The Cross: Why have you forsaken me?

Devotional

Day 1: Trusting God When Life Goes Dark

It is easy to trust God when the sun is shining and all is well. The true test of faith, however, comes not in the light but in the darkness. When circumstances are overwhelming, when pain is acute, and when heaven seems silent, the ancient question whispers to our hearts: will you still trust Him? This is the moment to hold on with inward certainty, even when you cannot see the way forward. True trust is not dependent on favorable conditions but on the unchanging character of God. [05:12]

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific situation in your life right now that feels like a "darkness," where it is difficult to sense God's presence or goodness? In what practical way can you choose to trust in His character rather than your understanding of the circumstances today?

Day 2: God is Not Offended by Your "Why"

In moments of deep anguish, confusion, or grief, the question "why?" can rise naturally from a hurting heart. This is not a sign of weak faith or rebellion. The cry of Jesus from the cross demonstrates that God can handle our most honest and painful questions. He is not fragile or distant in the face of our despair but enters into it with us. You are permitted to bring your full, unfiltered heartache to God without fear of rejection. [12:48]

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?” (Matthew 27:46, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life have you felt you couldn't ask God "why" for fear of disappointing Him? What would it look like to honestly bring that question to Him now, not demanding an answer, but simply seeking His comforting presence in the middle of it?

Day 3: Holding On to What is True About God

When chaos and pain threaten to overwhelm, our feelings can lie to us about God's nature. In these times, we must actively hold on to the unchanging truths revealed in Scripture. We declare what we know to be true, even when it feels untrue: that God is inherently good, that He is unequivocally for us, and that He is perpetually with us. These are not sentimental platitudes but bedrock realities that anchor our souls in any storm. [16:44]

…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31b-32, ESV)

Reflection: Which of these three truths—God is good, God is for me, or God is with me—is most difficult for you to believe in your current season? What is one step you can take this week to remind yourself of this truth, such as memorizing a verse or recalling a past time He proved it faithful?

Day 4: From Asking "Why" to Asking "What"

A deepening relationship with God often shifts the questions we ask in difficulty. While "why" focuses on reasons we may never fully grasp, "what" turns our attention toward God's active purpose and presence. Instead of asking why something is happening, we can learn to ask what God might be doing in it, what He wants to teach us, or how He desires to reveal Himself. This reframes our perspective from confusion to seeking divine purpose. [23:26]

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV)

Reflection: Is there a current challenge where you have been persistently asking God "why"? How might your perspective change if you began to prayerfully ask Him "what"—as in, "What are you doing in this?" or "What would you have me learn through this?"

Day 5: The Cross is the Proof of God's Love

The greatest darkness ever known was the moment the Father turned away from the Son. This was not a failure of plan or a lapse in love, but the ultimate demonstration of it. Jesus was forsaken so that we would never have to be. He absorbed the full weight of our sin and its consequences so we could receive His righteousness. The cross is the definitive answer to any question about God's commitment to us, proving that He is both for us and with us forever. [25:17]

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV)

Reflection: When you look at the cross, what does it specifically tell you about God's feelings toward you? How can remembering the price Jesus paid strengthen your trust in God's goodness during your own times of feeling abandoned or confused?

Sermon Summary

The narrative centers on the final hours at Calvary, focusing on the phrases Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross and the spiritual questions those words raise. The crowd’s mockery — “You who would destroy the temple…” and “He trusts in God; let God rescue him now” — reframes trust as the central test when life collapses. Brutal physical details of scourging, mocking, and crucifixion underscore how completely human suffering met divine purpose, culminating in the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Darkness covering the land marks the moment of seeming abandonment, yet the text insists that abandonment served a salvific end: Jesus bore the weight of sin so humanity might receive righteousness.

Personal struggle with anxiety illustrates how suffering attacks trust, not merely the body. Panic and spiraling thoughts expose the difference between trusting circumstances and trusting God. The teaching urges a shift from demanding explanations to seeking God’s action: instead of only asking “Why?” when pain arrives, ask “What is God doing here?” The sermon offers three declarations to anchor faith amid mystery — God is good, God is for the believer, and God is with the believer — each rooted in Scripture and aimed at steadying the heart when answers remain hidden.

Scripture provides both honesty and hope: Jesus’ cry remains recorded, which signals that God can handle human questions and that sincere anguish does not disqualify one from divine love. The cross does not tidy every why into an answer; it demonstrates God’s solidarity in darkness and his commitment to redeeming suffering. The theological core rests on substitutionary atonement articulated in 2 Corinthians 5:21: the sinless one becomes sin so that sinners might become righteous in Christ.

An invitation accompanies the exposition: embrace the cross’s meaning, receive forgiveness, and join a community that walks the faith journey together. Prayer for global suffering and a longing for ultimate redemption close the message, connecting personal grief to the wider brokenness of the world while insisting that trust in an unchanging, good, and present God remains the right posture even when the path stays unclear.

Key Takeaways

1. Trust persists in the darkness When trouble strips away comforting circumstances, trust does not depend on visible outcomes but on inward conviction. Trust becomes a deliberate posture exercised when feelings and surroundings contradict belief. Cultivating trust means rehearsing God’s character when evidence feels scarce, so faith endures beyond moods and moments. [05:12]
2. God suffers with human pain The crucifixion places divine solidarity at the heart of suffering: God enters the darkest human place rather than standing apart. That solidarity reshapes grief from proof of divine absence into evidence of divine participation. Recognizing this presence reframes pain as a context for redemptive work, not proof of abandonment. [09:27]
3. Honest questions meet God's presence The recorded cry “Why?” shows that honest lament does not threaten God’s dignity or distance. Expressing raw doubt and grief can coexist with faith because God welcomes the questioner, not just the confident. Such lament becomes a bridge into deeper dependence rather than a barrier to grace. [12:48]
4. Shift from why to what When God’s purposes remain opaque, asking “What is God doing?” redirects the heart from accusation to curiosity and obedience. This posture invites attention to providential patterns and next steps instead of insisting on full explanations. Practicing this question trains spiritual discernment amid uncertainty. [23:26]
5. Jesus bore sin; righteousness follows The doctrine of substitution frames the forsakenness on the cross: the sinless one assumed sin so others might receive righteousness. This costly exchange explains both the agony of abandonment and the power of forgiveness. Meditating on that exchange grounds hope in a concrete act, not mere sentiment. [24:14]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:44] - Series: The Cross
[01:10] - Context at Matthew 27
[01:37] - Two rebels and mockery
[03:10] - The physical suffering described
[05:12] - The question of trust
[06:05] - Personal testimony: anxiety
[09:27] - Jesus' cry of abandonment
[16:15] - Three declarations introduced
[18:16] - God is good
[19:37] - God is for me
[21:10] - God is with me
[24:14] - Why God turned away
[30:14] - Invitation to trust
[30:50] - Prayer and closing

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
Matthew 27:45–46 (ESV):
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, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV):
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

---

Observation questions

What specific words did the crowd use to mock Jesus while He was on the cross, and what did their words imply about trust? [02:29]
What physical details of Jesus’ suffering are described in the sermon, and what do they reveal about the extent of His agony? [03:25]
What shift in language does Jesus use when crying out to God in Matthew 27:46, and why is that significant? [10:00]
What three declarations about God’s character are emphasized in the sermon? [16:15]

---

Interpretation questions

Why did Jesus experience a sense of abandonment by the Father on the cross, and how does 2 Corinthians 5:21 help explain this? [24:14]
How does the darkness that covered the land during the crucifixion reflect God’s response to what was happening? [09:01]
In what ways does Jesus’ cry of “Why?” demonstrate that God welcomes honest questions and lament from His people? [12:30]
How does trusting God in darkness differ from trusting Him when circumstances are favorable? [05:12]

---

Application questions

When life feels dark or out of control, what practical steps can be taken to shift from asking “Why?” to asking “What is God doing in this situation?” [23:26]
How can reminding yourself that “God is good, God is for me, and God is with me” change your response in moments of anxiety or confusion? [18:16]
In what area of your life right now is it most difficult to trust God, and how can the truth of the cross strengthen your trust in His character? [06:58]
How might expressing honest doubt or grief to God, rather than hiding it, actually deepen your dependence on Him? [12:48]
Where have you been tempted to believe that God has abandoned you, and how can Jesus’ experience on the cross reassure you of His presence? [21:10]
What would it look like this week to actively rehearse God’s unchanging character when your feelings or circumstances seem to contradict His goodness? [17:41]
How does understanding that Jesus bore the full weight of your sin impact the way you view your own failures and God’s forgiveness? [24:58]

Sermon Clips

And some of you carry wounds from abuse or neglect, things that should have never happened to you, things that were were not your fault at all. And somewhere in that darkness, you've wondered, God, where are you in all of this? And the ancient whisper returns. Are you really going to trust Him? That's why this moment on the cross matters so very much. Because when Jesus cried, why? Why have you forsaken me? Heaven did not rebuke Him. That cry is recorded in Scripture, which means that God is not offended by your why. [00:12:06] (36 seconds) #ItsOkayToAskWhy

No matter how alone you may feel, no matter how betrayed you may have been, God promises that He will never leave, that He is good, that He is for you, and that He is always with you. Now, I want to talk for just a moment about why God, the Father, had to had to turn His presence from His one and only Son. But I'll say this, he forsook his son, and he left his son so that he would never have to forsake you. So even when we don't understand, we can always remember that God is good, that God is for us, and that God is with us. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. [00:21:20] (49 seconds) #NeverForsakenByGod

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What does My God my God mean

How should Christians trust God amid anxiety

What does Jesus becoming sin accomplish for believers

The Cross: Why have you forsaken me?

Devotional

Day 1: Trusting God When Life Goes Dark

Day 2: God is Not Offended by Your "Why"

Day 3: Holding On to What is True About God

Day 4: From Asking "Why" to Asking "What"

Day 5: The Cross is the Proof of God's Love

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

The Cross: Why have you forsaken me?

Share