Mid-week Lenten Service #3

March 15, 2006

Hymns: 142:1-3; 153; 172:1-4; 558

            Grace to you and Peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The word of God taken for our meditation this evening comes from Psalm 22:11-13:

11 Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. 13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion. May this Word of God dwell in us richly! Amen.

Theme: The Savior suffers alone, surrounded by pressures.

In the Name of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Last week I began by pointing out that there is a close connection between the 22^nd and 23^rd Psalms. In Psalm 22 we are able to see the high cost that was necessary to secure the comfort and security we are assured of in the 23^rd. Last week we saw the verbal abuse that the Savior endured, becoming a worm in order to restore our souls. Tonight we will consider another word of promise from the 23^rd Psalm and what our Savior had to endure to make that promise a reality for us.

As we continue this evening we will see the high cost of the security of our souls, as Jesus suffered alone so that we might never be alone, and as He is surrounded by every type of foe to give us the victory over every enemy. May the Holy Spirit bless our study. Amen.

In the Shepherd’s Psalm we are given this assurance: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5). The Psalms are full of requests for help and deliverance. They are full of requests such as: “Arise, O LORD, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword” (Psalm 17:13), and “Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth” (Psalm 54:1-2).

The Psalms are also full of prayers of thanksgiving, praising the LORD for His deliverance from trouble and our enemies, praising Him for His guarding and protecting hand in our lives. In Psalm 20 David declares: “Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:6-7).

We enjoy the same assurance of deliverance from our enemies because Jesus had no deliverance. We saw a number of instances of Jesus being forsaken in the reading of the Passion history earlier this evening. Peter denied Him, no one was there to support Him when He was on trial before the Jewish Council, and another one of His disciples even hung himself. But this was just the beginning! His abandonment is further described in verse 11 of Psalm 22: “Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.” There was no one to help Jesus. He was all alone.

It’s really sad when we think back to the events of Palm Sunday. Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the people shouting His praises and hailing Him as their king. Now, less than a week later, where were those same people? Where were the people who had shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David!”? And what about His closer followers, His disciples whom He had been with for three years? Where were they when Jesus was put on trial? Where were they when He was condemned to death? They had abandoned Jesus for fear of their own lives. Jesus was all alone. There was none to help.

We often become critical of the disciples who didn’t do what they should. We may think poorly of the disciples for their lack of faith on that night as they fled the Garden of Gethsemane. But if we really think about it we have to realize that we have fared no better! How many times have we been in situations where we had the chance to stand up for Jesus, but instead we kept our mouths shut! We don’t want to feel like the oddball at work because of our faith. We don’t want others to think that we are some kind of religious zealot, or give us the old, “holier than thou” speech. So instead of standing up for our Savior, we hide in our silence.

Like Peter and the other disciples we often fail to let our light shine as we should. Often we cover the light of our Savior with a basket ashamed and afraid of what others will think, say or do if we speak up. We aren’t any better! May the LORD grant us repentant hearts for all the times that we have failed in that way, and may He give each of us the strength to defend Him at all times in our lives, and to be a bright witness of His saving work.

Earlier on that evening, while with His disciples in the upper room, Jesus had foretold that they would leave Him alone. He had said, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered’” (Matthew 26:31). The Gospels reveal that some of the followers of Jesus were there at the cross. Many of the women who had followed and ministered to Him during His ministry looked on at the crucifixion from a distance. The disciple John and His mother Mary were there. Yet there was none to help Jesus. They could do nothing for Him.

Just as David had prophesied, that was the way it had to be. Jesus had to suffer alone, He couldn’t be helped. Even if some of His followers had wanted to help, there was nothing they could do. When Peter tried to stand up for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told him that the sword was not the way. Jesus didn’t tell Peter to put away his sword just because Peter would have been fighting a losing battle, and might have been killed. Jesus told Peter that this had to happen. He had to go to the cross, He had to suffer our hell alone, forsaken by God, forsaken by men. That’s what was necessary to fulfill the Scripture and ensure that we would never be left alone.

Even though Jesus was going to the cross to suffer alone, and even though He knew that His disciples would abandon Him, He still shows His loving concern for his disciples. In the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday evening, Jesus prayed for His disciples and for all of us as well. Listen to the words which Jesus prayed and notice how Jesus prays for the welfare of all His followers, and how He emphasizes our most important asset - the Word: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.... I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.... Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:12-20).

Jesus was going to the cross and would not be with His disciples in the same way He had been before. After His death, they would feel very much alone. At times in our life we may feel very much alone. But because of Jesus’ death, we will never be alone. Jesus lives and remains our intercessor before God. He has given us His Word to bring us to Him and comfort and guide us in this life.

The weapons of our warfare are not earthly. Jesus reminded Peter that we don’t use swords or guns to defend Christ, and further His kingdom here on earth. God has given us the weapon of His Word to defend Christ, and to extend His kingdom. It was this Word that Jesus emphasized in the upper room on Maundy Thursday night, and had directed them to throughout His three years with them. Jesus told Peter, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32). So we also should strengthen our brethren through the Word!

In addition to bearing all this alone and without help, our Suffering Savior also describes how He was surrounded by every kind of enemy. The Savior exclaims: “Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.” Here the Savior describes several different kinds of enemies: bulls, strong bulls and a roaring lion. The enemies that Jesus faced were many and various. We usually think of the Jewish leaders first. They were the ones who paid Judas to lead them to Jesus in the middle of the night, conducted their early morning hangman jury to convict Jesus in private session, used political pressure to assure that Pilate would crucify Him, and even followed to Calvary where they mocked and ridiculed Jesus.

We also remember the Roman soldiers who brutally whipped Jesus, beat a crown of thorns onto His head and finally nailed Him to the cross. Pilate might come to mind as an enemy of Jesus, as He knowingly permitted and carried out the death of an innocent man. But there were many others. We are told that the robbers who were crucified on either side of Jesus mocked and ridiculed Him. The people passing by on the road below the cross saw Jesus and made fun of Him. The Gospels demonstrate many fulfillments of these verses, as Jesus suffers being encircled, gaped at and roared at by everyone. Jesus was surrounded by those who hated Him and wanted only to hurt Him.

In addition to all those physical enemies, we have been reminded that Jesus was also abandoned by God, and that He was facing the even greater enemies of our sin and the power of Satan. There was no escape, no way out. Jesus was surrounded by every type of foe to give us the victory over every enemy. Because of all that Jesus suffered, alone and surrounded by every kind of enemy we are able to declare: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5).

But that verse from Psalm 23 is a special one because it is not simply referring to the many times and ways the LORD has granted us physical deliverance. With those words David also points to the spiritual and eternal deliverance that Jesus has won for us through His suffering and death. While the LORD certainly delivers us often from our enemies in this life, the final fulfillment of those words will take place at our Savior’s return when believers and unbelievers are separated for all eternity.

Jesus was abandoned so that we would never be abandoned. Take comfort in the words of Psalm 23: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” – remember how Jesus suffered in the presence of many enemies and through it assures us that we will be glorified before our enemies of sin, death and the unbelieving world. When you hear, “You anoint my head with oil,” remember how Jesus was crowned with thorns so that we might be anointed with His blood and crowned with eternal life. And when you read “My cup runs over,” remember how Jesus took up the overflowing cup of suffering so that our cup of blessing might also overflow. Thanks be to Jesus our Suffering Savior for the high cost He gave for the security of our souls! Amen.

May the Passion of our Savior Jesus Christ which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds now and forever. Amen.

Pastor Nathanael Mayhew