THE TWELFTH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
The earth quaked,
rocks were split,
tombs were opened,
and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
(Matt. 27:45-46, 50-52)

For the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23),
and not only our own death. We die because Adam and Eve sinned, because the whole human race has sinned, because we ourselves have sinned.
As the good thief said, “we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”
(Luke 23:41)

Yet he, too, dies because of our sins.
The Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. (Is. 53:6)

Our own death cannot reconcile us to God,
to the God we have spurned by sinning.
The offense is too grievous. We cannot make restitution.
The Lord saw this and was aggrieved that right did not exist. He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was none to intervene; so his own arm brought about the victory. (Is. 59:15-16)

God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
(Rom. 5:8)

This is the unfathomable cost of sin.
This is the immeasurable depth of God’s love for each and every single one of us.