GOOD FRIDAY: PSALM 22 (PROPHESIED)...MATTHEW 27 (FULFILLED)

The Cross is the most popular jewelry item in the world. In the west, even secular people use them, for some reason or another.  Even bad biker gangs have insignia in the form of a cross celebrating- God knows what. To those living in the Roman Empire, 2000 years ago, the Cross was NO ‘fasthion statement”. It was a brutal instrument of torture, mayhem, and death which the Romans inflicted on their enemies, far and wide.

The most famous Person to be executed on the Cross was, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Were it not for Him, no one would know what crucifixion was, outside of a history class. Also, no one would know that it was the Sin of ALL mankind there – Jewish and Roman (or Gentile) which precipitated the Sacrifice of the God’s Son as the Propitiation (Satisfactory) payment for our sins

Almost 1000 years before Christ (BC) was nailed to the Cross by evil men on Good Friday, the very same words He would utter on there were prophesied and written down by King David, the poet/prophet/king of Israel.  It was not just the immortal statements uttered by Christ which came from Psalm 22,  but what actually took place from the point of view of God Who became a man – the Lord Jesus! It is a vantage point which believers, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God Who moved the pen of David to write this, will immediately recognize. Jesus is literally describing what He physically experiences in this psalm, in graphic detail! it should make us cringe. It was our vile sin which caused this to occur.

Therefore, the vivid, heartbreaking, painful and incredibly horrific events are now presented, as remembrance – without comment – from prophetic Messianic Psalm 22 (written around 940 BC) in BLUE along with the actual fulfillment of these prophesies, from Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke in RED (of events from 33 AD).

PSALM 22:

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? - verse 1a

MATTHEW 27

About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? - verse 46

PSALM 22:

6 But I am a worm and not a man,  a reproach of men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me sneer at me;  they separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,

8 “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him because He delights in him.”

MATTHEW 27:

41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

JESUS DESCRIBES WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FROM THE CROSS HERE:

PSALM 22:

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;

And You lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.***

17 I can count all my bones. they look, they stare at me; 

18 They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

MATTHEW 27:

35 When they had crucified him,*** they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

MARK 15

24  And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

LUKE 24:

34  Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Jesus then completed the Work which the Father had given Him to do: It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30b)

(Image Credits Here)

HOLY WEEK: - THURSDAY ....."PROPHESY REVEALED, REALITY UNVEILED"

The Ultimate Sacrificial Death on the Cross, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was both predicted in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New Testament, sometimes almost word for word!  About 740 years before Jesus gave His Life as a ransom for many, that all the world could be saved, the Prophet Isaiah wrote and prophesied in one of the greatest Chapters of the entire bible – Isaiah 53.

Jesus was the propitiation – the acceptable to God the Father sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, for all time.  Jesus, the Perfect Lamb of God, came meek and humble, yet knew what He taught and the reason for it. While He spoke a few words in front of His corrupt religious accusers and Pilate, He said not a word to the heathen King Herod.  As for Herod, Jesus will have a lot to say to Him on Judgment Day.

Here, we present the Word of God, from selected verses from Isaiah 53 (blue),Matthew Chapter 27 (red),Matthew 28 and 1 Corinthians 15:3, without comment:

ISAIAH 53:

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.

Matthew 27:
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.  13 Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” 14 And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.

ISAIAH 53:
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3
"Christ died for our sins".

ISAIAH 53:.
10 But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

Matthew 28:
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”