Because of two reasons:
(1) It is a blessing, when you consider the fact that some have never heard the gospel. We are blessed to have
heard it preached over and over again.
(2) Another reason is because the more we can hear something, the more we receive from it.
For example, it is amazing how we can read our Bible over and over again, and continue to see things we have never seen before.
However, with the blessing of hearing the Word of God over and over again, there is a DANGER!
WHAT IS THE DANGER?
The danger is that anytime we are constantly exposed to something, THE EXCITEMENT WEARS OFF!
Illus: For example, most of us like ice cream. In fact, some of us love ice cream. However, as much as we all enjoy ice cream, did you know that if we ate ice cream every day, three times a day, seven days a week, the thrill of eating ice cream would soon wear off eventually?
However, when we are constantly exposed to something, the EXCITEMENT WEARS OFF EVENTUALLY!
Illus: That is the reason playing sports and GOING HUNTING, FISHING AND GOLFING are so much fun. We do these things every now and then.
But if we were exposed to these things every day of our lives, the EXCITEMENT WOULD EVENTUALLY WEAR OFF.
This is sad to say, but many believe that the excitement of the gospel no longer exist in the life of many Christians and many churches because they have heard the gospel over and over again.
I am glad that we have such a day as this set aside, that we call Easter. Let me show you several things in Psalm 22, so that the gospel of the Lord Jesus might become fresh to us again.
Psalm 22 is a wonderful chapter about the crucifixion. But as you examine it closely, you will see that Christ, as He goes through this very dark time in His life, sees the resurrection hope at the end of this chapter.
This is a Psalm that allows us to get into the mind of Christ as he hung on the cross for our sins and see things from His perspective.
First, let me show you-
I. HIS RELENTLESSNESS
There were many things that Satan put before the Lord, to try and stop Him from accomplishing what He had come to accomplish. For example, we see-
A. HIS SUFFERING
Suffering is a deterrent.
We all like our dentist personally, but we hate to go to them because we know he/she is going to hurt us, and we try to stay away from pain as much as we can!
When we know something is going to hurt us, that suffering becomes a deterrent that drives us away.
The Lord Jesus faced tremendous suffering. But He did not allow the sufferings He faced to stop Him from accomplishing what He had come to accomplish.
Look at some of the ways He suffered:
(1) Look at verse 12. We read, “Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.”
He is describing these Romans soldiers that crucified Him as the BULLS OF BASHAN.
Illus: The land of Bashan was on the east side of Jordan, north of Gilead. It was noted for rich pasture land that produced some of the large strong bulls of that day.
The large bulls of Bashan represent the powerful Roman soldiers that nailed Him to a cross.
But it was not just the Roman soldiers who did this to him, there were others who participated in this horrendous act.
(2) Look at verse 13, we read, “THEY gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.”
The word “Gaped”, is the Hebrew word, “Potsah” (Paw-tsaw) which means to OPEN, RIP, TEAR APART!
I want to ask you a question. How could the Lord Jesus look down from the cross, and see those people below Him acting like wild animals, and pray, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do?”
Illus: The only way he could have possibly done this, HE LOOKED BEYOND THEIR SINS, AND SAW THEIR NEEDS.
You see, God has always hated sin, but God has always loved the sinner.
Illus: It is not a difficult task to love a beautiful dog that comes to us with his tail wagging, but it is a different thing to love a dog that stands before you with his teeth showing, and he wants to rip you apart.
• The Lord faced such people on Calvary.
• The Lord prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
(3) Look at verse 14. We read, “I am poured out like water...”
One of the horrible things about the people who were crucified, was THE EXCESSIVE PERSPIRATION OF A CRUCIFIED MAN IN THE SUN.
He said, “I am poured out like water”
(4) Also, look at verse 14 again, He says, “…And all my bones are out of joint.”
We are told another horrible thing about the crucifixion. When a man is crucified, as the blood drains from His body, he becomes so weak that his body sags, causing the joints to come out.
Anyone who has ever had a joint go out of place, knows the excruciating pain that shoots through their body when this happens.
(5) Look at verse 15. We read, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”
He said, “…My strength is dried up like a potsherd…”
• He said I became like a piece of pottery as my strength was poured out.
• On the cross, the Lord had become so dehydrated that all the moisture in his body had gone. He said, “My tongue cleaveth to my jaws.”
(6) Look at verse 16. We read, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.”
In the scriptures here, the gentiles are referred to as dogs.
Illus: They are yapping like a pack of wild dogs at the foot of the cross.
We have looked at some of HIS SUFFERINGS, but He refused to allow these sufferings to keep Him from dying on the cross for our sins. Also, look at-
B. HIS SEPARATION
Look at verses 2-6. We read, “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:15, that Christ was, “…in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
We clearly see this in these verses.
(1) Look at Verse 2. The Lord said, “Day and night I weep, but there is no reply.”
Have you ever felt like this? The Lord knows how you feel.
(2) Look at verses 3-5. He is reminded that God is a Holy God, and that God has delivered the great men of the past, but there is no deliverance for Him.
Have you ever felt that God has helped others, but there is no deliverance for you?
(3) Look at verse 6, He is saying, “But I am a worm.”
Have you ever felt like this? “I am a nobody!”
(4) Look at verses 7-8. He said He had become the laughingstock of His enemies.
Have you ever felt like this?
The Lord knows how you feel. He experienced the same thing on the cross that every one of us has faced but He did it without sin.
We have looked at HIS SUFFERINGS, and HIS SEPARATION, but now look at-
C. HIS SEARCHING
Look at Psalm 22:1. We read, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”
Notice, the words, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Before, he always addressed God as His father, but now he was saying, “My God, My God!”
He did not pray, “My God, My God…”:
• When he was beaten
• When he was placed in jailed
• When he was nailed to the cross
• When he was forsaken by the disciples
But at some given time on the cross he was made a sacrifice for our sins, and he cried out, “My God, My God.”
Illus: Dr. J. Vernon McGee said,
• At His trial He was silent
• When they beat Him, He said nothing
• When they nailed Him to the cross, He did not whimper
But when God forsook Him, He roared like a lion
Illus: It is a terrible thing in this life:
• When a child is forsaken by his parents
• When husband forsakes their wife
• When a wife forsakes their husband
But until a person dies and goes to hell and realizes they have been forsaken by God almighty, they do not know what being forsaken really is.
God the Father and God the Son are one, but when Christ took on our sins on that Cross, He was experiencing what the lost man will experience in hell.
He cried these words from the cross, in Matthew 27:46, “…My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?“
In HIS SEPARATION from God on the cross, He was paying the price for our sins, so that we will not be separated from God the Father for eternity.
We looked at HIS SUFFERINGS, HIS SEPARATION, HIS SEARCHING.
But let us also look at-
D. HIS SHAME
Look at verse 17. We read, “I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.”
What this simply means is that the Lord Jesus was crucified practically naked. Can you imagine the embarrassment, for the Holy Son of God to be stared at in His nakedness?
Illus: That is no problem for some people. They will peel off as much clothing as the law allows, and then some. THEY ARE SHAMELESS!
We have people today who go to the beaches and they never get in the water. They just parade around in their skimpy bathing suits. Listen, they are not going to the beach because they like the beaches, they are going there because they want to strut their stuff!
But the Holy Son of God was not like that. He said, “They look and stared upon me.” They had taken His clothes and gambled for them.
As we read through the gospel, and hear the gospel preached, we must never forget the great price the Lord Jesus paid for our sins. We have looked at HIS SUFFERINGS, HIS SEEKING, HIS SEPARATION, and HIS SHAME. But let us also look at-
E. HIS SCORNING
Look at these words in Psalm 22:7-8 that describe this crowd that crucified the Son of God for our sins. We read, “All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.”
Illus: On the National Geographics television program they showed the deadly snake called the Diamond Back Rattler. They showed this deadly snake leaping at a man and biting him on the hand, sending its deadly venom into this man, almost taking his life. But as soon as this deadly snake struck, it slithered into the bushes.
In other words the snake, after it bit the man, had enough decency to slither into the bushes and not watch the man suffer.
But look at this crowd, “all they that see me laugh me to scorn…”
Matthew 27: 36 said, “And sitting down they watched him there.”
They hated him so much they enjoyed watching Him hang on the cross.
The Lord Jesus suffered all these things and much more, but He was RELENTLESS in fulfilling God’s will for His life.
Isaiah 50: 7 “…Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”
Satan threw everything He could throw in His path stop Him, but nothing stopped Him from dying on the cross for our sins.
We looked at HIS RELENTLESSNESS, but now let us look at-
II. HIS RESURRECTION
What the Lord Jesus went through on that Cross was devastating. We cannot imagine the things He had to endure for us on the cross.
The crowd was ignorant of who He was. The reason we know that is because the Lord Himself prayed, “Father, forgive them, THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.”
If any one of them knew that He was who He said He was, I do not believe they would have done what they did.
• He told them, but they would not believe Him.
• He did many miracles but they would not believe Him.
He had ONE VINDICATION. He knew he would be vindicated by His resurrection.
That is, He knew they would kill Him, and bury Him, BUT HE WOULD RISE AGAIN, which would be the proof to support His claim that He was the Savior of the world.
As we look through Psalm 22, we see He is going through the darkest tunnel He had ever been through as He was being crucified.
But as we come to the close of Psalm 22, He sees light at the end of the tunnel. Such as:
(1) HIS PRAYER GOING THROUGH THIS DARK TUNNEL WAS, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
But we see the hope of His resurrection in verse 21, we read, “…For thou hast heard me.”
What a terrible time it was for Him as He prayed, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But somewhere at the end of this suffering we can see a glimmer of hope in that he prayed, “…For thou hast heard me.”
He knew that His resurrection would vindicate Him and prove He was who He said He was. Also, notice another hope that His resurrection would vindicate He was who He said He was. Look again at-
(2) HIS PRAYER GOING THROUGH THIS DARK TUNNEL WAS, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
He used the words, “My God, My God,” as He took on our sins upon Himself.
But now in His last prayer before death, We read in Luke 23: 46 “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
Notice, He is not addressing God as “My God”, but now as “Father”.
THE JOY THAT ALLOWED HIM TO ENDURE THE CROSS WAS IN HIS KNOWLEDGE THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE VINDICATED IN HIS RESURRECTION.
Conclusion:
I told you earlier, I do not believe anyone that was there would have crucified the Lord Jesus had they known beyond any doubt that He was who He said He was.
They did what they did in ignorance.
But you today who sit here, you know He died, was buried, and was raised to life again.
And it will be worst for you on the judgment day I believe than it will be those who actually crucified Him. They did what they did out of ignorance, you are without excuse, you know better!
Today as Christians, we looked at all that the Lord has done for us, and I trust the gospel has become EXCITING TO YOU AGAIN.
Illus: A minister preached the simple Gospel story of Christ, but most of the time he preached it with tears running down his cheek. Other preachers would come to hear him preach, because they were amazed he preached a simple message, yet people would flock down to the altars in large numbers. But as time went by, he continued to preach, and the gospel story of Christ became old news to him and he lost his tears. He soon began to realize that no one was getting saved anymore, and He asked the Lord what the problem was. And the Lord revealed to him that he had lost the EXCITEMENT of the gospel. He cried unto the Lord, and asked God to make the gospel fresh unto him and give him his tears back. God of course, heard his prayers, and gave him his tears back, and people began to get saved again.
May the Lord give us our tears back as we hear the gospel of Christ, how that He CAME, HE DIED, HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN, so that we might have a Savior to save us from our sins.
I. HIS RELENTLESSNESS
II. HIS RESURRECTION
