the answer.  He knew that God must punish His own Son in hell so that sinners could taste the glories of heaven.

Jesus asked, “Why have Your forsaken Me?” That’s an amazing statement, too. In this life, no one knows what it means to be forsaken by God. Only the damned in hell can understand what it means to be cut off from God’s grace and goodness. Sometimes people say, “I’ve been through hell here on earth.” But they don’t know what they’re talking about. As long as we are in this life, we experience the goodness and grace of God. He causes the sun to shine both upon the just and the unjust. Though we experience pain and misery, God in His grace continue to grant healing and relief — both to believers and unbelievers. But once an unbeliever dies and is forsaken by God — then despair and suffering never decrease.

There may be times when we feel alone and we wonder where God has been.  But God promises to never leave you or forsake you. He can make and keep that promise because He abandoned His Son to hell. The exact justice for sin we deserved has been served in to the fullest degree.

How could it be that God would abandon Jesus?  How can the same God who said, “This is My Beloved Son…” turn His back on the same Son and abandon Him to hell?  It was the only way God could claim us as His children and adopt us into His family. The innocent blood of the Son of God was the only price that could satisfy the payment for our sin and guilt.

Because God abandoned Jesus in hell, you can be absolutely certain that He will never forsake you. God cannot. To forsake you, His child by Jesus, God would be punishing you twice for sins.  You see, He punished you when He punished Jesus on the cross. God justice will not punish you again. For God to abandon you, his child by Jesus, God would have to dishonor the sacrifice that Jesus made for you on the cross! That is something the Father in heaven could never do. Because Jesus went to hell for us, we will never have to speak the words Jesus spoke on the cross: My God, MY God, Why have you forsaken me?

In these brutal hours of darkness, God brought to completion the promise He made to Adam and Eve all those years ago. All the thousands upon thousands of animal sacrifices for the people were made obsolete – for, He (Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Heb. 9:12 ESV) Salvation has come, Eternal life has been won.

Getting back to the Dorian Gray story – there is one more analogy we can draw.  As time passed, the portrait became so hideous that Dorian could not stand to look at it.  One night, in a fit of rage, he took a knife and stabbed the canvas.  A scream was heard down the hall.  When they burst into the room, there on the floor was the body of a decrepit old man; on the wall was a picture of the young and handsome Dorian Gray.

Jesus bore the wrath of God for all people and made available His perfection righteousness. When people reject what He has done for them, they become their same old hideous, sinful selves again. Jesus is our sure Hope — and He is also our only Hope. Without faith in Him people are doomed to the very hell Jesus suffered for them. That’s why it is so urgent that we share the Gospel with everyone who will listen.  That’s why we need to encourage and build up one another in the faith. That’s why we should never stop praying for those who have fallen away.  Jesus bore hell’s punishment in our place. There is no reason why anyone should suffer that again.  Amen.