Psalm 22:24
24 For he hath not despised [bazah] nor abhorred [shaqats] the
affliction [`enuwth] of the afflicted; [`aniy] neither hath he hid [cathar]
his face [paniym] from him; but when he cried [shava`] unto him, he heard. [shama`]
KJV-Interlinear
24 For
He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither has
He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. NASB
As Jesus was hanging on
the cross, the crowd hurled cat calls, mocking comments, yelled challenges for
Jesus to call on God to rescue Him, for God to make all of this go away, for
God to save Him. They teased that God
had abandoned Him.
But such was not the
case.
God has a plan, a divine
plan. That plan called for one to
mediate between God and man, and that the mediator must be equal with both God
and man. Jesus was that mediator.
The whole purpose of the
first advent, was for Jesus to purchase mans freedom from sin and assume mans
place in judgment for all sin. That
mechanism was the cross, on which Jesus suffered the spiritual judgment for
sin. The physical suffering which He endured
was what we could see which symbolized the real punishment for mans spiritual
failure in sin.
For three hours from noon
until three in the afternoon, a supernatural darkness covered the world and
judgment for sin was executed on Jesus during that three hour time. He screamed and screamed out of the darkness,
and then it was over. Daylight returned,
He declared the work finished and then exhaled his final physical breath.
Earthquake and storm
celebrated the success and finality of Gods work, and ripped the veil in the
tabernacle between the Holy room and the Holy of Holies room which opened up
the way for mans relationship directly with God.
That was the plan. That was what must be.
God did not abandon Jesus,
but most certainly held Him close through the entire ordeal following the
divine plan to the letter, thus accomplishing salvation for humanity.
Jesus was made sin. Sin was applied to Jesus so that judgment for
sin could be executed against Jesus.
God did not abhor Jesus
for His receipt of sin. God did not
abhor Jesus for the punishment that was thrust on Him.
God did not turn away,
but stuck with the plan of which all three members of the Trinity agreed to, in
eternity past.
God heard every word of
prayer. God heard every thought, which we
have here in writing. God was always
there and never left.
God saw the plan through
to its completion.
God treats you exactly
the same. Though none of us know the
divine plan particular to us from one day to the next, and certainly we cannot
know what is ahead for us in the far future.
But God is always there, seeing our plan through to its completion.
The only real question is,
will we see it through too, even if and especially if, life falls apart for us
in some fashion.
Do we trust or do we
complain and blame.
