The Way of the Cross (20)

The situation facing the anointed one in Psalm 22 increases in intensity as the Psalm continues. As we look at these verses, remember that they were written hundreds of years before crucifixion had even been invented. How clearly we see that God is the author of Scripture, leading and helping the human authors to express what it is he intends.

Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax'
it is melted within my breast'
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet -
I can count all my bones -
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:12-19)

How brightly shines the agony and the glory of the cross. It's as if whatever David was going through as he composed this Psalm enabled him to write down a vision of what the cross would look like. The details are vivid and overwhelming.

Bones out of joint; lack of strength; dryness of mouth; pierced hands and feet; clothes divided; lots cast. It's as if it is the script for what the Romans, acting independently and deliberately, would do on the hill called Golgotha / Calvary.

With each detail, we see how the gospel writers record that it was fulfilled, that it did happen as foretold. How amazing that the Lord Jesus submitted willingly, obeying the Father, to perfectly fulfill what had been written beforehand, and known from eternity.

How wonderful that those pierced hands and feet are the 'wounds of love' his body still bears, now glorified as an everlasting testament to his suffering, the evidence that the price has been paid.