The Country Church Bourbon Indiana

Announcements:

• Christmas Wrapping
• Cantata Timing

Introduction:
Messianic Psalms

Review:
Psalm 40:6-8, interpreted for us by Hebrews 10, explains the reason for the miracle of Christmas:
When you analyze Christmas as an outsider, it can appear a little strange. It can appear a little strange to an insider too! Why would the Son of God become a baby wrapped in flesh? Why is that necessary? It is very impressive and miraculous that the Son of God would become flesh, but also very surprising. Why couldn’t a plain old human be the Savior? Why couldn’t the Son of God save us without becoming man in the process? Why did anybody have to die?

Hebrews 10 helps to explain that the penalty for the sins of man is the death of man. Animal sacrifices merely serve as reminders of sin and point to the object of saving faith – Jesus.

The righteous requirement of God is the righteousness of God. So because animals aren’t people they can’t do it. And because people are not righteous, they can’t do it. It takes someone as flawlessly righteous as God, and yet human.
And so Jesus came – 100% God, 100% man.

Link: Psalm 40 I believe is all about Jesus and had many prophecies about Jesus’ life and death. The meatiest of all was verses 6-8 where Jesus said in Psalm 40:8 that He “delights to do God’s will.” And in verses 6 and 7 that He came to be the sacrifice that would satisfy God’s holy requirements.

That’s why Christmas happened. That’s why the Son of God was born in a manger on Christmas day. Because He delights to do the will of His Father and that will was to save all those who would place their faith in Him by dying in their place.
Today we turn to a different Messianic Psalm, Psalm 22. This one contains a number of statements that were made at the crucifixion of Jesus, as well as references to several events surrounding the crucifixion.
We aren’t going to do it this Sunday, but I recommend reading this one and Matthew’s crucifixion account side-by-side sometime!

Psalm 22 shows the ultimate test of faith. Jesus experiences the wrath of God. Yet, Jesus chooses to place His faith in God still.

Going through pain, hardship, and loss can be a severe test of faith for us too. While Christmas is my favorite time of year, it too can have its share of pain, suffering, loss, and difficult tests of faith. Probably many of you are now going through your own test of faith.

Text: Psalm 22
Theme: The Crucifixion of Jesus, the Ultimate Test of Faith

Verses 1-8
This segment of Psalm 22 is bookended by two statements that are directly quoted at Jesus’ crucifixion. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus quotes part of verse 1 when He says “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” – which is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

And Psalm 22:8 is paraphrased by Jesus’ enemies in Matthew 27:43, when they say “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.”
So these verses describe the event of Jesus’ death on a cross.

The punishment for sin is and always has been separation from God. When Satan sinned and the angels followed him, a separation was made between them and God.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. They died spiritually immediately as they were spiritually separated from God. And they were doomed to slowly die physically, to return to the dust from which they were made.

God is life, separation from Him is death. Permanent separation from Him into the lake of fire is the eternal second death.

Verses 1 and 2 describe Jesus experiencing this in some way. What does it mean that the Son of God was forsaken by God the Father on the cross? What did that mean for their relationship during that moment? How is that even possible for 1 God in 3 persons to have 1 person experiencing some sense of being forsaken and unheard by the One with whom He is indivisibly linked?
If I were to try to answer that question this morning, I would almost certainly accidentally say something heretical. It’s too deep and unknowable for people. We aren’t a part of the Holy Trinity to know what that means. I can’t really understand what 1 God in 3 persons means, so how can I understand what it means for separation to occur?

But I think I can say this about it: In three hours, Jesus suffered more than any sinner ever will in hell. Our punishment of forsakenness and being met with silence by God was placed upon Jesus. Not just the punishment of one, but the punishment of the world – eternal gloom and darkness and wrath concentrated onto One in the course of a few hours.

Someone who is man only cannot endure this: it takes the God-man.

Verses 3-8
Though this event was of a horror that no one will ever know, yet Jesus does not charge God the Father with sin. He says that despite this forsakenness He experiencing, the silence He is met with, and the mocking He receives from mankind, He knows that God is perfectly holy. There is no sin in this decision to forsake the Son on the cross.

Jesus does not charge the Father with child abandonment or anything like that. They have been together forever and they have planned this moment together.

Verses 9-11
Though He is experiencing wrath and separation, His faith is still in God. No faith is deeper than that kind of faith, which could endure death and hardship and still stand as faith.

It reminds me of a verse in Job that I like a lot – Job 13:15 – “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Job 13:15 is not prophecy about Jesus, it is just Job talking, but it sounds very much like something Jesus would say and is saying here. “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”

This is a good point to reflect upon our own faith. In the face of such great faith, probably all of us can realize we have room to grow. Hardship tends to diminish faith. And not hearing from God for a period tends to diminish faith even more.

When something horrible comes our way – it actually can have the end result of producing stronger faith in us at the end. But boy can it be a trial during that fire. Especially when things don’t work out in what we believe to be the best way.

Romans 8:28 says “All things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to God’s purposes.” That’s the biblical version of “when life gives you lemons, make some lemonade.”

Only its “God makes lemonade out of the lemons in our life.” I like that a lot better. Frequently I find myself with lemons and I have no idea how to turn them into lemonade. But God has promised to those who love Him that He will bring good out of it in the end. He can do what I can’t.

Still, lemons are lemons and it can be hard to see the lemonade that’s going to come.
Jesus though – He knows. He knows the plan; He knows what comes after the wrath. He knows He will be resurrected and make many righteous. He knows He will purchase a people by His blood and that eternity will be the better for this momentary affliction.

This is the ultimate biggest lemon anybody ever had to face, but it is also going to be what enables God to make all the lemonade that He is going to make. So Jesus trusts, He endures, He goes through it.

That’s a model for us too – sometimes we must face unpleasant or even terrible things. We should still place our faith in God and His promises through those things. Heaven awaits us on the other side.
Verses 12-18
These verses are a bit disturbing in their accuracy at describing the crucifixion event. At the crucifixion, Jesus was surrounded by people behaving like animals. They are called bulls, lions, dogs, and wild oxen. Their behavior is very much like that – violent, aggressive, destructive, predatory, and bestial.
The beatings of the crucifixion and being suspended by nails with no natural way to rest His weight results in bones out of joint.

The muscles torn by beatings, the loss of sleep, the loss of blood, the difficulty in breathing result in complete loss of strength.

His tongue is dried and swollen and sticks to His mouth. It is like pulling putty off of a wall to speak; like separating Velcro; only the putty is His own inflamed tongue. No wonder Jesus says so very little at His crucifixion.

His hands and feet have been pierced. His intimacy with pain brings an awareness of all the bones in His body.

While He suffers, people gamble for His clothing.

Gruesome stuff.

*pray and thank Jesus for loving me enough to come to earth as a baby for this, confess unworthiness*

Link: The good news is that while it was for this purpose that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that purpose also included His resurrection and the salvation of the world. The sufferings were awful, but it was not suffering for the sake of suffering. He suffered so that the future could be very bright – so let’s turn our eyes toward that now.

Verses 19-31
Verse 21b is the turning point – “You have rescued me.” “You have rescued me.” It is accomplished. The pain has passed. The forsakenness is over. The prayer has been heard. The sacrifice has been accepted. Perfect obedience to God accomplished. The exchange of our sin for His righteousness has been completed. Forgiveness and eternal life for sinners has been procured.

Up from the grave He arises to tell the good news to His brothers. Though He died, yet now He forever lives to tell of the good news. Though He suffered, yet now He will never suffer again.

He calls on us to praise the Lord and shares that the afflicted will be able to eat and become satisfied. The hearts of the great congregation saved by Jesus will live forever.

His victory over sin and death will cause peoples and families from all the ends of the earth, from America to China to South America to Australia to Africa to turn to the Lord and worship Him.

A picture of His righteous kingdom that will come is spoken of too – The Lord rules over the nations.
Prosperity fills the earth, eating and worship.

You know, a couple times I have heard people say that the Old Testament doesn’t talk about life after death. I think they aren’t reading the same Bible. Here it says that people who could not keep themselves alive will be prospering, eating, and worshipping as the Lord rules over the nations.

I am not sure how a person who couldn’t keep themselves alive can be now alive to serve and worship, unless there is a resurrection to come.

But anyway, those who were once dead will be alive to enjoy the prosperity of this kingdom.

Application:

• Faith!