Psalm
of the Cross
Psalm
22
In his first letter, Peter writes that the prophets were seeking
to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as
He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
This psalm is about the clearest picture we
have of Jesus’ death & resurrection in the Old Testament.
Jesus Himself made the connection of His death
& resurrection to this psalm. Jesus prayed the opening words to this psalm,
"ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD,
WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22 as Jesus’
words Himself, "I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE
MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE." (Ps. 22:22)
This is an emotional psalm & one of the
most intimate connections we have with the suffering of Jesus for our sins.
In the Gospels & other books by physicians
we can read what happened physically to Him & what he said or spoke; but
through David, the Holy Spirit, some 1000 + years before, tells us what Jesus
was thinking & feeling inside, as a human being like us. He felt abandoned,
surrounded, desperate, overwhelmed; then God answered & his heart jumped
for joy!
Jesus opens His heart to us in this psalm.
Verses 1 - 21 Jesus cries for help; verse 22 - 30 is His song of praise.
Being 100% God while at the same time 100% man,
being made for a little while a little lower than the angels so He could obtain
the greater victor; suffering death that would lead to eternal life.
But, as a human, He was stretched way beyond
the redline - The description of His suffering is so powerful because He is one
of us. We can identify with Him because He is one of us; because we have the
same thoughts & feelings.
His anguish was two-fold. He was abandoned by
God & mocked by man. Jesus felt God had abandoned Him. Do you think that
His crying out was a show? No! Jesus was human like us! Three times He calls
out - My God, My God, His God!
Has there ever been a time that you felt as if
God had abandoned you? How about a child when they become separated from their
parents, the fear that grips their heart?
I remember one afternoon driving from the
airport out to Sandfly on Skidaway to pick Richard up from pre-K. I was late,
not by much, but still there was Richard crying his heart out; even though
there were other children there playing. His world had collapsed, he wasn’t
used to separation -
The movie “Forsaken”, Donald Sutherland &
Kiefer Sutherland play roles of father & son. In the end there is a scene
where the son is leaving and the father is heartbroken. It was an emotional
scene. Think how much worse it was for Jesus! Jesus had enjoyed perfect unity
& love with the Father for eternity up to this point -- I and the Father
are One, (John 10:30). He had never known even the most minimal separation
or spiritual distance from His Father & now He calls out to God &
there’s no answer.
This is such a mystery that some have suggested
that Jesus was calling only attention to Psalm 22 as an example of the anguish
He was in. As I asked earlier, was this for a show. Others say that maybe He
felt alone but wasn’t truly alone.
But sin had to be paid for & Jesus carried
our sins, the worlds sins - It’s written in Habakkuk 1:13, Your eyes are too
pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness - Jesus not ever
having sinned, being pure; that day, that hour, drank the sewage, the garbage
of all the sin of the world from the beginning to then & to our day &
further until He returns.
At that moment God turned His back on Him, His
Son, forsaking Him. Again, this is an eternal mystery - Jesus was truly
forsaken so that you & I, everyone who comes to Him would never be
forsaken.
There may be times when we all feel as if God
has turned His back on us; our prayers seem to just bounce off the ceiling -
But listen please! If one, you, belongs to Christ, you, we all have His promise
which is unbreakable. I am with you always, to the end of the age.
(Matt. 28:20). Jesus was truly alone so we would never have to be - believe His
promise!
Jesus remembers God’s faithfulness & we
should also & come to Him when we feel alone without Him: O You who are
enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; They trusted
and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted
and were not disappointed. (Vs. 3-5).
I would think there have been times when the
Lord has shown His faithfulness to you even carried you through difficult times
in your life.
Jesus in His anguish had to endure mocking -
God was silent but not His enemies. Let me tell you that even today many mock
Him. All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the
head, [saying,] 8 "Commit [yourself] to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let
Him rescue him, because He delights in him."(vs. 7-8). Matt. 27:39
tells us those
passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads.
Jesus wasn’t immune to insults. Kids had and I’m sure still have the saying,
“sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Hogwash!
James writes - the tongue is a small part of the body, and [yet] it boasts
of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6
And the tongue is a fire, the [very] world of iniquity; the tongue is set among
our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course
of [our] life, and is set on fire by hell. (3:5-6).
Jesus may not have responded but the very words
hurled at Him hurt deeply; verse 6 shows us how He felt inside, I am a worm
and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. When you’re
insulted & become depressed for your faith in Christ just remember Christ
has been there and received worse.
After the anguish of the silence and the scorn
Jesus appeals to God. He doesn’t ask to be rescued but begged for Him to be
near Him.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For
there is none to help … Strong [bulls] of Bashan have encircled me. 13 They
open wide their mouth at me, As a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured
out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is
melted within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue
cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs have
surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands
and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; 18 They
divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots. On
the cross Jesus treasured God’s presence more than anything else. The ones
surrounding Him will trample Him like bulls, tear Him apart like lions. Jesus
was powerless
Think, the one who created the universe, who
holds everything together (Col. 1:17), who gives living waters(John 4:10-15)
was like a broken clay pot.
David says you lay me in the dust. Isaiah
says, It was the will of the Lord to crush Him, 53:10.
Artists always paint Jesus on the cross with a
modest towel covering His nakedness, but in truth those who were crucified were
hung naked. The people laughed & stared, they gloated.
What does all this mean? The life of the people
is bound up in the life of the king - they are blessed through their king.
--
So, people are saved through Christ’s
salvation, His suffering in this manner was for you, for everyone who will
believe, who will come to Him.
Alas, and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown
And love beyond degree
My God, why would You shed Your blood
So pure and undefiled
To make a sinful one like me
Your chosen, precious child?
Now
the Psalm turns into a song of praise. After all the agony Jesus shouts for
joy. Him announces the good news that God has answered Him. He lifts God’s name
to God’s people. How? Through human preachers, witnesses. Paul writes it to the
Romans, How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How
will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear
without a preacher. (10:14).
Just
who are God’s people? They are those who have come to Christ. Every true
believer, born-again believer is His brother / sister. Hebrews 1:10-12 quotes
v. 22of the psalm.
. . .
it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all
things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their
salvation through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are
sanctified are all from one [Father;] for which reason He is not ashamed to
call them brethren, 12 saying, "I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN,
IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE."
The
brethren to whom Jesus preaches are not just the Jews. No. When God repeats His
covenant with Jacob He said, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and
multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings
shall come forth from you. (35:11) -
Gentiles
were included, in the Old Testament, among the people of God.
Paul
explains this in Romans chapter 4 and Galatians 3:29 - if you belong
to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.
Jesus preaches God’s name to the nations, to
the ends of the earth, All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to
the LORD, And all the families of the nations will worship before You. 28 For
the kingdom is the LORD'S And He rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous
of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will bow
before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive. (Vs 27-29).
I think of Demetrio Gaitan, one of his sons is
the worship minister at the Hosanna Christian Community in Raleigh NC. There’s
the Baptist church in Panama, Iglesia de Amor, one daughter of the pastor went
to Thailand as a bible translator through Wycliff.
Turn to the Lord, worship Him - Christ calling
people across the centuries. Posterity will serve Him; It will be told of
the Lord to the [coming] generation. 31 They will come and will declare His
righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed [it.]
Jesus sees the process, one generation telling another about the Lord -
He looked out to the future to see people not yet born hearing about the
greatness of God through His resurrection.
We who are alive today have a responsibility to
tell the next generation. More so now, these days. If you keep up with the
Middle East, read the Scripture you will see the need to tell people the good
news. I’m talking about here. To those you know that do not know Christ. I know
of three places where that is being taken care of. Liberia Africa, Monrovia to
be specific. I have spoken to Dwana Livingston there; in LaHore Pakistan a
minister Samson Dass Pastor who travels throughout Pakistan. They have a
theological seminary and they live in the midst of Muslims.
We got it easy, for now, but wait if the
“Equality” bill becomes law then we’ll see how many are willing to compromise.
Christ Jesus saved the nations of the world
through His death, His humiliating death on the cross & resurrection. He
hung naked & suffered on that cross for sinners. And there isn’t a person
in the whole that was ever exempt from having to come to Christ for
forgiveness. God the creator took on flesh, became a human being and paid the
price that I, you, everyone, had to pay so that we would have eternal life.
God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal
life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world,
but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in
Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Psalm 22 should be a motivator for one to go
tell the good news - How then will they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will
they hear without a preacher? (Rom 10:14).
Don’t use the word ‘preacher’ as an excuse. I
believe Jesus said Go make disciples of all nations. Sometimes we get tied up
in semantics and can come up with a lot of excuses.
