On Question of Sport they have a round called the what happened next round, in it you see a piece of action from a given sport and then guess what happens next after the tape stops. Here’s a picture see if you can guess what happens next?

Rugby Union. The 2007 World Cup final between England and South Africa at the Stade de France in October. South Africa's fullback Percy Montgomery and England's centre Toby Flood challenge for the ball. They end up crashing into the hoardings and Montgomery into a TV camera.

Today is Palm Sunday; Matthew 21 describes events as a jubilant crowd throw their cloaks on the ground, others caught up in celebrating the coming of David’s Son rip palm branches off the trees to lay in the road. And the crowd cheer

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

If you could ask people in that crowd what would happen next what would the answer would be? I don’t think any of them would predict that a week later Jesus would hang on a cross, let alone cry out these words.

In fact as you read the gospels it is an amazing ending. Here is a man who as a baby was announced by angels as the Saviour, whose coming would bring peace on earth. This is the one who has given grieving parents back their dead children alive, who has fed the hungry, had the crowds flocking to see miracles; the sick healed, the blind see, the lame walk. This is the one who teaches with authority - who calls people to love your neighbour as yourself, to pray for those that persecute you, to turn the other cheek, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

And yet he hangs on a cross crying out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These words that Matthew records are the ultimate twist, they beat any Hollywood film hands down. How has he gone from adulation to isolation? But there is more to it than just people’s reactions to him; it isn’t that he has just lost the crowd. This man whose words and actions prove he is the Messiah, who has God’s power and authority, who has done nothing but call for radical love for God shown in love for others, who has done nothing but God’s will, who has taught God’s truth and promises the most intimate relationship with God imaginable ends up not just dying on a cross but crying out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

The big question is why? Why and how does Jesus, God’s Messiah, his promised one end up here, crying out in anguish? Words you would never expect to hear from his lips. There are just two things this morning as we think about these words that changed the world. Jesus cry from the cross shows us that:

1. Sin is serious
I wonder how you think of sin. What does it mean to sin? Are there big sins and little sins?

These words of Jesus at the cross show us how serious sin is. We speak of white lies and of little sins but actually Jesus never did. Jesus said that the problem is not actions, whether they are big or small, but the heart that prompts those actions.

Let me to tell you why, it’s because we want to rule, we want to determine right and wrong for ourselves, we want things our way. There is actually a sin behind every sin that shows us bluntly what the problem is. Why is it that we lie? We always lie because it protects our reputation; it saves me getting in trouble, or because it shows us in a good light. When people steal what is it that prompts them to do so? It is that they want what the other person has for themselves, or it is because of my need. The sin behind every sin is that I want to rule, it is because I am worth it.

Behind every sin is self rule, it is the selfishness that resides in our hearts. That’s not saying that we cannot do anything good, though often even our best actions are for mixed motives.

Not only is the problem not the actions but the heart behind them but we delude ourselves. We talk of white lies, there is truth and there is lie. There is no such thing as a little sin.

And the cross shows us how serious sin is. It is not to be toyed with because it has to be paid for. It is not the nails that held Jesus on the cross, it is love for us that holds him there, and love that knows our little sins must be paid for.

That cry "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is the result of our little rebellion, our sins.

How do you see your sin? The cross shows us the seriousness of sin, it shows us its consequences, sin leads to judgement, and a price must be paid for rebellion against God, for self rule. Sin leads to death, not just physically but the death of relationship with God. It leaves us where we see Jesus, utterly cut off from God.

2. Jesus dies in my place.
Why is Jesus forsaken by his Father? Because Jesus is cut off for sin in our place. We saw last week that one of the things Luke emphasised in his account of Jesus’ trial and execution was Jesus’ innocence. Matthew is no different; look back to (4) and you see the words of Judas, "I have sinned...for I have betrayed innocent blood." In (19) Pilate receives this message from his wife "Don’t have anything to do with this innocent man..." Then Pilate having determined Jesus’ innocence asks the crowd who are chanting crucify "Why? What crime has he committed?" their answer is not to list the charges but to chant all the louder. There is no charge, there is no crime but they want him put to death.

Jesus doesn’t hang there for his sin, he is innocent; he has been God’s perfect son, no rebellion. He hangs there because he is our substitute, he is innocent taking the place of the guilty. God takes sin seriously, so seriously that Jesus who has done nothing deserving judgement hangs there separated from God. Sin results in separation from God, yet the sinless one is separated and God pours his just anger out on his perfect son not for his rebellion but for ours.

Some people in the church today question whether that is what is really happening here, can a just, holy and loving God really be punishing his perfect Son for our sin. In fact some have gone so far as to call such a view of the cross cosmic child abuse.

Just come with me to (26:36-46), what is it that Jesus prays? "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." The cup Jesus refers to is the cup of God’s anger, of God’s judgement, and Jesus is saying he must drink it. It is not God’s anger with Jesus, for he is his perfect son, but he will drink it willingly in place of those who should.

The scene at the cross is not one of cosmic child abuse but of perfect love. It does not challenge God’s love, but Jesus; God made man, God the Son willingly offers himself through God the Spirit to God the Father in our place in the ultimate act of love.

Peter when writing in his first letter writes this "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21 writes; "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Jesus on the cross is the ransom for sin, he is reconciling us to God, and he suffers securing victory over sin and death as he takes the place of his people. As he experiences separation from God for us. That’s why the sky goes dark (45), it is a sign of God’s judgement and anger, that’s why in 26:31 Jesus has quoted Zechariahs words

"I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered."

Do you see what he is saying? God will strike him as he hangs on the cross, he will take our place.

What do these words from the cross tell us? They tell us of a God who keeps his words, who is just, to whom all sin is serious and must be paid for. They tell us of a gracious and loving Father who gives his Son to redeem a sinful and undeserving people. They tell us of God the Son who will not pretend sin is of no consequence but will willing, as the ultimate expression of love for his enemies, take their place, experience their separation and secure their victory. They tell us of an all wise God who works all things for the good of his people and the glory of his name.

What does Jesus’ cry mean to you? Are they the words of your Saviour who dies in your place, or are they just words? How should we react to these words?

Just as you think about that we’re going to watch a clip from Saving Private Ryan. 8 men have sacrificed their lives for James Ryan what should his response be?

But he can never earn the sacrifice given on his behalf, he can only live in the light of it. He says 'Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge.' It influenced every moment of his life.

That is the only right response to these words. "My God, my God why have you forsaken me." We can never earn what Jesus does for us but the only right response to such actions, to such love is to love the one who sacrificed himself for us. The only right response to such a sacrifice, to Jesus having God’s wrath poured out on him willingly, in our place, because he loves us is to love him. Not to acknowledge mentally his sacrifice but to live every moment in the light of it.

Jesus death assures us of God’s love for us in giving what he valued most for us. It assures us that God’s words are true and worth basing our life upon, and reminds us that God is just, rebellion will be punished and ended, but that we need not fear because "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."

1. Why do I say Jesus cried out from the cross?
2. How do I think of sin? Are there bigs ins and little sins? What are the consequences of rebelling against God?
3. What response does Jesus cry from tge cross demand of me? How should I live in the light of such love this week?

Words that changed the World