Despised and Rejected

“My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1a)

The 22^nd psalm is a remarkable prophecy of the suffering servant, further detailed in Isaiah chapter 53. Its fulfillment came when Jesus Christ hung on Calvary’s cross, suffering the outpouring of wrath from God which was rightfully owed to you and me.

The apostle Paul tells us that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain” (Rom 8:22). Jesus, whom God “made…to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Cor 5:21) Himself groaned upon that tree as the psalmist had said: “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent” (Ps 22:2).

“…I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Ps 22:6) was echoed in Isaiah in his prophecy of the suffering servant: “He is despised and rejected of men…and we hid…our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not” (Is 53:3). As Jesus was being scourged and afflicted on His way to the cross, upon which He was ultimately nailed, He completely fulfilled this prophetic word.

“All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him” (Ps 22:7-8). Jesus bore just such scoffers: “And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God” (Matt 27:39-43).

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint” (Ps 22:14). One of the effects of crucifixion was just this: that the crucified would suffer dislocation of various joints. Being poured out like water was rather shockingly literally fulfilled in the account of John: “…one of the soldiers pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (Jo 19:34).

“Dogs have compassed me” (Ps 22:16). Seen as a derogatory reference, we find Christ crucified with thieves and robbers (Matt 27:38). “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Ps 22:16b). This is a remarkable prophecy, especially considering it was written down nearly a thousand years before the invention of crucifixion as a form of punishment. “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture” (Ps 22:18) has its fulfillment in “…they…parted his garments, casting lots” (Matt 27:35).

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is truly the focal point of all of history as recorded in the Bible. The plan of God to reconcile a fallen world to Himself was prophesied by the Old Testament prophets and perfectly fulfilled in the atoning work of Christ on the cross. He truly is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). RST