Between the Pieces: What Really Happened at the Cross (Part 9)

The following is Part 9 of the transcript of the sermon by Pastor Paul White titled “Between the Pieces: What Really Happened at the Cross”. Check back each day as we continue to post the transcript to this exciting sermon.

Pastor, are you saying that Jesus had sin? Absolutely not. He had none. But he had all of ours. Thank God. If he hadn’t had all of ours, somebody’s got to pay. But he took all of ours so we don’t have to pay.

Now, I want to bring it home with this:

Pastor, what about, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

At Calvary, Jesus said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Matthew and Mark, both, cover the phrase, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Luke and John do not mention it.

I want to dig into that for just a moment because I want to show you what I believe, and it took the Lord stirring this in my spirit. I didn’t sleep very well for about two nights this week, as the Holy Spirit stirred in my heart: Clean up the picture of Daddy God. I want the people to know what I actually did at the cross in punishing their sins.

One of the first questions I asked was: Lord, help me deal with the scripture, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Mark 15:

[I’m going to read Mark’s version, but I’m going to read some context, and I want you to grab some of this stuff because it’s going to come back to you in a second.]

Here’s what the crowd at the cross says that day at Calvary, “Save yourself. Come down from the cross.”

Now, what the crowd doesn’t know is that if Jesus does this, every one of them will die. If He saves Himself and comes down from the cross, nobody gets saved. So by saving Himself, none of us would get saved. But because He didn’t save Himself, all of us can be saved.

“Save yourself and come down from the cross.”

31:

“Likewise, also, the Chief Priest, mocking, said amongst themselves, and with the scribes, ‘He saved others, but Himself He cannot save’”

Look at this smart-aleck comment. They stand at the edge of the cross and say, ‘He saved other people, but look at Him; He can’t save Himself.”

Listen to the sarcasm in the next verse:

“Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe, and they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.”

There were people standing at the foot of the cross, mocking my Jesus saying, “If you’re Christ… Let Christ the King of Israel come down off the cross and save Himself if he’s really the King of Israel.” So there is anger being spewed; even the two criminals start out by reviling him. Remember what Isaiah said? “He was reviled, but He reviled not back.” Those that were crucified reviled Him.

Next verse:

“And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

This is very important because if a person is going to hang on a tree, he has to be removed before the sun goes down. Want to see a miracle? So that man can’t sneak Jesus off the tree before the sun goes down, God darkens the sun at noon.
‘At the sixth hour, which is noon, darkness came over the land until the ninth hour.’ During that three hours of darkness, something spectacular was happening.

The identification that something had to be hanging on that tree in the dark had to come to light to someone. But, at the ninth hour of the day, 3:00 pm, Jesus is still on the cross.