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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 14th January 2007 AMThe Promised Messiah – Salvation through Suffering Pastor Colin MeadowsPsalm 22:1-8, 14-18, 22-28, Matt 27: 45-54 Ø Unwanted as the Saviour We have just experienced another Christmas season. The coming of Christ as a babe long ago caught people by surprise. Born as a babe in Bethlehem, his own people struggled to accept who he was. Even the inn keeper didn’t have room for the family! John 1:10-11 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” Throughout his life the Jews appeared confused and uncertain about Jesus. Just who was this man? The more Jesus spoke of his future the more uncertain they seemed to become. John 10:20 “Many of them said, ‘He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?’” Later when Jesus began to explain to his disciples his coming suffering, death and resurrection, they could not believe what he was saying. Matt 16:22 “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’” The thought that the promised messiah would suffer was anathema to them. Such teaching did not form any part of their thinking. If only they had been better prepared, we might say. If only God the Father had given some indication of what would happen concerning the coming messiah. If only. Yet God had given a clear message. His redeeming servant would suffer for his people. We need only to look to passages in the prophet Isaiah to see this is true. However perhaps the clearest prophecy concerning the suffering redeemer is to be found in Psalm 22. Aware of this, Jesus made a very significant statement while he hung suffering on the cross. Matt 27:46 “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Certainly he was crying out to his Father in his hour of incredible need, calling for a sense of God’s presence. But Jesus was doing much more than this. In those days, the Jewish Bible was not annotated into chapters and verses. That did not happen until hundreds of years later in the thirteenth century AD. Rather believers in those days knew passages of scripture by referring to the first verse of each section. Thus by calling out the first verse of this psalm Jesus was directing people to that passage of scripture. ‘Go to psalm 22 and read about these things!’ was Jesus’ cry. You are confused and in pain. Go and read and understand. Let us do just that ourselves. As we enter Psalm 22 we find a psalm of intense pain and suffering. Certainly it was written initially by King David to reflect his own pain and anguish. But there was much more than that here. It was written with a strong prophetic view in mind, a view that looked beyond the suffering of King David to the pain and suffering of the coming messiah. Ø Abandoned by his Father The road that Jesus took on our behalf was a very lonely one. When he came to live amongst us, his was a journey of aloneness. As one reads the gospels you sense his growing isolation as he moved towards the cross, an isolation that included being left by his father. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus, aware of the enormity of the task and the pain and isolation that lay ahead said to his Father… Matt 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not what I will, but as you will.” This isolation became complete as Jesus hung on the cross. That is why he cried out in anguish… Ps 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me; Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” Jesus experienced loneliness to the full. He knew what is was like to be by himself; isolated from the one he loved. He is thus able to identity with us in our loneliness too. Do you feel abandoned by God at times? Jesus understands. Yes, Ps 22 speaks of being abandoned by his father. Ø Isolated by people Feeling abandoned from his father, Jesus further felt isolated by the very people he had come to save. Even the Samaritans, to whom he reached out in love, did not want him. Luke 9:53,55 “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem…but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.” Christ pleaded with his disciples to stay the distance with him but they found it just too much. In the garden of Gethsemane he asked them to pray with him but sleep overcame them instead. Matt 26:38 “Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” They didn’t however respond to the challenge. Jesus did not fit their preconceived ideas of the messiah. He wasn’t the conquering warrior they had hoped for, the one who would fulfill their expectations, the one who would meet their needs, the one to make their lives complete. Ps 22:6-8 “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” What about us today? Does Jesus fit your perceptions of the savior? Are you looking for a Jesus who will sort out all your problems and make life smooth? Or are you willing to submit to the savior who will take you on a journey of faith into the unknown, a journey that may involve some pain, separation from others, but a journey that will ultimately bring glory to God? Yes, abandoned by people. Ø Assaulted by his captors Those who hated Jesus and who held him captive used their power to bring him great pain. Ps 22:16-18 “Dogs
have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my
hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” I struggled to watch the scourging scene in the film ‘The Passion of the Christ” for it too violent for me. One commentary I read on the film however noted that Roman Catholic believers would have less concern with the violence in the film for they have a theology of suffering that evangelical Christians do not have. I found that comment very thought provoking. Even today Christ is devalued and denigrated by his enemies. Whether it is in movies or novels or in other ways, evil people continue to deride Christ and take his name in vain. It is amazing that so many of our swear words in English involve taking the names of the savior and using them in abusive ways. Let us not succumb to such thinking and let us seek to honor the name of Christ in our lives. But this is not the end of the story! Ø Assured of a wonderful future! The latter part of the psalm consists of praise and thanksgiving to God for his salvation, his faithfulness and love. In respond to what God has done through the suffering servant, the people of God are called to respond in faith and obedience. The suffering of Christ has had a divine purpose, a wonderful outcome, to bring about salvation for all who will believe! Ps 22:27 “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, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.” The cross was not the end of the story for on the third day, Christ arose from the dead! He now reigns with the father in heaven, awaiting the fulfillment of God’s will. There was purpose in Christ’s suffering, just as there is purpose in our times of difficulty. CS Lewis noted ‘God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’ There is coming a time of great joy and excitement as a result of the finished work of Christ. Rev 19:6-7 “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” God’s people are called the bride of Christ. Are you and I ready to meet him if he should come just now? Let us live in readiness of his coming again. Are we living in such a way that brings joy to God’s heart? I like the words of Mark Twain when he said, “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” Yes, in light of all that Christ the suffering servant has done for us, let us live in such a way to bring honor to him.
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