Seeing how today is resurrection Sunday, I will cover a different passage than normal, and save Genesis 40 for tomorrow. I’ve decided to revisit Psalm 22.
Please read the following verses as if Jesus Himself is saying these words as He is on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’ Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” (v1-2,7-8,11,14-18)
A grim picture, with so much loss and sadness. This scene must have felt like such an anti-climax for the disciples. For three years they had followed Jesus every hour of every day, and now he was being put to death before their very eyes. They probably even forgot Jesus’ teaching: “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” (Mrk 8:31)
Yet today we celebrate that God fulfilled His promise to raise Jesus from the dead: “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. …suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. …the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” ‘ Then they remembered his words.” (Luk 24:1-8 abr)
And now, picture the disciples (and yourself) saying the remaining words in this Psalm as a prayer of praise to God, and as a testimony to all who will listen: “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him – may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!” (v22-28,31)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (Jn 3:16-17)
~ Conqueror in Training