2023_08_07 Insight Post- Kim Feld

Our reading this week is rich in connections about Jesus. I want to focus today on Psalm 22 and its links with Jesus. David writes an anguished lament about his enemies, feeling forsaken by God in his time of great need. During His crucifixion, Jesus drew from these words as the weight of our sin completely separated Him from God (See Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; John 19:28-37). Luke’s account does not record the words of Psalm 22, but to look at all four texts together, see Luke 23:44-49.

Because I didn’t grow up in Old Testament times, it is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to experience God as they did. I think of how terrifying but awe-inspiring it must have been to see God displayed in fire or a heavy cloud covering. Imagine all that was necessary to approach this Holy God! How incredible that this very same God would humble Himself, become a man, and allow Himself to be tortured and killed by those He had created! All because He thought you and I were worth it; He wanted a relationship with us.

I believe that when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane before His crucifixion and asked if there was any other way, He had the separation from God that He knew must happen in mind. I’m sure He wasn’t looking forward to the physical pain. Still, I honestly believe that the thought of being separated from God in a way He had never experienced caused Him to sweat drops of blood. The idea was unbearable, but He knew it was the only way.

There’s speculation about what hell will be like; theologians are not aligned about the meaning of passages in Revelation that provide details. Is it actually a lake of fire, or is that symbolic? I don’t know, but one thing I’m sure of: God is not there. It will be complete and total separation from God in a way you and I have never experienced. Even though our world is not devoid of evil, God’s presence is still here. I believe that Jesus experienced the full extent of hell on our behalf so we wouldn’t have to.

I love the ending of Psalm 22 because it reminds me that Jesus is victorious. Let these words sink in deep today from the end of verse 31: “He has done it!” Jesus has done it all! We don’t have to earn salvation (as if we could) because HE HAS DONE IT! And we have His promise in Hebrews 13:5b: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Please spend some time today with these words from Hebrews 2:9-10 NLT:

⁹ What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. ¹⁰ God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach