“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” These were the words that Jesus cried out from the cross in his last hour. Some there said that he was calling out for Elijah, but true Hebrews knew exactly what he was doing. If I would ask folks in a Bible believing church to finish my thoughts and then say, “For God so loved the world,” immediately most would say “He gave His only begotten Son so that those who believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” They would automatically know my intention by only six words because they know what the scriptures declare.
That is exactly what Jesus was doing on the cross because we must remember that Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi and Hebrews would know that Jesus was beginning to quote Psalm 22, a psalm written by King David, a thousand years before Jesus was even born! Jesus was dying and he was still teaching his followers. Yes, Psalm 22 might have been written ten centuries before Jesus came to earth, yet it accurately depicted his agony, death and purpose of his cross giving incredible insight and proved undoubtedly that He was the Messiah.
In verse six, it declares “I am a worm and not a man.” Was Jesus calling himself a worm? You see that word worm in Hebrew was referring not only to a worm, but an incredible worm. The word is “tol’ath – the “crimson or scarlet worm”. You see the word can also mean “crimson” because when that particular worm is crushed it creates a beautiful crimson color, the same color that was used in God’s temple, Hebrew priests’ vestments and yes, the same color of the precious blood shed by Jesus that saves us from our sin! There’s so much more for verse sixteen declares “they have pierced my hands and my feet,” foreshadowing the crucifixion. It gets even more incredible as verse eighteen says, “They divide My garments among them and for My clothing they cast lots, “ which is exactly what the Roman soldiers did that day.
Please read the whole of Psalm 22 for it is a panoramic view of the day on which Jesus died describing the incredible pain, torment, and suffering that He had to endure for each one of us. Yes, it is a heartbreaking account of what our Savior endured for us but like most Psalms it doesn’t end in despair. It declares the incredible ways and purposes of a great God whose ways always ends in victory. Verse twenty-seven declares that the entire earth will remember what happened that day and turn to the Lord and worship him for his amazing grace and salvation. The final verse declares that a people not even born when this incredible event happened will declare what he did for us that day. I do DECLARE!
Join us at St. Martinville Christian Fellowship this Resurrection Sunday as we declare the Amazing Grace and goodness of the Lord!
