Sermon Central
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Forsaken Series
Contributed by Troy Borst on Nov 7, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus became forsaken. Jesus willingly became separated from God. God turned His back on His Son so that all our sins might be paid for.
ESSENTIAL KING JESUS: FORSAKEN
#kingjesus
USE AUDIO BIBLE: Mark Chapter 15:1-47 [6:13]
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Mark.15
ESSENTIAL KING JESUS
We have been reading and meditating and listening our way through the Gospel of Mark for 15 weeks now. We are almost to the end of the Gospel of Mark. These 16 weeks through the Gospel of Mark, I’ve themed ‘Essential King Jesus.’ Next week we will do chapter 16 which is the final chapter in the Gospel of Mark.
Each week we are taking a look at one passage in a chapter. Each week I want to share with one essential truth that is important for us to believe and then also communicate to others about Jesus. We are focusing on the Essential King Jesus. I want to review the truth we have found so that we get these truths written on our hearts so we know what we believe and so we can share properly with others!
Mark 1: You cannot be part of the Kingdom of God without Jesus.
Mark 2: Jesus has all authority and all power to forgive sins.
Mark 3: Jesus came to do the will of God.
Mark 4: Jesus casts out fear.
Mark 5: Jesus breaks our chains.
Mark 6: Jesus can be rejected.
Mark 7: Jesus distastes hypocrisy.
Mark 8: Jesus is the Christ.
Mark 9: Jesus only.
Mark 10: Jesus wants child-like faith in the Kingdom of God.
Mark 11: Jesus overturns sin to holiness.
Mark 12: Jesus expects yielded fruit.
Mark 13: Jesus is in control.
Mark 14: Jesus is the blood of the covenant.
This week we are in Mark 15. Mark 15 shares with us so many truths about Jesus Christ as the passage recounts the death of Jesus. The Essential King Jesus for Mark 15: Jesus is the forsaken.
READ Mark 15:33-39 (ESV)
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, He is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
QUESTIONS
When I read this passage from Mark 15, there are so many questions that come to mind:
What does the word “forsaken” mean?
How could God forsake Himself?
Why would God forsake Jesus on the cross at the time when He needed Him the most?!
What is happening to Jesus on the cross that this abandonment is happening?
Is God in the habit of forsaking people?
Didn’t Jesus already know why God was turning His back on Him?
What does the Forsaken One do for us?
THREAD: Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
“Forsake” is a very strong word in my opinion. It means to “abandon.” It means “to cast aside or to completely turn your back on something.” It is a word of complete separation.
ILLUSTRATION… STORY 1 (p)
The scene is the African savannah. The tall grasses sway in the wind. The sun is high in the sky. The sounds of elephants and all kinds of animals can be heard over the breeze. Two lions are sitting amidst the grass watching the herds go by. The herds are unaware that two Kings of the Jungle are ready to hunt and eat them.
One lion is named Leo. One lion is named Lionel.
A nice juicy zebra walks by the hiding place of the two lions. Lionel looks at Leo and says, “Are you ready to go get that one?” Leo pulls out a large carrot stick and begins to munch on it and says, “No.”
A few minutes go by and a limp gazelle with babies goes by the lions’ hiding place. “Ooo Ooo,” says Lionel with excitement, “Limp and with young ones! This has to be it!” By this time, Leo has a nice fruit salad in front of him. There were apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes all chopped nicely together for a healthy mix of food. Leo is about half-way done with the fruit salad. With cheeks full of fruit, Leo says ‘No’ in a very disinterested fashion.
Lionel doesn’t know what to think. They are lions. They are fierce. They are hunters. They are meat eaters extraordinaire. They are the Kings of the Jungle that instill fear into prey. Lionel wasn’t feeling like Leo wanted to be a lion anymore. Just then, a fat pig walked by and would be easy prey. Lionel gets ready and says, “Ok let’s go! Bacon for Breakfast!” Leo says, “No” as he finishes off a bag of pretzels.
