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| "The Cross and the Tear Catcher" Special thanks to the Graphic Artist
©Lightwritingmatters 2015
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This is post on Love Extraordinaire!
Don’t you hate it
when someone sees a movie and comes and tells you the entire plot, the ending,
the plot twists??? Yet, here we are, Psalm 22 not only gives us the plot one
thousand years before it happens it tells us the end and the twist! Not only
that, but while King David is the one who ‘writes’ or ‘scribes’ the Psalm it
clearly has a much different voice than David. It is actually the one who is
strung up, mocked, spat upon, tortured and died but came back to life – Jesus,
that spells out HIS last 24 hours of life.
Don’t you wonder
how someone can have such incredible fore vision? They say hindsight, or
rear-view vision is 20/20. Extraordinary LOVE provided the vision.
What if you were a named key figure in a scenario in someone’s visionary story from a 1000 yrs ago? Then played the role you were supposed to play a thousand years later? But, you even read the storyline or heard it most of your human life? And, didn’t even blink when you walked onto the world stage and did exactly what was written you would do? Extraordinary LOVE did just that!
Do you know who
lived what was written in this Psalm a thousand years before it actually played
out? If you guessed Jesus, you know Extraordinary LOVE. Likely you cannot imagine
the depth of utter extreme agony physically and emotionally Christ endured yet
the very words of this Psalm were known to HIM in his pre-human life. HE knew
what awaited HIM. Is it any wonder his sweat dripped with blood as he prayed in
Gethsemane? What Extraordinary LOVE!
Remember, this is a
post on an extraordinary love though as you have begun to see, it presents
itself as a dichotomy because it is equally an amazingly sad post on what that phenomenal
love endured for you and I àALL THE WAY TO DEATH! Unmatched
Extraordinary LOVE
Lachrymal—A tear
catcher. What size do you think would have been used for Christ’s death that
day? Today, you may guess no container would be large enough to hold the tears
shed at Christ’s excruciating torturous execution. But would it surprise you
there were 5 individuals listed in the gospels who were present for the entire
ordeal? Who is listed in John’s account of the crucifixion as present? Mother,
Auntie, Mary the mother of two of his disciples and Mary Magdalene, and John.
Wonder where the other apostles went? Where were the throngs who followed him
everywhere – the ones who received miraculous healings, resurrections, demonic
expulsions? There was a sizeable crowd, but they were mocking not crying. It
appears, those crying at the foot of the Lord was so few a small tear catcher
would have sufficed. Despite this Jesus demonstrated Extraordinary LOVE!
So, a thought to ponder
deeply: If the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were familiar with Psalm 22, and
there is no reason to believe they were not, and familiar with the prophets,
how is it they still cried: “Crucify! Crucify!” (John 19:6] Is it any wonder
during his ministry, Jesus condemned these religious leaders as vipers, whitewashed
graves, hypocrites, ‘whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the
outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything
unclean.’
Yet, Christ’s love
did not die. HIS Extraordinary LOVE is eternal and lives with HIM wherever HE resides.
Following is Psalm
22, in part, with comments on selected verses. The author’s prayer is twofold:
1] The reader will grasp the intensity of the ordeal that was Jesus’ last 24 hours
of human life on earth; 2] The reader’s heart will be moved to live their
Christ-life with as much extraordinary love as they can based on the example of
their Lord, Jesus.
Charles H.
Spurgeon, Pastor and author from the mid-19th century in England referred
to this Psalm as the ‘Psalm of the Cross’ – His commentary on Psa 22. The words
in Table written in red below are taken from his commentary. His words are
sufficient in digging down into the human heart and helping each reader to
share in the emotional and possible psychological feelings the reader may experience
as they read Psalm 22 along with Pastor Spurgeon’s commentary. For the whole commentary
on Psalm 22 please use the following link:
Did David Know About Jesus?
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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are
you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My
God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no
rest.
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This may seem familiar; it is written in Matthew 27:46.
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3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you
are the one Israel praises. 4 In you our ancestors put
their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. |
Pastor Spurgeon writes: ““The prayer of faith can do the deed when
nothing else can.”
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But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by
everyone, despised by the people.
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What a contrast between "I AM"
and "I am a worm"! yet such a double nature was found in the
person of our Lord Jesus when bleeding upon the tree. He felt himself to be
comparable to a helpless, powerless, down-trodden worm, passive while
crushed, and unnoticed and despised by those who trod upon him. He selects
the weakest of creatures, which is all flesh; and becomes, when trodden upon,
writhing, quivering flesh, utterly devoid of any might except strength to
suffer. This was a true likeness of himself when his body and soul had become
a mass of misery—the very essence of agony—in the dying pangs of
crucifixion.”
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7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” |
"They shoot out the lip, they
shake the head." These were gestures of contempt. Pouting, grinning,
shaking of the head, thrusting out of the tongue, and other modes of derision
were endured by our patient Lord; men made faces at him before whom angels
vail their faces and adore.”
Also: Luke 27:35,37,39
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9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you
made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. |
Luke 2:1-20
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12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
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The mighty ones in the crowd are here
marked by the tearful eye of their victim. The priests, elders, scribes,
Pharisees, rulers, and captains bellowed round the cross like wild cattle,
fed in the fat and solitary pastures of Bashan, full of strength and fury;
they stamped and foamed around the innocent One, and longed to gore him to
death with their cruelties. Conceive of the Lord Jesus as a helpless,
unarmed, naked man, cast into the midst of a herd of infuriated wild bulls.
They were brutal as bulls, many, and strong, and the Rejected One was all
alone, and bound naked to the tree. His position throws great force into the
earnest entreaty, "Be not far from me."
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13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths
wide against me. 14 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. 15 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.
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Like roaring lions they howled out their
fury, and longed to tear the Saviour in pieces, as wild beasts raven over
their prey. Our Lord's faith must have passed through a most severe conflict
while he found himself abandoned to the tender mercies of the wicked, but he
came off victorious by prayer; the very dangers to which he was exposed being
used to add prevalence to his entreaties.
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16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me;
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Here he marks the more ignoble
crowd, who, while less strong than their brutal leaders, were not less
ferocious, for there they were howling and barking like unclean and hungry
dogs. Hunters frequently surround their game with a circle, and gradually
encompass them with an ever-narrowing ring of dogs and men. Such a picture is
before us. In the centre stands, not a panting stag, but a bleeding, fainting
man, and around him are the enraged and unpitying wretches who have hounded
him to his doom.
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they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All
my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
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Luke 24:37-38
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18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
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Matt 27:35
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19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my
strength; come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver me from the
sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save
me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22 I will declare your name
to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of
Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 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. 25 From you comes the theme
of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill
my vows. 26 The poor will
eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!
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After sharing his horrific woes after
it is finished in triumph he declares
GOD’s Name – The question has been asked we mention our sorrows readily
enough ; why are we so slow in declaring our deliverances” -Charles Spurgeon
Commentary Psa 22:22
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27 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, 28 for
dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. 29 All
the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to
the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will
serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord. |
Matt 28:19-20; Rev 21:3-4
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31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet
unborn: He has done it!
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Salvation's glorious work is done, there
is peace on earth, and glory in the highest. "It is finished,"
these were the expiring words of the Lord Jesus, as they are the last words
of this Psalm. May we by living faith be enabled to see our salvation
finished by the death of Jesus!
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Summation: The words spoken by Jesus as written by
John, the disciple of love, about the last few hours Jesus spent free to pray
in agony and earnest regarding the upcoming events are moving and heart heavy.
He spoke as if the ordeal was behind him but also spoke about it being before HIM.
Poignant are the final words of the John’s 17th chapter:
“I do not pray for these
alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that
they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in
You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent
Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have
given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I
in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me
may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given
Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O
righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You;
and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And
I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that
the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John
17:20-26
May we ever bear in mind the cost to Jesus – our High
Priest, King of Kings and Prince of Peace. Our Messiah, the CHRIST – the hours
of torture, humiliation, and brutality HE suffered for us -- that HIS prayer in
Gethsemane to be true. May we contemplate these things as we daily live our
lives in peace as Christians. May we share our faith and our Lord’s GOSPEL at
all times.
“Jesus spoke these words,
lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come.
Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as
You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He [a]should give
eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this
is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified
You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to
do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together [b]with
Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
– John 17:1-5 †
For another insight to the agony of the LORD and HIS
limitless Extraordinary LOVE for those who love him watch this
YOUTUBE video discussion of another prophetic description of Jesus’ agony:
Bibles Designations
KJV – King James Version
NIV – New International Version
NWT – New World Translation
ASV -- American Standard Version
DISCLAIMER: The thoughts published on this
blog, in total, are the opinions, thoughts and considerations of the
writer/author of every post published. It is assumed that research by the
reader will lead the reader to their own conclusions. It is not the writer’s
intent to make a judgment of anyone but to allow GOD’s Word to do what it does.
“For the word of GOD is alive and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints
and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from GOD’s
sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to
whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:12 [NIV]
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