Psalm 22 was a nearly blow by blow description of the physical Crucifixion of Jesus. Beginning with Psalm 22:1 is the complete abandonment of Jesus by God; Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” This is attested to by Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
The short version of why Jesus used my God rather than His usual salutation of Father or Abba is that God could not look upon Jesus as Jesus was sin in our place. In the days of Moses (Numbers 21) the people were again complaining so God sent fiery serpents among them many were bitten and died. God directed that a bronze serpent of brass be constructed and lifted on a pole with the promised that whoever looked at the bronze serpent would be healed of the snakebite.
The act of Moses in lifting the brass serpent was prophetic of Jesus being lifted up on the cross as our propitiation. John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” Jesus nailed our sins to the cross! Jesus, the ultimate blood sacrifice, cried from the cross, “It is finished.”
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement is/ was a day of national repentance. In the past two Goats were involved, one for the Lord and one as the Azazel, the Scapegoat. A type of the crucifixion of Jesus?
Leviticus 16:7-9, "7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering."
The High Priest fastened a scarlet woolen thread to the head of the scapegoat and it was "presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness." Leviticus 16:21-22, "21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Note, the scarlet thread that wove/ weaves itself throughout Jewish/ Christian history.
Jesus performed the duty of the Azazel as He hung on the cross. Rather than a scarlet woolen thread fastened to His head it was a crown of thorns. Jesus not only performed the duty of the Azazel He also perform the duty of the sin offering and became sin and God would not look at Him; my God, not Abba, Father. In addition to the agony of a Roman beating and being nailed to the cross, the abandonment by God must have caused great emotional suffering.
I’ve heard it said that Jesus would have endured the cross if only for one person. I’m eternally grateful to Jesus for justifying me before our righteous God, for my very salvation. Come quickly Lord Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment