A SONG IN THE NIGHT Joy in spite of Pain Matthew. 27:46

Sometimes you loose, in spite of your best efforts and best intentions. What does one do in times of loss? What do you reach for?

EVERYTHING HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM JESUS --

He had voluntarily given up everything to become a man. "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!” -- Phil 2:6-8

Now even the very personal human things are taken from him His freedom, his clothes, his privacy. "...they have pierced my hands and my feet"(16b) "They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing"(18).

THE LIGHTS HAD GONE OUT From the sixt hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice…

Jesus had come to the cross in full awareness of the price He spoke with the disciples about what was to happen to him (Jn 14). In agony in the Garden, he had chosen to follow through with redemption.

But the cross is real! The pain and shame are unbearable. As Jesus hung on the cross, death was immanent.

Darkness covered the land for 3 hours of the afternoon. They were crucifying the "Light of the World" The universe reacted to the death of its creator/sustainer ELOHIM. For Jesus this was a "dark night of the soul". –That point at which there is nothing more one can do. So what did Jesus do? –He continued to trust the Father. He remained totally committed. The ninth hour was the time of the evening sacrifice.

THE SONG BEGAN TO FLOW The Words he Cried out from the Cross... –May have sounded like an angry, desperate cry of one forsaken by God. –But this is the first line of a Hymn 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. 4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and were not disappointed – Ps 22

Jesus was singing on the cross. A Confident Trust in the Father who never fails! That's why Paul and Silas could sing in the dungeon at midnight. The feeling of having done right is always so much greater than the pain of the cross that, even at a time like this, the heart bursts forth in song. There is a citadel in the soul where we are still free, and when we have done our best and have done what is right we feel good--glory comes!

So, all this applies to you and me.

Many things in life would snuff out the song. Both circumstances & wrongs, could elicit a response of anger & bitterness. Rather than lashing out at God… Sing! Victory is ours.

The cross shows us how to have peace and joy in spite of pain There Jesus made forgiveness possible. When we come there with our pain & guilt, something happens to us. Through His Triumph we can enjoy a freedom in spite of pain. In His Victory we too can enjoy the restoration of the glory and sing again.