Devotion - Matthew 27:45 - 54

Verse

Matthew 27:45–54 – “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?’… And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit… When the centurion and those who were with him… saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”

Meditation

In the darkness that fell at midday, the heavens bore witness to the weight of judgment. Christ, the sinless One, was made sin for us, and in this fearful exchange He tasted the full measure of abandonment. His cry—piercing, raw, divine—is not one of doubt but of desolation born in obedience. Even in forsakenness, He clings to the Father. The veil is torn, the earth quakes, and graves open—creation itself groans at its Creator’s death. And yet, from a pagan centurion comes the first confession of faith: “Truly this was the Son of God.” Thus even in death, Christ conquers. The cross stands as the turning point of all history, where judgment and mercy meet, and hearts are opened not by might, but by the Lamb who was slain.

Old Testament

Amos 8:9 – “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”
The prophet’s words find their solemn fulfillment in the darkened sky of Golgotha, as heaven itself bears witness to the grief and glory of the Cross.

Collect

O Lord Jesus Christ, who bore the wrath of God and the silence of heaven that we might be reconciled, grant that we may never forget the cost of our redemption. Teach us to stand in holy awe before Your Cross, to mourn our sin and rejoice in Your mercy, and to confess with heart and voice that truly You are the Son of God; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymn Verse

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,

Was there ever grief like His?

Friends through fear His cause disowning,

Foes insulting His distress;

Many hands were raised to wound Him,

None would intervene to save;

But the deepest stroke that pierced Him

Was the stroke that Justice gave.

—Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted– LSB 451 v2