Mid-week Lenten Service #5

April 5, 2006

Hymns: 155; 175; 371:4-7; 557

            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 22:15c-17:

15 You have brought Me to the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.

Theme: The Savior suffers death.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

In 1849 an estimated 50,000 people migrated to California with the hopes of striking it rich in the California gold rush. Most of these people sold everything that they had in order to make the trip to California, with the thought of wealth and prosperity. But the trip to California was not easy, nor was the life of a gold miner at that time. In the mid 1800's there was no easy way to get from the east coast of the United States to the west. Most of the “forty-niners” bought tickets on boats which either sailed down around the southern tip of South America, and back up, or sailed to Panama where they would cross the narrow strip of Panama and catch another boat up to the coast of California. Others tried to take the dangerous overland route across North America to get to California. In 1849, there was a group of thirty men who were traveling together on their way to the California gold rush. They were almost there when they crossed a small mountain range and entered a desert. Less than half of those thirty men made it out of that waterless wasteland alive. Those who did named it Death Valley - a name it still bears to this day, not just because nothing lives there, but because of the many people that lost their lives trying to cross it.

Scripture also speaks of “Death Valley.” When Scripture speaks of Death Valley it is not referring to that dry wasteland in California, or any other desert, it is referring to the end of our lives here on this earth. We realize that, unless our Savior returns first, we will all have to cross the valley of death. Our human nature doesn’t relish the thought of death. The valley of death is an intimidating and even a scary thing. But as believers in Christ we can take comfort in death, knowing that through the death of Jesus, He has changed Death Valley into a nothing more than a shadow. Consider these familiar words: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Our Savior suffered death to remove the sting of death for us, and promises to be with us as we face the shadow of death. Amen.

Jesus suffered greatly during the hours which led up to His death on the cross. The events which took place while Jesus was on the cross ending in His death are clearly foretold in these verses. The dying Savior is pictured, described as being surrounded by dogs, and closed in on by a gang of evildoers. This is a gruesome picture. When we read that word “dogs” we might think of a nice house pet since many people in our country have dogs as house pets. But such a thought is not what was intended by the Holy Spirit. In most countries that is not the case. When I was in India, dogs ran wild. People didn’t keep them as pets, and they didn’t have to have them licensed etc. Maybe a better picture for us to get across the true thought of the Psalm would be to think of a wild pack of wolves. Wolves hunt in packs, and together surround and attack their prey. That is the picture that we are given of the Savior in this verse.

The second clause helps us understand that by repeating the same thought with similar words, “the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.” Like a wild pack of dogs the people who crucified Jesus were thirsty for blood. They had only evil intentions toward Him.

These evil intentions against Jesus had been held by the Jewish leaders for a long time, and finally culminated in His crucifixion as they pierced His hands and His feet. What a striking description of the process of Jesus’ death by crucifixion over 1000 years before! The Savior proclaims, “They pierced My hands and My feet!” The Gospel writers don’t refer to the piercing of Jesus’ hands and feet in connection with the crucifixion. But they do mention the piercing of His hands and feet after His resurrection when Jesus appeared to his disciples saying, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet” (Luke 24:39-40). Later Jesus would also say to an unbelieving Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27).

The feelings of the Savior are also revealed. The Savior says, “I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.” The first phrase, “I can count all my bones” refers to the way that Jesus was displayed on the cross. His clothes had been taken from Him, and the people eagerly stared at Him. Have you ever seen something so gruesome that you just couldn’t stand to look at it? Some people are better able to stand gore than others, but you would think that such a scene would bring about at least some pity from the onlookers. Instead they took satisfaction in their actions, not knowing what they were doing. Instead of turning their heads away from the agonizing sight, they feasted their eyes on the body of their victim.

Yes, Jesus did suffer greatly during the hours which led up to His death on the cross. But it wasn’t His physical suffering which is most important for us. It was through His death that our death was changed. Changed from Death Valley into a mere shadow. “You have brought Me to the dust of death” says the Savior. Last Sunday in our Bible Class we saw that there are many people who deny the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus had to die. In our services last Sunday we were reminded in our Epistle reading from Hebrews of the necessity of the shedding of blood (death) for redemption. In order for the new covenant to be put into effect, it required the “death of the testator” (Hebrews 9:16) - that is Jesus!

Earlier in the letter to the Hebrews we are told that the cost of our freedom from death was the death of Jesus: “He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15). In this Psalm, when the Savior says, “You have brought Me to the dust of death,” He is speaking to God the Father. This is what had to be done to secure our release, to turn death valley into a mere shadow for us. God required the death of Jesus, because of His great love and desire to save you and me.

As a result of the death of Jesus, Paul says, “‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Our victory over death was accomplished by the death of Jesus. For us the sting of death has been removed so that we can rejoice saying, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

We can also be confident that our God will be right there beside us when we face the shadow of death as the Psalmist continues: “For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” We don’t have to be afraid as we enter what is now only a shadow of death, because we know that our Good Shepherd is there with us, comforting us with the staff of His Word. We are confident of the eternal life that is ours after we have passed through the shadow of death.

The valley of death can be an intimidating and even a scary thing. Jesus knew the intimidation of death. He faced death and suffered it for us. He was crucified, given over to the dust of death by God the Father. Because of His death we, as believers in Him, can take comfort in death because we know that He has changed Death Valley into a nothing more than a shadow. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ who has given us the victory by suffering death to remove the sting of death for us, and who promises to be with us as we face the shadow of death. Amen.

And the Peace of God which surpassed all understanding, will gaurd your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Nathanael Mayhew