Series: RED LETTER DAY
WEEK 1: Why Have You Forsaken Me?
Text: Matthew 27:37-43
Pastor Tom Cogle
Sunday, March 8, 2026
27 Above (Jesus’) head they placed the written charge against
him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Two
robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his
left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their
heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple
and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the
cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief
priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42
“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s
the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and
we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him
now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'”
Matthew 27:37-43 NIV
trusts: peitho (pi’-tho); to convince, to rely on with inward
certainty, have full confidence, or complete trust.
45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over
all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud
voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”-which means, “My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:45-46 NIV
WE ONLY SEE PART OF THE STORY
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall
see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
1)
2)
3)
GOD IS GOOD.
No one is good — except God alone. Mark 10:18 NIV
GOD IS FOR ME.
If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did
not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how
will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all
things? Romans 8:31-33 NIV
GOD IS WITH ME.
…Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5 NIV
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on
your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge
him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
THE BETTER I KNOW GOD
- THE LESS I ASK “WHY?”
- THE MORE I ASK “WHAT?”
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
Think About it:
Was there a time when you felt completely alone or abandoned
by God?
God is good. God is for me. God is with me.
How will these truths change your beliefs?
How can you change your why to what in each of those areas?
What God is saying to you through Jesus’ last words?