Easter message from the CEO of the BSSA

“From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘He’s calling Elijah.’ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.’ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons” (Matthew 27:45-56, NIV).

Knowing God: Understanding the crucifixion

When the story of Jesus’ crucifixion is told or preached, Jesus is often portrayed as a hopeless figure on the cross who lost the battle against the ruling powers of the time, a helpless man whose only way of convincing people of the truth of his message of hope was to submit to failure.

It would seem many people want to create sympathy for Jesus, who surrendered his life for mankind. Others find it difficult to accept the invitation to follow a leader who died by hanging helplessly on a cross.

Some might even say that Jesus was rejected and cursed by God, referencing Deuteronomy 21:23: “You must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.”

If dying on a cross was considered a curse, it is strange then that Paul would say, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Paul even regarded himself to be crucified. In his letter to the congregation of Galatia, he writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

However, although the brutal spectacle at Calvary is one of great sorrow and mourning for the followers of Jesus, this scene is the final act of his triumph over evil. When Jesus speaks of his crucifixion, he thus speaks from a position of power.

“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18).

In cross-examining Jesus, Pontius Pilate was baffled by his calm composure and refusal to argue or defend himself.

“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Even when Pilate reminds Jesus of his worldly authority, Jesus is not perturbed.

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:10-11a).

Earlier in the interrogation, Jesus is questioned about his claims regarding his kingdom, to which he answers, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).

Concluding that Jesus is innocent, Pilate wanted nothing to do with his death.

A forsaken Saviour?

So, how should we interpret Jesus’ outcry of “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)?

What was God’s reason for rejecting Jesus? Why was God’s curse on him?

Jesus did not lose control or become overwhelmed by what was happening to him when he cried out on the cross. He was still the High Priest who brought the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man. By uttering the words above, Jesus quoted Psalm 22, which was written by King David some 1 000 years earlier. In this prophetic psalm, the story of the Lord’s crucifixion is described.

David, described as the apple of God’s eye, had a most intimate relationship with God and was promised that his descendant would occupy the throne of the people of God forever – a promise fulfilled in Jesus, who was born from the lineage of this great king of Israel.

The words Jesus spoke were a confirmation of God’s wrath against sin. By turning his face away from his Son, God confirmed that Jesus had now become the object of wrath in the place of man. Jesus, without blame (just as the sacrificial lamb without blemish), was an acceptable and, indeed, the ultimate sacrifice declared an appropriate price to pay for mankind’s sin against God.

By his death on the cross, Jesus makes it possible for man to again enter into the holy presence of the almighty God, restoring the relationship man had with God in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man.

In paying for the sins of man once and for all, Jesus, as both the Son of God and the son of man, now acts as the mediator between man and God. The debt of mankind’s sin has been paid in full. It truly is finished.

Up until the moment of Jesus’ death, the religious rituals in the Jewish temple were merely a foreshadowing of the future relationship man will have with God following Christ’s atonement at Calvary.

The creation power of the cross

At 15:00, darkness descended on the earth and it lasted for three hours.

Some commentators believe the darkness and this outcry from Jesus illustrate the extent of the wrath God poured out on his son.

Jesus’ words are the expression of the hell he suffered in our place so that we will never have to be forsaken by God.

The darkness and earthquake point to the chaos that sin brought about on earth. It is reminiscent of the chaos and darkness that existed before God called it to order and created a good place for man to live. But with our sinfulness, we tarnished that which was good and in those three hours, the forces of darkness were revealed again. Yet, even in this chaos, God is in control. He restores order again with his Word. In Ezekiel, we see this beautifully described as a stream of water flowing out from under the temple, which brings life to the desert and the Dead Sea.

The words of Jesus to the disciples and the Samaritan woman about the way we will worship God in the future are being fulfilled. The words of Jesus confirm that he alone carries the responsibility of the salvation of men and sets their recreation in motion. The curtain to the holy of holies is torn open, and the holy presence of God is exposed to the darkness, creating a new dispensation of closeness to men – the light of life that darkness cannot overcome (John 1:4-5).

How the cross changed us

The High Priest has paid the price required for our sin; our relationship with God is restored! The temple has lost its function because we are now the temple of God.

Paul reminds the Corinthians, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

We are holy not because of ourselves, but because of the sacrifice of Jesus and because the Spirit of God that dwelt in the temple now dwells in us! In faith, we accept the High Priest who teaches us the law of God. When we put our faith in him, we become obedient to God once again.

The Bible says: “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). Jesus fulfilled the promise God made to save the world. He is once again omnipresent in his glory and declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

As his temple in this world, we now have the task to bring people into the presence of God, thus Jesus instructs us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19).

When we celebrate Easter, we do not crucify Jesus again. Jesus is alive and reigns over us in the new relationship that he established within us. We are excited not because of the conditions that we find ourselves in, but because of who we are because of him.

---

Support our current Bible translation projects

Read the Bible for free in 11 South African languages

Buy affordable Bibles in your language online