The Third Phrase: All Guarantee

Verily, verily, I say to you, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Our Lord was hanging between two condemned thieves who were taunting him and challenging him to save himself and them. As they were gasping for breath, one of them continued his rage and blasphemy, but the other came to his senses and was touched by the Spirit of God. He rebuked the other thief, confessing that he was a sinner deserving of death. He reached out, helplessly, to Christ, confessing and begging for help. With utmost simplicity and weakness, yet sincerely, he said to Him, "Remember me, O Lord, when you come into your kingdom."

What an amazing Savior, able to save the most wretched of sinners and forgive the sins of those immersed in darkness, even in the darkest of circumstances and the final moments of life. If Jesus had merely encouraged him with kind, comforting words, hoping for a happy eternal place or portion, that hopeless thief would have remained in the abyss of despair. But He gave him the certainty that on that very day, he would be with Him in Paradise.

What a strange scene! Three people were hanging, seemingly alike, yet so different from one another. One of them died in his sins and was lost forever. This fellow of ours died because of his sins, but he won eternal forgiveness because he believed in the third, who died for the sins of us all.

The assurance that the Lord offered that thief challenges any sinner to come to Christ, confessing his sins, no matter what they may be, for He alone is able to forgive them. If you are still drowning in a sea of ​​confusion, return to yourself and place your complete trust in Him. He is able to grant you forgiveness, grant you assurance, and lead you to safety in a moment. Please, come to Him now... now.

Fourth Phrase: The Most Harsh Abandonment

"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" (Matthew 27:46)

Three hours after Christ was crucified, around noon, nature was enveloped in black. A miraculous darkness separated Christ from everyone around him, and God's just judgment fell upon that righteous man. It was not merely physical or psychological suffering, but the atoning suffering in which Christ bore the penalty for sin.

Truly, the wrath of the God of heaven was poured out upon the person of the sacrificed Christ, who stood alone to pay the price for our sins and restore what He had not stolen. The flames of judgment and divine abandonment were so terrifying that Jesus cried out in Aramaic from the depths of his being: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Christ suffered greatly at the hands of men, yet we do not read that he cried out even when he was beaten and nailed to the cross. His cry here was because he was forsaken by God and endured the atoning sufferings on our behalf.

These were undoubtedly the three most painful hours in human history, during which Christ, the Son of Man, was forsaken by the just God because he bore our sins. The bowls of God's wrath against sin were poured out upon Christ, because he is the only righteous substitute capable of paying the penalty for our sins, being sinless.

By Brother /  Makram Mashreqi