Our passage that we will examine today is amazing, for it is a prophecy of the passion story, or an account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, that was written nearly 800 years before the birth of Jesus. James Smith says that, “Such a hope [as is found in this passage] must be restricted to the future Redeemer. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David in Psalm 22 saw his descendent resembling, but far surpassing, himself in suffering.”(1) This passage may be a very old Psalm, but it is an amazingly accurate depiction of the events that happened during Jesus’ crucifixion, and there is a lot that we can learn from this passage about God’s character and His power over both life and death.
Is He Really Your God? (v. 1)
1My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?
These are the same words that Jesus cried out to the Lord when He was hanging on the cross. Matthew 27:46 tells us, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?’” Some of us might question this verse and ask why Jesus, the very Son of God who knew God to be one who would never forsake Him, would ask such a question. Did Jesus believe that God had turned his back on Him when He was hanging on the cross?
The commentator William Barclay says, “It is suggested that in that moment the weight of the world’s sin fell upon the heart and the being of Jesus . . . that was the moment when He who knew no sin was made sin for us; and that the penalty which He bore for us was the inevitable separation from God which sin brings.”(2) 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Jesus felt forsaken from the Lord because He was separated from God by all the sins of the world that He bore at that very moment.
Something important that needs to be noted here is that if someone does not know the Lord in a personal relationship, then that person is separated from God because of his or her sins. Isaiah 59:2 tells us, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear.” Jesus knew the Lord in a personal way, for He was God’s perfect and sinless Son; and that is why He could cry out to the Lord, and call Him “My” God.
Walter Kaiser, Jr. says the emphasis found here in the Hebrew is on the word “my,” not on the word “God.” It should be read as, “My” God, “My” God; not as, My “God,” My “God.” The latter example would be like cursing God, or using the Lord’s name in vain;(3) and Jesus was not cursing God.
He could cry out “My” God, because He truly knew God in a personal way. Do you know God? Can you call upon His name as though He is your closest and dearest friend? If you cannot then you need to be forgiven of your sins. Through Jesus Christ you can be forgiven of your sins, because He took on all your sins when He died on the cross. All you have to do is trust in Him as your Savior, and He will make you righteous and able to stand in God’s presence.
Do You Understand His Power? (vv. 6-8)
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
These verses portray an accurate description as to how people reacted to Jesus’ crucifixion. Matthew 27:39-43 says, “And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ Likewise the chief priests also mocking with the scribes and the elders, said, ‘He saved others; Himself he cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’.”
Those who will not, or cannot, call upon the Lord and truly say to Him, “My” God, are those who mock the Lord and His power to save. God’s power does not lie in might, but in His love. People who are unable to cry out, “My” God, fail to see that the Lord works through His love instead of by His might.
According to William Barclay, “General Booth once said, ‘It is precisely because He would not come down that we believe in Him.’ The [people] could only see God in power; but Jesus showed men that God is sacrificial love.”(4) The songwriter Michael Card spoke of God’s power best when he asked concerning Jesus, “Why did they nail His feet and hands, when His love would have held Him there?”(5) The saving power of both God the Father and the Son is love.
People who do not call on the Lord as their God, are unable to do so because they do not know the love of Christ, and the unconditional love that His followers are to have for one another. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 1 John 4:7 tells us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
If you don’t believe in God or His Son, Jesus Christ, and you cannot speak to the Lord and truly say, “My” God, then it is because you have misunderstood the power of God. God’s power lies in His love for you and me, not in His ability to come down from the cross and wreak havoc upon His tormentors. God’s love is ultimate power, for love is what held Jesus on the cross to die for our sins. Love is what enabled Him to endure the torture.
Will You Just Stare at Him? (vv. 14-18)
14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.
Right here we see a detailed description of Jesus’ crucifixion. Crucifixion was an extremely excruciating and painful death that was reserved only for common criminals. We might wonder why Jesus’ had to die a criminal’s death when He was innocent of crime. Isaiah said, “He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7), revealing that He was sinless and gentle as a lamb. According to Michael Card, the only crime Jesus was guilty of was that He came to “steal every heart away.”(6)
In these verses we see the horrendous pain and agony that Jesus endured when He died for you and me. Verse 14 says, “All my bones are out of joint,” referring to the joints, tendons, and ligaments that held Jesus’ bones together. John says that not a single bone was broken on Jesus (John 19:36); however, it is quite possible that under the strain and weight of His weak body, His bones came out of socket as He hung there on the cross
Verse 15 says, “My tongue clings to my jaws,” referring to Jesus’ extreme thirst as His body bled and became dehydrated during the heat of the day. Matthew 27:34 reveals Jesus’ thirst and His need for hydration when it says, “They gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink;” and in John 19:28, we read where Jesus stated, “I thirst!”
Verse 16 tells us that dogs surrounded the site of the crucifixion, probably from the smell of the blood. Also, the congregation of the wicked surrounded Him. In other words, those who had demanded His crucifixion watched Him die as if they were spectators in a bloody arena. Verse 16 also says, “They pierced my hands and feet,” which is typical of crucifixion to nail a person on the cross with spikes through the feet and wrists.
Verse 17 says, “I can count all my bones.” Anyone who was crucified would have their arms outstretched above their heads and their skin would be stretched so tight that every rib could be seen on the chest, and thus easily counted.
Verse 18 says, “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” Matthew 27:35 reveals that this happened to Jesus, for we read, “They crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.” During His crucifixion the soldiers cast lots, meaning they bet on who would receive His clothing after He died.
Jesus endured all this pain for each and every individual in the world until the end of time, as we know it. He died even for those who demanded His crucifixion and watched Him suffer. Many of those who watched Him die probably never believed in Jesus as the Son of God; however, we are told that some of the guards who saw Jesus’ empty tomb declared, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54).
There are many of us who have heard the crucifixion story countless times before; and as we recall the details, and visualize Christ in His final moments, it’s as though we are right there watching Him die. If we just look at Jesus, or stare at Him hanging on the cross, that is not going to save us from our sins. Like the soldiers at the tomb, we have to believe that Jesus truly is the Son of God.
Some of us are looking at Jesus right now. Those of us who do not believe He is God’s Son are guilty of His crucifixion. We are just staring at Him and mocking Him, because we do not believe that He is able to come down from the cross. We do not believe that He really overcame death and the grave.
We might be asking ourselves the exact same question that Pilate posed in Matthew 27:22. Pilate asked, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” As we are contemplating the account of the crucifixion, and even considering the resurrection; and as we are looking at Jesus in our mind’s eye; we must ask ourselves, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ? Will I just stare at Him in disbelief, or will I accept Him as my Lord and Savior?”
Will You Call on His Name? (vv. 24-26)
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard. 25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. 26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!
We earlier read that Jesus cried out to the Lord, asking why God had forsaken Him. Jesus had all the sins of the world placed upon Him, and He felt the pain of a million deaths. God had heard Him though. We know this because Jesus did not remain in the grave. When Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus went to see His tomb, the stone was rolled away and the angel of the Lord told them, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:26). There wasn’t any grave that could hold His body down on that day!
Verse 26 tells us, “Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!” It is interesting that the admonition to “seek God” and the expression “live forever” are found in the same verse. Acts 2:21 tells us, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” If we truly believe that the Lord raised Jesus Christ from the dead, then we will call on the Lord to save us from death, eternal separation, and hell. “Salvation” is just another word for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If we believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, instead of standing and staring at Him in disbelief, then we will live eternally with the Lord in His heavenly kingdom. Verse 24 shows that if we cry out to Him, then He will hear our cry and save us.
Will You Declare His Righteousness? (vv. 27, 31)
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You . . . 31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this.
Right here, we see a prophecy that tells us that the Lord’s power over death that was demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ will be remembered throughout the entire world, even by those who are yet to be born. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Luke 24:47 says, “And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,” and in Mark 16:15, Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
We have Good News to tell the world because the Lord hears us when we cry out to Him, and He is the God who saves us from eternal death. He saved His Son from death in the grave, and He will save us from eternal death in the flames of hell. For this very reason, we can declare to the world His righteousness, and because the story is so wondrous it will be remembered and told until the end of time.
Time of Reflection
Right now, are you able to look up to heaven and say to the Lord, “My” God? Is He your God? Have you had your sins forgiven by His Son Jesus Christ, so that you can enter His holy presence, or are you just staring at Jesus in disbelief?
Today you have an opportunity to make your life right with the Lord through His Son Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). Cry out to Him and He will save you. He will rescue you from your sins, and give you eternal life. Just believe that God has the power to raise Jesus from the dead, and to raise you from a life of corruption and sin into a life incorruptible.
NOTES
(1) James E. Smith, What the Bible Teaches About the Promised Messiah (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993), 146.
(2) William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, The Daily Study Bible, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press,1958), 407.
(3) Walter Kaiser, Jr., The Messiah in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 114.
(4) Barclay, 405.
(5) Michael Card, “Why,” Mole End Music and the Sparrow Corporation, 1984. All Rights Reserved.
(6) Ibid.
