Forsaken for His People: Ultimately with R.C. Sproul

Summary

In this sermon, R.C. Sproul explores Jesus' anguished cry "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" from the cross, drawing heavily on Psalm 22 and theological interpretations of Christ's suffering. Sproul emphasizes that Jesus was not merely feeling forsaken, but was actually forsaken by God, bearing the full measure of divine punishment and wrath for humanity's sins. By taking on the collective wickedness of humanity, Jesus experienced complete separation from God, suffering the spiritual torment of hell in order to satisfy divine justice. The profound message is that Christ's sacrifice was a deliberate, painful act of substitutionary atonement, where He bore the punishment humanity deserved to reconcile sinners to God.