Death even Death on a Cross:
I have often wondered why we do not have Christmas cards showing a cross? Yes Advent is about the birth of our Saviour but really its all about the cross about a God who loved the world so much that as we read in John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So lets consider psalm 22 as we enter into this session of advent. Psalm 22 is referred to as “The psalm of the Cross”. Written at least a 1,000 years before our Lord was nailed and pierced to hang on the cross for our sins. This is prophesy along with so many in the Old Testament, pointing to the coming of the Messiah, God breathed words from those seeking God, revealing part of the great plan to encourage and grow faith but ultimately to demonstrate this is of God. This is of God who is beyond time and not bound by the constraints the created ones must endure
When you read psalm 22 its almost like for an instant David was there on the cross and felt Jesus’s pain, suffered with him and realised the ultimate prize. This psalm is also entitled “The Doe of the Morning.” . This is not wasted symbolism according to natural history there is a hatred between the deer and the serpent, deer apparently drawing serpents from their holes by their warm breath and then eating them. The cross representing the greatest and final victory over the serpent satan.
Psalm 22: 1 - 5.
1 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. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. 4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
Psalm 22 then starts with the moment of Jesus death, the apparent end of the story the apparent depths of defeat when our Lord cries out to God from the agony of the cross from the physical pain the shear excruciating pain, not just in the physical but also the spiritual, this is total trauma totally consuming pain, but worst of in this awful darkness, Jesus feels God has left him, deserted him in this time of trial and as we read in Matthew 27: 45 – 46: From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 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?”).Why are you so far from saving me, as Jesus takes on our sins the sins of humanity God he cries out to God not to forsake him. So soon after Jesus spoke to his disciples in John 16: 31 - 33 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The shock for Jesus of this moment was heart rendering. My God, My God the spirit of adoption was strong in the suffering of the Son of Man, Jesus is not giving up on God and God is most certainly not giving up on Jesus. David also points to God as Israel's redeemer the God of the pillar of fire, the God of the parted sea the God who delivered his people
A God who will deliver the whole of humanity through the cross and has not forsaken us but so loved us he gave him self coming to this earth as a naked unprotected babe, the God who created all things so vulnerable born for this moment, born to endure the cross. We should take to heart the words in Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Psalm 22: 6 - 10
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, "let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God,
So here we are at the lowest point when the Lord of glory is referred to as “But I am a worm not a man” what a contrast with the “I AM” that spoke from the burning bush. Alone rejected hanging on a cross for us for all a God who so loves he would lower himself to this, endure this for those he loves this just points to the scene of the cross as Jesus hangs there the steady procession of mockers that hurl insults at the Lord, in this heart of darkness not doubt encouraged by the army of unseen demons gathered to gloat and witness the death of the saviour thinking victory was theirs as we read in Matthew 27: 38 - 44: Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God! "In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. The prophesy almost becomes a lament with “Yet you brought me out of the womb”. Yes a womb of a virgin to further fulfil the prophesy the word of God pointing to this moment as we read in Isaiah 7: 13 – 14 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Then in Matthew 1 22 – 23: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). All scripture is God breathed and it is amazing how the message is delivered through thousands or years through so many generations of Man the words of God resonate and gather the power leading to the cross the ultimate moment in time and space when God shows he is with us.
Psalm 22: 11 - 17
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 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. 15 My mouth[d] is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce[e] my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
This is like the scene in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” when Aslan comes to pay the debt of Peter and the hordes of evil are gather to mock and cheer the death of goodness, the last hope crushed. The gather and roar around Jesus hung on the cross, here is the Son of Man the Son of God defeated and broken, naked and dying as a mortal His tongue sticking in his mouth. As written in Luke 23: 36 -37: The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
He was not about to give his life to save himself, the goal was so much greater than just one life billions times greater than that while the king of glory suffered the dogs of war the occupying oppressors the Roman legionaries stripped him and cast lots for his garments
Mark 15:23-25 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. They crucified him they pierced his hands and feet with cruel nails hammered through flesh and bone, no aesthetic, the whole weight of his body pulling on these nails, suffocating in agony, they crucified him, they gathered around wanting to see him cry out wanting to see him plead for mercy, loving his pain, loving his hurt, loving his ultimate humiliation, sensing the end was near, every breath a burning pain his heart bursting his sight fading, then as written in Mark 15: Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
Psalm 22: 19 - 22
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 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 the hopelessness of darkness, the invincible faith returns to the centre stage. This is a strong prayer “Deliver me” is the cry. If humanity truly know its fate before the cross and without Jesus we would be united in our cry “Deliver Us” and God does God delivers, Jesus saves. This is the point of the advent story, this is why the Lord came as babe, to save to deliver to shine forth for humanity the God who loves the God who delivers as the message version of 1 John 1 1-4 states, From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
God saves us from the depths of hell, from damnation we are saved and set free by his sacrifice his blood washes us clean
This is why we praise him, this is why we praise our God for he has saved us he has not hidden his face from us he listen and he answered the cry for help, remember these great words:
Romans 8:21-23 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies
Ever since the beginning in the Garden of Eden since the fall of man, God know this time would come, knew what it would cost, told through men the story the promise of his advent of this earth as babe and the sacrifice to save, as foretold in Isaiah 53 : 10 – 12 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
He justified many, and he bears our iniquities, mine, yours all who would confess he is Lord, we should revere him above all for he has not despised us as we deserve but shown us his ultimate love and sacrifice for those he created
Psalm 22; 25 - 31
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! 27 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, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. 29 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. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!
The power of love a force from above that’s cleans your soul, that’s saves and restores that opens the eyes of the blind, that gives the deaf hearing and free’s the captives from the darkest of dungeons, Jesus saves Amen and Amen!
He came and endured being human for humanity, endured our pain our hate our rejection, laid down his life for those who loved him not, gave his all for those yet to be born, as Jesus died on the cross he knew those he hung there for, for you for me for us all. Then as he rose from the depths of darkness, victory in his hands, the powers of light shining forth, as the darkness flees, the demon hoards look on in despair realising their fate is sealed, the almighty God is victorious. The whole earth will turn, a day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue utter “Jesus is Lord” all will worship at the feet pierce by those he created Dominion belongs to the Lord and the Lord alone, as stated in:
Revelation 21: 5 - 7 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
The psalm ends showing the glorious work of salvation is done, the promise delivered eternal and true. IT IS DONE, the I AM has done it!
That’s the advent message, the message of the cross the greatest gift of all the true message of Christmas, rejoice and give thanks, praise the Lord he has done it for us.
Amen
