Bible Trilogy I – Part 1
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? [Psalm 22:1]
Three crucial events of the Gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In defining the essence of the Gospel to the Corinthian Christians, the Apostle Paul noted those same three items (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). In this context we will embark on a Bible trilogy comprised of those three events.
Psalm 22 is a prophetic depiction of the crucifixion, of Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of mankind. Anyone who reads the Bible, especially the Old Testament, knows that David ben Jesse suffered grievously during the course of his life.
David was hounded by King Saul without letup because the Lord through Samuel proclaimed David to be Saul’s replacement as king—and Saul didn’t want to relinquish the kingship to David. Saul was determined to keep it for himself and for his son Jonathan after him. “Down with David! Up with Saul & Family!” That was Saul’s motto.
And then there were David’s own sins which got him into hot water. He had no one to blame but himself for those ordeals. And did he pay the piper! A pound of flesh was demanded of him on more than one occasion. Yep, David suffered interminably during the course of his life.
Notwithstanding this, when David wrote Psalm 22 it was prophetic, not personal. Certainly the Holy Spirit inspired David to write it as prophecy. Yes, David suffered much in life. But no, Psalm 22 is not so much about David’s life of suffering, as it is about the suffering of the Messiah. Psalm 22 is prophetic.
From the cross Jesus the Son of God cried out to Father God, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [Matthew 27:46] Jesus quoted verse 1 of Psalm 22, when He uttered those words. He recognized their prophetic import as applicable to His crucifixion.
Someone might choose to query, “What do those words have to do with Jesus’ crucifixion?”
It’s like this. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. It is a mystery of eternity how Jesus as God could take upon Himself the sins of mankind. I mean, Jesus is God and God cannot even look upon sin, so how could He permit them to be placed on Him?
For three hours while Jesus was on the cross, from noon to 3:00 PM, darkness covered the land. This was God’s demonstration, employing visible physical reality, to teach us invisible spiritual truth. The visible reality was the three hours of darkness. The invisible truth was that, while Jesus the Son of God bore the sins of all mankind on Himself, Father God turned away and refused to look upon His Son.
I must apologize, but the day is far spent and the shadows are growing longer. Let us betake ourselves to the prayer closet a while and learn at the feet of Jesus. We’ll continue this topic on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Three crucial events of the Gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In defining the essence of the Gospel to the Corinthian Christians, the Apostle Paul noted those same three items (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). In this context we will embark on a Bible trilogy comprised of those three events.
Psalm 22 is a prophetic depiction of the crucifixion, of Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of mankind. Anyone who reads the Bible, especially the Old Testament, knows that David ben Jesse suffered grievously during the course of his life.
David was hounded by King Saul without letup because the Lord through Samuel proclaimed David to be Saul’s replacement as king—and Saul didn’t want to relinquish the kingship to David. Saul was determined to keep it for himself and for his son Jonathan after him. “Down with David! Up with Saul & Family!” That was Saul’s motto.
And then there were David’s own sins which got him into hot water. He had no one to blame but himself for those ordeals. And did he pay the piper! A pound of flesh was demanded of him on more than one occasion. Yep, David suffered interminably during the course of his life.
Notwithstanding this, when David wrote Psalm 22 it was prophetic, not personal. Certainly the Holy Spirit inspired David to write it as prophecy. Yes, David suffered much in life. But no, Psalm 22 is not so much about David’s life of suffering, as it is about the suffering of the Messiah. Psalm 22 is prophetic.
From the cross Jesus the Son of God cried out to Father God, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [Matthew 27:46] Jesus quoted verse 1 of Psalm 22, when He uttered those words. He recognized their prophetic import as applicable to His crucifixion.
Someone might choose to query, “What do those words have to do with Jesus’ crucifixion?”
It’s like this. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. It is a mystery of eternity how Jesus as God could take upon Himself the sins of mankind. I mean, Jesus is God and God cannot even look upon sin, so how could He permit them to be placed on Him?
For three hours while Jesus was on the cross, from noon to 3:00 PM, darkness covered the land. This was God’s demonstration, employing visible physical reality, to teach us invisible spiritual truth. The visible reality was the three hours of darkness. The invisible truth was that, while Jesus the Son of God bore the sins of all mankind on Himself, Father God turned away and refused to look upon His Son.
I must apologize, but the day is far spent and the shadows are growing longer. Let us betake ourselves to the prayer closet a while and learn at the feet of Jesus. We’ll continue this topic on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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