Three Hours…

Matthew 27:45-46

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Quickword: Three Hours…

The Superbowl game between the San Francisco 49’s and Kansas City Chiefs a few days agi lasted around three hours. The Chiefs were victorious and as a part of the celebration a victory parade was held. We know that unfortunately a gunmen opened fire on the parade costing the loss of innocent life and injuries otherd. It’s enough to cause us to cry out, My God, My God, Why have you forsaken us. Beloved it, even in the midst of another mass shooting , in the midst of political choas of border security, in the midst of people struggling to put food on the table, the rising cost of the basic necessities of life, can I tell you about another three hours where our victory was assured. Beloved some 2000 plus years ago there was another three hours that would determine more than winners and losers of a gamee. You see here in Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 27, the writer lays out before us the death of Jesus on the cross and it’s impact to all humanity. In the text today I just highlight three hours.

- Because the Son of God was being crucified, the sun did not shine and darkness covered the land.

- During that three hours, Jesus called to the Father questioning if He had been forsaken.

- Thank God there was more after the three hours.

My brothers and sisters, there comes a time in all of our lives where it seems that we have been forsaken and when that occurs we can cry out to God. Even Jesus, the Savior of the world had to cry out to God the Father in His moments of despair. All of us will go through trials and tribulations, we all will have those three hours situations figuratively where it seems as if all is lost. But I got some good news for you. We serve a God that can see us through our darkest hours. I encourage you today to hold on, if you need to cry out, cry out, don’t give up, don’t throw in the towel, trust in God, God who knows what you are going through, God who is ever present, God who has all power in His Hands. We have the victory through Jesus Christ! He died that Friday for our sins but early Sunday Morning, He was raised with all power in his hand. He got up and if we connect to Him , we too can overcome the world.