He Has Done It!

It’s very familiar. You know it well. You know it even if you don’t realize you do. You have heard the words of Psalm 22—at least some of the words—several times. This is a fitting way to end our ‘Psummer in the Psalms’, to exalt in our God and in our Savior once more.

Psalm 22 speaks of David’s own personal distress and of God’s deliverance of David from it; it’s a psalm of David, written in the time of David—an expression of David’s faith in God in the middle of all he’s facing: silence and scorn and defeat.

Psalm 22 is about David, his experiences, and his faith.

And yet, Psalm 22 prophetically describes in remarkable detail the suffering, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Jesus.

The language David uses was no doubt prompted and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Only its inspiration could account for the fact that it spans one thousand years from the time of David to the time of Jesus and perfectly describes the experiences of the Christ.

So, initially, as David was writing this psalm it described his own situation, his own suffering, his own deliverance. But it is impossible, impossible for us—with Christian eyes—to read this psalm and not see Jesus; it’s impossible for us to read these verses and not see Jesus and all He’s done for us.

As we read Psalm 22, we have to keep in mind that this applies to David in the time David was writing. And, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this also perfectly describes and details what Jesus went through on the cross.

What I want for us this morning is simple: to reflect, to meditate, to set our minds upon the cross of Christ; that old, rugged cross—the symbol of suffering and shame—and all the cross of Christ means for us.

Look with me at the beginning of Psalm 22, verses 1-2:

Psalm 22:1–2 NIV

1 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.

The first verse in the psalm was spoken by Jesus from the Cross—it’s likely the best known phrase from this psalm, simply because Jesus spoke it and because Jesus felt it.

Jesus spoke these words Himself. We hear Him speaking these words. Both Matthew and Mark record the words of this psalm on the lips of Jesus in His native Aramaic. This is for our benefit—so we hear it as Jesus would have said it, the exact words that Jesus spoke. As we hear it exactly as Jesus spoke it, we feel the weight of these words as they drip from his mouth: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabacthani?”

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus was Forsaken by God for us

This forsakenness cannot mean that the eternal communion between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit was broken. God could not cease to be triune, three in one.

Neither does this forsakenness mean that the Father ceased to love the Son: especially not here, and not now. Nor does this forsakenness mean that the Holy Spirit ceased to minister to the Son.

These words are not a cry of despair; despair would have been sin.

Even in the darkness, God was still for Jesus, “My God”. And though there was no sign of Him, though the pain obscured the promises, somewhere in the depths of His soul remained the assurance that God was holding Him.

What was true of Abraham was truer still of Jesus: Against all hope, He in hope believed.

There is much this forsaking is not.

Yet, this is a real forsaking. Jesus didn’t merely feel forsaken. He was forsaken. And not only by His disciples, but by God Himself.

It was God Himself—God the Father—who had delivered Jesus, who handed Jesus over to Judas, to the Jews, to Pilate, and finally to the Cross itself.

And on that Cross, when Jesus cried, God had closed His ears.

“How great the pain of searing loss – The Father turns His face away…”

The crowd had not stopped heckling. The demons had not stopped taunting. The pain had not ended.

This time, no word came from heaven to remind Jesus that He was God’s Son, that He was greatly loved. No dove came down to assure Him of the Spirit’s presence and ministry. No angel came to strengthen Jesus. No redeemed sinner bowed to thank Him.

In the anguish of Gethsemane, as Jesus begged His Father to take the cup from Him, Jesus called His Father, Abba—the most personal of all Aramaic words.

But on the cross, Jesus doesn’t refer to God as Abba; Jesus refers to God as simply God: El.

Like Abraham and Isaac going up to Mount Moriah, Jesus and His Father—Abba—had gone up to Calvary together. But now, Abba is not there. Only God, only El is there.

God All-mighty, God All-holy. And Jesus is before El, not now as His beloved Son.

Jesus stands before El as the Sin of the World. That is His identity—Jesus is, on the cross, the Sin of the World.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

“Jesus could not sin, never thought about sinning, never considered sinning, and never was a sinner. Yet, He was the sin-bearer.” - Dustin Benge

Jesus is on the cross sin, condemned to bear its curse. And Jesus has no cover. No one can serve as His advocate. Nothing can be offered as His punishment. Jesus must bear it all.

And God, El, will not, can not spare Him until the ransom is paid in full.

This is the picture of the cross: the anguish and tension between the sin-bearing Son and His Heavenly Father; the whirlwind of sin at its most dreadful: God forsaken by God.

Never before had anything come between Him and His Father, but now the sin of the whole world has come between them, and Jesus is caught in this terrible curse.

It’s not that Abba is not there, but that He is there as the Judge of the all the earth, who could not, would not spare even His own Son.

Jesus stands where none has stood before or since, enduring at one tiny point in space and in one tiny moment of time, all that sin deserved.

Jesus was forsaken by God for us.

If this isn’t our understanding of the Cross of Christ, we haven’t fully grasped what Jesus has done. If we don’t get this, if we miss this—that Jesus, the Sin Offering, stood before the Holy and Just God, forsaken by His Father for us—well, if we don’t get that, we’ve missed it all.

Jesus was forsaken by God for us.

Psalm 22:6–18 NIV

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 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.” 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. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 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. 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

Jesus Endured the Pain and Suffering we Should Have Endured.

People love to ask: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Well, let me tell you, that has happened exactly once. Bad things—truly bad things—happened to Jesus (the only good person in history) and this happened because He took our place, enduring the shame and punishment and suffering and mocking and scoffing and insulting that we—you and I—deserved.

It takes no imagination at all to see the suffering and anguish of Jesus in the words of the 22nd Psalm.

In fact, the very gestures and words of verses 7-8 were reproduced at Calvary—All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him.”

Everything from the mocking and insults hurled at Him, to the animal attacks from men He came to save, to the dry mouth of the Creator who had to ask for a drink, to the staring and gloating of the crowd, to the centurions dividing and casting lots for His clothing—the words of the 22nd Psalm express (as well as words can) the suffering and pain that Jesus endured in our place.

In our place…as our representative…as our substitute…

Imagine you live in a cardboard house, and not the nice, fancy, refrigerator-box cardboard; just your regular, run-of-the-mill cardboard. Your cheap cardboard house is so small you don’t even have room to stretch out your legs to sleep. You live in this cardboard box and you don’t have a job, you don’t have any money, any food; you have to forage for your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snacks. The only water you have is rain water that drips through your corrugated roof. In essence, you have nothing.

And then, there’s a knock on the cardboard (you don’t have a doorbell, you know?). You fold open your front door; It’s Warren Buffet, the billionaire. He’s come to exchange lives with you. You get his billions, all of his companies, his mansions, his cars. And he’s going to live in your flimsy shack. He hands you the titles and deeds to everything he has. He gives you the keys and fobs to all he owns. He signs over all his investments and stocks, his billions. You get what he has. He trades places with you, he exchanges stations in life with you; your situations are now completely flip-flopped.

Can you imagine another person switching places with you, and willingly; they, of their own volition, jumping at the chance to exchange their lofty position for your lowly state?

This type of thing doesn’t happen. And yet, this exact exchange happened, and to a much greater degree.

Jesus, the perfect Son of God, glorious and worthy of honor and praise—Holy, Righteous, Spotless—came to us, willingly, and took our place. He, the Gracious and Perfect God-man, handed us His perfect righteousness in exchange for our completely filthy, utterly sin-stained record.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus took upon Himself the suffering, the pain, the ridicule, the mockery, the agony that we deserved. And we get off scot-free, unpunished, right?

Yes, that’s true; but it’s even better than that. We’re not just unpunished; we’re cleansed, our scarlet sins washed white, whiter than snow. Jesus takes the pain and suffering we deserve and we are, in Him, clothed in His perfect righteousness; everything He has and is is imputed to us. That’s better than merely going unpunished; that’s reward and blessing where only a curse was deserved.

Isaiah prophesied long before Jesus came on the scene this:

Isaiah 53:4–6 NIV

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus Endured the Pain and Suffering we Should Have Endured.

Please realize Psalm 22 isn’t just about the forsakenness and suffering of Jesus on the cross. It’s not all silence and scorn and defeat.

There’s a great deal of faith expressed in Psalm 22. Notice the three sections of faith—each one comes after forsakenness, scorn, and brutality. Each section of faithfulness begins with “yet you” or “but you”, tipping us off.

After the cry of forsakenness come verses 3-5—

Psalm 22:3–5 NIV

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.

After the description of scorn, verses 9-11—

Psalm 22:9–11 NIV

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.

And after the detailing of brutality, verses 19-21—

Psalm 22:19–21 NIV

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.

Just like David, Jesus—the forsaken, scorned, and brutalized One—maintained faith in God who always had been the Delivering and Non-Disappointing God. Jesus trusted that His Father would save Him, deliver Him, rescue Him; Jesus trusted that God would answer Him, that God wasn’t far from Him, that God would not abandon Him forever.

I love that Jesus quoted the first verse of Psalm 22 on that Good, Good Friday those many years ago. Let me tell you why…

What do we think Jesus was doing in quoting Psalm 22? Do we think He was merely quoting David in his anguish? Were these just good words to speak at this terrible time in Jesus life?

Or was Jesus, by quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, making reference to all of it?

I believe that Jesus was up to something when He uttered My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

By using the first words of this psalm, Jesus was calling our attention to it all. Like a famous line from a book—“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”—or a well-known line from a movie—“Allo! My name is Inigo Montoya...”—a phrase can often draw our attention to the whole.

I don’t believe for a second that Jesus was just using My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? as a stand-alone line.

I believe Jesus was calling attention to the whole of Psalm 22—with its forsakenness, yes; with its scorn, yes; with its brutality, yes. But Jesus was also calling attention to the faith in Psalm 22. And the victory.

You see, on the cross Jesus was forsaken. And Jesus suffered in our place. But that’s not the end of the story:

Jesus Finished the Task Set Before Him.

Verse 22 marks a turning point in the psalm, from despair to victory. It’s a call to worship—a promise to declare the name of the Lord and praise Him in the midst of the assembly. It’s a call for the people of God to praise and honor and revere the Lord.

Psalm 22:22–23 NIV

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!

Why this shift in mood? Psalm 22 is almost like two different psalms in one; one dark and depressing, the other joyous and victorious.

Why the shift? What’s happened? What’s the cause of praise? It’s right there in verse 24:

Psalm 22:24 NIV

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.

You see, Jesus hasn’t been cast off forever. God the Father has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. God the Father has not hidden [forever] His face from Jesus, but has listened to His cry for help.

How do we know this? What happened as evidence of v. 24?

JESUS DIDN’T STAY DEAD!

“In the face of the darkness of Golgotha there shines an empty tomb and an occupied throne. The resurrection and ascension are God’s answer to the forsaken Messiah.” – Dale Ralph Davis.

God the Father looked with favor upon the Son’s perfect and complete sacrifice. He paid the price for our sins, once and for all. And when He had, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, where He sits at this very moment interceding for us.

The resurrection and ascension are proof positive that Jesus’ work on the cross was the full, complete, perfect answer to our sin.

Jesus’ death provided unfettered access to the Father, reconciling us to Him. Once His enemies, we are now seated at His table by and because of the Son’s sacrifice.

What do we do with this Good News?

We don’t sit on it. We don’t hide it under a bushel, no! We share the Good News that Jesus was forsaken for us and suffered as our substitute and that He has now, gloriously, wondrously finished the task set before Him.

We don’t keep this to ourselves (how could we?!?!?!); we invite EVERYONE—all the poor and powerless—EVERYONE—all the rich and mighty—EVERYONE to the great assembly to hear what God has done.

Psalm 22:25–29 NIV

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! 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.

We sing the wondrous story, of the Christ who died for us! And this will continue from generation to generation. This must continue. This is our news to share, just as Jesus tasked us

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The news we possess is the best news in the wide world—that Jesus came, taking our place, bearing our sin and shame, and when He paid the price we should have paid, He declared, “It is finished”, breathed His last and won the victory over sin and death.

This psalm that began with a cry of forsakenness now ends with a declaration not far removed from our Savior’s great cry: “It is finished.”

Psalm 22:30–31 NIV

30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

He has done it!

Christ Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world, has accomplished for us all that need be accomplished. He has finished what was previously unfinished. He willingly took upon Himself our forsaken-before-God state and gifted to us His right-with-God state. What an amazing, lopsided exchange.

This begs a response. If you’re not a Christian and the Lord is calling you today:

Admit that you’re a sinner and repent. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the One who perfectly, completely paid the price for your sin. And then confess your faith before other believers.

If you are a Christ-follower:

Rest in the finished work of Christ. He has done it! Rest in the finished work of Christ and tell everyone you encounter about what Jesus has done.