We are moving toward Easter – converging with people, powers, and God at the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is leading the way for us his disciples and others who may want to be his disciples. We go the way he is going – self-denial, surrender, giving up control, laying down life, burying the old, and rising to live in God’s Kingdom.
Arrested and put through a mock trial, handed over to Roman authorities, beaten viciously, Jesus was nailed on the cross through his hands and feet. Insulted, goaded, jeered, he hung vulnerable for about six hours. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark tell us one thing that Jesus spoke. It was “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)
That anguished question is the first line of a song which David wrote: Psalm 22. It is important to understand that this is not merely a pithy saying by Jesus. It’s not a proverb or principle or formula or slogan that we are left with needing to figure out what is the meaning for him and for us. Most if not all of the Jewish people who heard him would have understood what he meant. They would have known that Jesus was focusing on and directing them to the entire psalm.
Here is the psalm. Please read it carefully.
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
Look back through the psalm and note the statements that clearly describe something that happened as Jesus was hanging on the cross for those six hours.
All of Psalm 22 applies to the entire crucifixion of Jesus. All of it is what he was praying and revealing. To the crowd, passersby, mockers, soldiers, and disciples it looked like God was forsaking him. The prayer says no he wasn’t. Very specifically, it states, The LORD…has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. His Father did not forsake him, did not turn his face away, did not abandon him, did not pull away from him, and Jesus knew that. God was there the whole time, personally involved in the entire crucifixion. By that I mean not just the physical aspects but all that was happening beyond what could be seen. God – Father, Son, and Spirit – was making something happen. Paul said, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus knew what he was doing. He was still working with his Father (John 5:19) bringing the Kingdom to the world (Luke 11:20). In Psalm 22 he announces,
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
Jesus knew what he was doing – pouring himself out for the Kingdom to come and for humanity and all creation to be restored to our Creator and be able live as his children. “For he has done it.” The Father, Son, and Spirit accomplished what they were after.
As we converge on Easter, we are coming to Holy God. We are entering into his righteousness. We are taking our place in his glory. We are interacting with his wisdom and power. We are engaging with his love and mercy. We are receiving his Kingdom.
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