Dear Brethren,

Today is Good Friday and we remember the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins. How to remember our Saviour’s love for us who gave His life for us? We are forgetful and ungrateful people and will easily murmur against God for the slightest trouble that comes to us. I believe that meditating in God’s Word with passages that record the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus will help us to remember. In this blessed remembrance, may we then re-consecrate ourselves to the Lord Jesus to want to love Him more and follow Him all the days of our lives.

I would like us to remember Jesus’ death for us in meditating God’s Word recorded in Psalm 22 – A Messianic Psalm Prophesying the Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 22 is a famous Messianic Psalm. This Psalm is a prophecy concerning the deepest sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.

This Psalm is quoted numerous times in the Gospels to show how the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled ancient prophecies. In reading this Psalm, we must keep our thoughts fixed upon Christ and enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. From verse 1 to 21, we are given a glimpse of the suffering of Jesus Christ our Saviour. We see the Lord Jesus’ suffering as wave upon wave of sorrow swept over him as He hung on the cross. There were three waves of sorrow sweeping over the Lord Jesus.

1.  The first wave of sorrows contains the painful words of our Lord which He cried after the three hours of darkness : My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (v.1)

The Lord Jesus spoke these words in Aramaic : “Eli eli lama sabathani.” Christ our Lord, the eternal Son of God, was on the cross as our representative. He was bearing our sin. He was suffering the wrath of God on our behalf. Our guilt was imputed to Him. For that reason, He was at the moment the guiltiest person who ever lived. And to underscore that, for three hours the sun refused to shine. During those three hours, all that our Lord Jesus saw of the Father was His wrath as He bore our sins on the cross.

At no time during our Lord Jesus’ earthly ministry, did He address His Father as ‘God’ but always as ‘Father.’ But here at the cross, sensing only His Father’s wrath, He cried out : “My God, my God…”. The Lord Jesus who has no sin was made sin for us, the Just One dying for unjust men.

2. The second wave of sorrows came from the afflictions by His own people mocking Him :  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him (v.6-8)

The Lord Jesus was mocked and ridiculed by the priests and the people. Our Lord experienced not just mental anguish, but physical torment. The Lord was surrounded by fierce and unreasonable people. His friends had fled or were kept at a distance. All around Him were people who wanted Him to die. They mocked Him and scolded Him. They gnashed their teeth at Him because of their jealousy. They surrounded Him like lions and bulls and dogs. They stripped Him of His garment, stretched Him out on a wooden cross and nailed Him to it.

The Lord Jesus was willing to bear such great sufferings for us so that we can have eternal life in His Heavenly Kingdom. How dare we complain that our cross is too heavy to bear? How much really have we suffered for Christ? May we learn to walk in submission to our Father’s will too whatever our lot in life may be.

3. The third wave of sorrows came from the pain and thirst in His own body: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death (v.14-15)

They hung our Lord Jesus on the Cross to die a slow and excruciating death. He was stretched and impaled in a most painful manner. He was exposed to the elements. He was in pain and bleeding profusely. He could hardly breathe. He would die of exhaustion, blood lost and dehydration. It was in thirst that our Lord Jesus cried out ‘I thirst.’

But though our Lord’s body was drying up, He was still full of the Spirit. He did not despair, but turned again to His Father in prayer (v. 19-21). He called His Father to be near Him and to deliver Him. What an example for us!

Conclusion

This Psalm begins with the darkest and most painful of human experiences ever,—for the God-Man, Jesus Christ, suffered as no man ever suffered. But the same Psalm ends with the most glorious and joyous of human experiences ever,—for the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted and all His elect are united to Him to enjoy Him forever and ever. (v. 22-31).

The darkest and most painful experience was suffered by our Lord Jesus Christ. The brightest and most joyous experience will be ours when we come to Him in faith and repentance. Christ suffered infinitely in order that we might have perfect bliss for all eternity.

May the Lord grant us that we may, out of gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ, worship Him and serve Him with all our soul, heart, mind and strength until the day we rest fully in Him to enjoy Him forever and ever.

Elder John Leong