March 9th, 2026 Daily Devotion

A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 

INDEED, JESUS WAS FORSAKEN

Matthew 27:45-46 “From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).” 

Yesterday’s devotion said that all of the people had forsaken Jesus. In the words of Matthew this included those passing-by Calvary to the Jewish leaders. All mocked Jesus! They verbally abused Him! They wanted nothing to do with Him. He was all alone! 

In His last words from the cross Jesus acknowledged His total abandonment saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” It was one thing for the people to abandon Jesus. It was entirely a different matter to be abandoned by Yahweh.   

Job, David, Elijah, Jeremiah and now Jesus all experienced the feeling of having been abandoned by God. In each instance this feeling came about because of the burden of sin. Jesus, unlike the rest mentioned here bore the burden of sin, but not His own. He was overwhelmed because He bore the sins of the entire human race from Adam and Eve to the last person who will be born into this world.   

Sin puts up a barrier that blocks the eyes of your heart from seeing the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God. God opened the eyes of Job, David, Elijah and Jeremiah to their sins and His grace and mercy. He rescued them from abandonment and restored them into His holy family. It was Easter when God brought Jesus back from death and the grave. It was at His Ascension that God restored Jesus to His right hand from where He now rules over heaven and earth.   

Because Jesus faithfully took your sins and paid their price on Good Friday, you too have been restored through the power of the Gospel, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and are daily renewed by His grace and mercy with faith to trust Him and through Jesus to overcome sin, Satan, and death itself. God does not abandon you nor anyone who is His son or daughter. 

Prayer: Dear Jesus, I shudder to think while on this earth all you endured for my salvation. The cost of my sins is great! Thanks be to You for redeeming me, a lost and condemned creature. Send Your Holy Spirit into my heart to strengthen me daily with faith to trust in You. In Your holy name. Amen. 

O darkest woe!
Ye tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father’s only Son
Now is buried yonder. 

O sorrow dread!
Our God is dead,
Upon the cross extended.
There His love enlivened us
As His life was ended. 

O child of woe:
 Who struck the blow
That killed our gracious Master?
“It was I,” thy conscience cries,
“I have wrought disaster.” 

Thy Bridegroom dead!
God’s Lamb has bled
Upon Thy sin forever,
Pouring out His sinless self
In this vast endeavor. 

Such innocence!
His countenance
A fount of faith undying!
Worlds on worlds cannot contain
Grief at Him here lying. 

O Virgin’s Son,
What Thou hast won
Is far beyond all telling:
How our God, detested, died,
Hell and devil felling. 

O Jesus Christ,
Who sacrificed
Thy life for lifeless mortals:
Be my life in death and bring
Me to heaven’s portals!  

O Darkest Woe // LSB 448

Text: v. 1- Public Domain; vs. 2-7 © Joseph Herl. Used by Permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110000198