Read: Matthew 27:46
45 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?” 
47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
In the process of being made more like Jesus, the Christian life can sometimes feel more like death than life. The old self and the old ways are dying in order for the new ways, the new life in Christ to emerge. A young church leader facing this season in her life asked, “Does everyone have to go through this painful place in the spiritual life?” Her mentor stopped and thought for a moment before answering, “Well, even Jesus had to die in order for the will of God to come forth in his life.”
The fourth word Jesus spoke on the cross speaks of the suffering and pain Jesus endured as he bore our sin on the cross. After Jesus was nailed to the cross, darkness came over the land from noon until three o’clock. It was a sign of judgment and tragedy; a sign that the light of the world’s life was being snuffed out. It was a sign to the Jewish people that their actions, their sin, had propelled them into spiritual darkness.
Not only is the judgment on the land and on its people, it’s a judgment on Jesus. It’s not a judgment that results from any sin or wrong in his life – he was a perfect, sinless man, but as he hanged on the cross, as he suffered and drew near to death, the darkness pointed toward the judgment for our sins which Jesus bore on the cross. His cry of desolation, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” echoed the pain and agony of your sins, and my sins, and the sins of the world laid upon our Lord and Savior.
Jesus was forsaken, abandoned in some sense to take upon himself the sin of you and me so we would never be. Jesus has said that if we are to follow him, we too must take up our cross and die daily. We must deny ourselves and forsake our old self and the ways of the world in order to be made new.
Does everyone have to go through a painful place in the spiritual life? Dying to self is often painful. It is rarely easy. We cling to our old, comfortable ways. We don’t like surrendering our will to anyone else…even God! But if we are to be made into the image of Jesus; if we are to experience the resurrection life that is ours in Christ; we must die. We must join our hearts and lives with Jesus in his death…so we can be resurrected!
Reflect on the grace of our Lord Jesus in going to the cross to endure the penalty for your sin. Thank him. Think about what it is he has saved you from and give him praise for his love, mercy, and grace.
What needs to die in you in order that God’s will might come forth more in your life?
Is there something new that God is doing or wants to do in your life that requires more of the old things to pass away?
Where do you sense God wants to teach you obedience through the things you are suffering?
If you feel led, pray this prayer adapted from Henri Nouwen in Spirituality of Waiting:
Yes, Lord, I have to die – with you, through you, and in you –
There is so much in me that needs to die: false attachments, greed and anger, impatience and stinginess. O Lord, I am self-centered, concerned about myself, my career, my future, my name and fame. Often I even feel that I use you to my own advantage.
I see clearly how little I have died with you, really gone your way and been faithful to it. O Lord, let me find you again.
Amen.
Jesus endured the pain our sin. He died a death he did not deserve so that you and I might live. We must die in small ways day-by-day as we seek to love Him and learn obedience; as we surrender our lives and our will to the One who loves us with an undying love. May our old ways, our old self die away completely that we might grow to truly reflect the new creations we are in Christ!