Many, many, MANY years ago, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I had a professor whom I now think of as my mentor. He shared with us one day of a Bible conference that was held that had some of the biggest theological names of the time. This professor had just returned from a twenty year mission in the Philippines and had taken a position at a Christian seminary. He was nothing special in the United States at the time and, although he would have liked to have attended this conference, he could not afford the trip. Then, just less than two weeks before the conference was to begin, he got a call asking him if he would like to come and preach. The original speaker he would be replacing had to change his plans and the dozens of others they had already called had turned them down. Sort of flattered and very flustered, the professor agreed, and it was set up. And then the thought came, WHAT DO I PREACH? 

    He finally decided that the greatest sermon ever preached was the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapters five, six and seven. He decided to simply preach the Sermon to show the power of the teachings of Jesus. To make it easier to understand, he put it all into the English language of the time. He wasn't the keynote speaker. He was the before breakfast speaker, when most of the attendees were still in bed. Still, it was an honor to be there. He brought his message, just the Sermon on the Mount in the day's English and without mentioning that it was the Sermon, and he said at the close of it everyone was perfectly still and quiet. No one spoke. Everyone on the dais just sat still. Then the clamoring began. People rushing up to him, shaking his hand, hugging him, some in tears, all asking where he had gotten his information. He was shocked until he realized that they didn't recognize his sermon as the Sermon on the Mount. 

    He shared the story with us to show the absolute power of the Scripture. I thought about this story when I was asked the question I am asked almost every year. In Matthew 27:46 we have this; And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus, on the cross, gasps out these words. Why would He, being God the Son, think that the Father had forsaken Him? He knew the plan and He knew what must happen. Was He in such deep despair? And as a follow-up question, only asked maybe twice over the years, why did He speak in Hebrew? A language He didn't use much and a language the common man didn't know well. These are good questions.  

    And there is an answer. If I am talking to another Christian about the care and love of God, I might say, "Well, think on the 23rd Psalm." Or I might sing the first verse, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound". In both cases, I have just shared a piece of Scripture or a song, both so well known that I need go no farther. At the time of Christ, the Psalms were not numbered as we have them today. But, as with "Amazing Grace," just giving the first verse directs one to the intended Psalm. (Remember, the Psalms is a collection of their songs.) The fact that Jesus spoke in Hebrew means He is referencing the Hebrew Scripture. By speaking that one sentence, He is preaching the entire Psalm. In this case, Psalm 22.

    Jesus. Agony. His shoulders dislocated from the process of crucifixion. Barely able to breathe, much less speak. Beaten. Spit upon. People mocking Him. People dividing His clothing. The shame of being high up, stripped of clothing and dignity. Spikes in His hands and feet. Hot sun. Lips and mouth dry in a way we can not understand. To breathe He would have had to push up on the foot spike to slide His shoulders enough to take in a little air. This would tear at His feet. Psalm 22 was written a thousand years before that day on the cross. The Jews didn't crucify. That came later with foreign invaders. The Jews of David's time, when Psalm 22 was written, stoned a criminal to death. Actually, more humane than crucifixion. Nails in hands and feet was never thought of. A spear through the heart to be assured of death was not considered. What was happening to Jesus had been around for maybe a century. In all of this, Jesus speaks the first line of a thousand year old Psalm. And with that, He connected Himself to this centuries old Messianic Psalm. The Jewish leaders, when they heard, probably had a chill run through them.

    Take a few minutes to read this Psalm and see how Jesus preached a devastating sermon with the Scripture.  

Psalm 22:1-31

1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from saving Me, from the words of My groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In You our fathers trusted; they trusted, and You delivered them.

5 To You they cried and were rescued; in You they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

7 All who see Me mock Me; they make mouths at Me; they wag their heads;

8 “He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him!”

9 Yet You are He who took Me from the womb; You made Me trust You at My mother's breasts.

10 On You was I cast from My birth, and from My mother's womb You have been My God.

11 Be not far from Me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass Me; strong bulls of Bashan surround Me;

13 they open wide their mouths at Me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

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

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue sticks to My jaws; You lay Me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass Me; a company of evildoers encircle Me; they have pierced My hands and feet—

17 I can count all My bones—they stare and gloat over Me;

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

19 But You, O Lord, do not be far off! O You, My help, come quickly to My aid!

20 Deliver My soul from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog!

21 Save Me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued Me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 For He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and He has not hidden His face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to Him.

25 From You comes My praise in the great congregation;
My vows I will perform before those who fear Him.

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.

28 For Kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before Him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.

30 Posterity shall serve Him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

31 they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.

    This past Sunday, as the wind howled outside, I sat at my computer getting my notes from the day's sermon together in a readable form. No one will ever read them, of course, but I started this little habit back in 1987 so that I could go back and review my own notes. As I have gotten older it has become more needed. This old brain just doesn't process and store memories like it used to do. So, I was involved in this endeavor at 7:30 in the evening when the fire alarm went off.

    I live in an apartment complex for seniors. You have to be at least 55 to be here. Each apartment has fire alarms and when one goes off the ones in the hallways all go off. It is loud and very persistent. The stairwells are all fire resistant and we are all supposed to go there. At the bottom of each stairwell there is a door that leads outside. In case of a fire we are to go down and go outside. The same fire alarm system is also in place for tornados, in which case we are to wait it out in the stairwells. With the wind blasting away it could have been either situation. A downed power line could have started a fire or a tornado could have been lurking in the dusk. Either way, it was time to head to the stairwells.

    However.....in the two and a half years I have been here, that alarm has gone off maybe twenty times. Just gone off at random. At first the halls would fill as residents hurried to the stairwells. But now, TVs just get turned up a little louder. Meals continue to be prepared. If it is at night, maybe you wake up, maybe not. Sunday evening it very well could have been the real thing. But no one went to the hallway. No one was concerned, myself included. It was just an irritation.

    When I finished with my notes, I realized the alarm was still going off. It had been thirty minutes since it had started. A couple of fire trucks had pulled in. Since it was the weekend there was no staff to check it out, so the fire department had to come. They knew that our system rarely worked right, so they had been in no great hurry. In just a few minutes the alarm shut off. All was quiet.

    And in the silence, a thought found its way through the fog of my brain and demanded to be recognized. I have always marveled that the Jews had denied Jesus. All the prophecies of the coming Messiah had been fulfilled. Amazing miracles had been done. This man, Jesus, had been noteworthy for His compassion and love. He had not sinned. He had not sought to disrupt either the Roman Empire or the Jewish governance. He spoke the truth, certainly, but He did so without malice. He was a man of peace and that peace came from His very soul. Why had they denied Him?

    The thought that rose to the surface in my brain reminded me that the first Messianic prophecy had been 4,000 years before Jesus. From histories outside of the Bible we know that there had been at least three dozen different men who had come forward as Messiah. Each had gathered around them a small following and then their movements died, usually with the death of the fake Messiah. When Jesus came, He was very much like the previous contenders. Yes, He did miracles that seemed to defy nature, but the miracles could have been staged. Even raising from death the man from Nain could have been a clever set-up. The Jewish leaders did not want their positions threatened, but they also did not want the people fooled. This Jesus wasn't all that different from those who preceded Him, so silencing Him was important. Afterall, after 4,000 year the leadership had become convinced the Christ would be a warrior king, driving out the enemies of the Jews. Jesus was a carpenter. He simply didn't fit their idea of who Messiah would be.

    The raising of Lazarus began to cloud the issue a bit. By all accounts, he was really dead. Then Jesus Himself was killed. Absolutely. On a cross. With a spear run through Him. Put it a tomb. Sealed up, A guard put in place. Dead and gone with a guard to prevent tomb raiders. And then He was alive and there had to have been a dawning, a realization, that maybe this time it was real. No one else had ever done these things before. Yeah, maybe.....

    Looked at this way, we can excuse at least some of their certainty. They were wrong, of course, but they had precedent. 

    But what about us? From John 11 through the end of the book, we have the most electrifying narrative in history. But it has become so very common. So common, in fact, that we need to spice it up. Colored eggs, bright flowers, calling Resurrection Day easter, which is derived from the goddess Estre. The most powerful moment in all history is marked with rabbits and chicks to denote fertility of Spring. And beyond that, Jesus is coming again. But it has been 2,000 years. Many have come forward with dates, and every date has passed. 2,000 years? Is He really coming?

    Please, please, please do not let this moment go unnoticed. It has been said that the cross is the hinge upon which the door of all history swings. Cast away the silliness and embrace the majesty. The love. Let your heart break and then let Him put it back together.,

    Be blessed.