The Singular Agony of the Cross

"The Singular Agony of the Cross"

Psalm 22:11-18: Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.  Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.  They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion.  I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to My jaws; you have brought Me to dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.  They look and stare at Me.  They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.

    The people of Israel did not know about crucifixion in David’s day.  It was a later method of torture used by the Iranians and Iraqis and Lebanese, and perfected by the Romans.  The Jews did have a humiliation for a bad person by hanging their dead body on a tree.  But not crucifixion.  This was prophecy on David’s part, and there was no event in David’s life that could possibly come near this horrible event.  Here are some of the outstanding notations in these verses regarding the crucifixion:

1.    The ebbing strength of the Savior (v. 14; John 19:31-37)—Note that His bones were not broken, even though they felt like they were out of joint.  To be the perfect Lamb in the Old Testament, not a bone of him could be broken.

2.    The terrible thirst v. 15; John 19:28-30 records Jesus saying I thirst.  This is amazing because the One ho freely gives us the water of life, Himself thirsted on the Cross. 

3.    Piercing of hands and feet (v. 16; Luke 24:36-40; Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37).  Jesus used the wounds in His hands and feet to prove that it was really He who appeared to the disciples.  The word “print” simply means the mark made by a blow.  Those holes never healed, and will be the means that Israel will recognize him when He comes a second time on the Mount of Olives as it says in Zecharaiah 12:10: They will look upon me whom they have piereced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mounrneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

4.    Shameful exposure of Christ outside Jerusalem (v. 17)—fits with the scene of the crucifixion.  There were so many different people that could pass by the scene of the crucifixion that Pilate had the inscription in three languages—Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

5.    No earthly goods to leave to anyone, since He was a poor man except for his seamless robe (v. 18; Matthew 27:35; John 19:24).  It was customary for the four Roman soldiers in charge at an execution to share whatever goods they could get from their victims.  They could not share the robe so they gambled for it.