The single most significant event in the history of the human race took place on the first Sunday after Passover in about the year A.D. 30. It's the day we're celebrating today. To the Israelites it was called "The Feast of First Fruits." To the Church, it is resurrection Sunday.
Yesterday was the Jewish feast of Passover. What we need to understand is that Passover was a shadow or type; the anti-type was Calvary. Passover was celebrated on the 14th of Nisan. And Yeshua the Christ was crucified on the 14th of Nisan. While Israel was celebrating their Passover, Yeshua, the true Lamb of God, was being crucified. Then three days later on the feast of First Fruits, Yeshua was raised from the dead. First Fruits pictures resurrection.
Today is resurrection Sunday, the day that Christ defeated death and rose from the grave. The resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith! To deny the Resurrection of Christ is to destroy the entire basis of the Christian faith. The Christian faith is not based primarily on the teachings of Yeshua, the life of Yeshua, the miracles of Yeshua, or the death of Yeshua. The Christian faith is based on all of these, culminating in the resurrection of Yeshua the Christ from the dead. If there is no resurrection, all of these other factors are valueless.
The resurrection is foundational. Without it, the death of Yeshua the Christ becomes the heroic death of a misguided martyr, the pathetic death of a deranged lunatic, or the execution of a liar. A man who was merely a man and said the sorts of things Yeshua said would not be a great moral teacher. Yeshua is a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. The resurrection demonstrates that He is Lord.
I want to do something a little different today. Instead of looking at the resurrection, I want to back up a few days and look at the crucifixion of Christ on the cross. When we talk about the cross in a theological sense, we are not talking about a piece of wood used to torture men. The cross is metonymy (a word or expression used as a substitute for something with which it is closely associated) for the doctrine of atonement. Notice how "cross" is used in these verses:
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV
It is obvious here that when Paul talks about the "cross of Christ" he is not talking about the actual wooden cross that Yeshua died upon but about the doctrine of the cross.
But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. Galatians 5:11 ESV
Again, we see here that Paul is talking about a doctrine and not about the instrument used to execute criminals. The doctrine of the cross proclaims an event of historical and theological significance. It points to Christ who died the death of a criminal but whose death concerned the eternal destiny of man. This doctrine of the cross is the doctrine of atonement. The doctrine of atonement explains what exactly happened at Calvary and the meaning of the death of our Lord Yeshua Christ upon the cross. Every believer should understand and be able to explain the doctrine of the atonement, because it is the heart of the Gospel. To understand the atonement, you must first understand that man is a sinner.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Romans 5:12 ESV
Adam was the representative of mankind so, when he sinned, he did so as our representative and, as a result, his sin brought death on all men. All men born since Adam have been born sinners, born separated from God. Man, in this condition, is spiritually dead. He can do nothing to appease God's wrath or earn God's favor because he is spiritually bankrupt.
Because of this condition, God introduced a program to redeem His elect; He bought us back for Himself. God invaded human history in the form of the man Christ Yeshua. Yeshua left heaven to be born as a baby, live a sinless life, and then die a substitutionary death at Calvary. On that cross, Yeshua took upon Himself our sin and received the judgment of God that we deserved as sinners. Because He was an innocent, infinite sufferer, He satisfied fully and completely the righteous demands of a holy God, and thus God was propitiated. Propitiation is the turning of God's wrath away from the sinner by a sacrifice made to satisfy God. Sinners deserve God's wrath because they have violated His holy standard. Believing sinners are declared righteous through redemption on the basis of propitiation. God's justice was satisfied by the death of Yeshua the Christ; sin has been paid for. Man can now once again have fellowship with God through faith in the sacrificial work of Christ.
All this is possible because of the cross. From the physical aspect, death on the cross was a horrible death—a slow agonizing, brutal death. But why did Yeshua have to die this way? Why did His death have to be so brutal? I think there are two reasons, the second of which you might not have thought of.
1. God wants us to see how much He hates sin. He wants us to see the pain and destruction that sin brings. Believer, don't ever take sin lightly. Look at the cross to see how much God hates sin. I think that we all understand that.
2. If Yeshua had been put to death through hanging or beheading, we would not have seen how He responded to suffering and death.
When we are in great physical or emotional pain, when we are stressed out to the max, it is very easy to simply react however we feel like it at the time and not be willing to discipline our reactions in a godly way. Our conscience may even prod us to react better, but sometimes we just don't care and decide to do as we feel like at the time. Men, you know what I'm talking about. We are big babies when it comes to pain and suffering. Women have babies, so they are much better at dealing with pain.
When our pain and stress levels are low, it is much easier to live God's way. The real test comes when our pain and our stress levels are high. In times like those, it is good to remember our ultimate example of how to react to pain and stress. Yeshua’s example on the cross provides great inspiration to encourage all of us to control and think through our reactions to great emotional and physical pain. This is what the writer of Hebrews was encouraging his readers to do.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:3 ESV
The author wants us to "Consider Christ on the cross." "Consider" is from the Greek word analogizomai which means "to consider by way of comparison."
I'd like us to go back this morning to that dramatic day in history and look at the last words of Christ as He hung on the cross. There are seven sayings of Christ on the cross that are recorded for us in the Gospels. It's interesting to note that all seven of these have a different theme. They reveal Yeshua's innermost feelings as He poured out His life for us and provided a powerful example of how we, too, should react in times of great physical and emotional pain.
I would like to remind you here that Yeshua was a Jewish Rabbi. I think that is important to remember at this point. The Rabbis devoted their lives to the text of Scripture. The memorization of written and oral Torah was such a large part of Jewish education that most contemporaries of Yeshua had large portions of this material, at least almost all of the Torah, firmly committed to memory.
If you remember our past studies, you know that in Yeshua's day there were two types of rabbis. The first were called Torah teachers. Torah teachers were people who were considered to be masters of the Torah which meant they knew the first five books of the Bible by memory.
There was also a small group of what were called Rabbis with semikhah. They were masters of the Torah and the Haftorah. Haftorah is a Hebrew word that simply means "the rest." They were masters of what the Jews called the Tanakh. These Rabbis knew the entire Tanakh by heart. Think of the time commitment to memorize the entire Tanakh.
These Rabbis not only learned the text, but they lived the text, they taught the text, and they prayed the text. It was the desire of every Rabbi to die reciting the text. The orthodox Israelite for the past twenty-four hundred years has prayed that when he dies, he would die reciting Psalm 22 and die with Shema on his lips.
Psalm 22 is known as the death Psalm, and I believe that everything that Yeshua said on the cross came as a result of His reciting this Psalm. Psalm 22 is pivotal for a correct understanding of what Yeshua went through on the cross.
For our study this morning, then, I want to go through the seven sayings that Christ uttered from the cross. The first thing that Yeshua said from the cross was is found in Luke 23.
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Yeshua said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. Luke 23:33-34 ESV
1. Forgiveness. Yeshua, shortly after He was nailed to the cross, prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Instead of being consumed with His own pain and misery, Yeshua asked forgiveness for those responsible for the evil being done to Him.
Of the seven last sayings of Christ from the cross, this is the first. Here Yeshua asks the Father to forgive. This is the Greek word aphiemi which means "cancel, remit, pardon." It is used of loans (Matthew 18:27) as well in reference to the remission of guilt. Forgiveness is choosing to no longer hold something against a person. In Yeshua's case, he was asking the Father not to hold His execution against His killers, "for they do not know what they are doing."
Whom is He asking the Father to forgive? Is it the soldiers? Yeshua is just another criminal to them. Driving the spikes was all in a day's work. It is very possible that they did not know what they were doing.
What about Pilate? Pilate was arguably the most powerful man in Jerusalem. He perceived that Yeshua was innocent of the trumped-up charges against Him. His wife warned him about a dream she had had and pleaded with him not to do anything to Him (Matthew 27:19). And yet Pilate appeased the Jewish leaders and granted their request, against all sense of pride in Roman justice. How could he not know what he was doing?
What about the Jewish leaders? The high priestly family, the scribes, and the Pharisees were all out to destroy Yeshua. They manipulated His words, brought false witnesses, put political pressure on Pilate, and stirred up the crowd to demand His crucifixion rather than His release. How could they not know what they were doing?
But even though each responsible party acted wickedly and unrighteously, Yeshua gave them the benefit of the doubt and so do the leaders of the early church.
For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. Acts 13:27 ESV
Here we are told that the Jewish rulers didn't recognize Yeshua. Paul says the same.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:8 ESV
I think that "rulers" here refers to divine and human rulers.
This prayer of Yeshua to forgive His enemies stands as a brilliant light that illuminates the darkness of that day. Yeshua practiced what He preached.
"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Luke 6:27-28 ESV
The application to all who call themselves Yeshua's disciples is very clear. If Yeshua intercedes for the forgiveness of His enemies who are guilty of gross wickedness, how can you and I withhold forgiveness from those who have wronged us?
Yeshua taught us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Matthew 5:44-46 ESV
If we are disciples, followers of Yeshua, then we must learn to love our enemies. If we are followers of Yeshua, then we must follow Him here along the path of forgiving our enemies and persecutors and those who intend evil against us.
We find Yeshua's second saying in verse 43.
And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43 ESV
2. Giving Hope. Whom did Yeshua say this to? A man being crucified with Him. Both of the thieves, who were crucified with Christ, had early on joined bystanders in mocking Yeshua (Mark 15:32). Luke tells us that
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luke 23:39 ESV
The criminal is making fun of Yeshua's inability to do anything despite the exalted title of "Messiah" that has been used concerning Him. Where is this talk of "Messiah" now? he sneers. You're dying just like us. But a miraculous change occurred in the other criminal. He came to believe. He, too, had mocked Yeshua earlier, but now he rebuked the other criminal.
But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." Luke 23:40-41 ESV
What does this criminal confess here? "We are receiving what we deserve" He knows that he is a sinner. Whom did Christ die for? Sinners.
And he said, "Yeshua, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Luke 23:42 ESV
He not only sees his sin, but he sees Yeshua as someone who can do something about it, and He trusts Him. Jesus responded to this faith.
And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43 ESV
What was Yeshua telling this criminal? "Paradise" is derived from a Persian word meaning "garden" or "park." The Septuagint used "paradise" to translate the Hebrew words for the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3. Over the years, the terms became synonymous, and eventually paradise came to refer to heaven. Paradise is only used three times in the New Testament. It is used here, and in Revelation 2.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ Revelation 2:7 ESV
Notice what we find in Paradise—the tree of life. Judaism of Yeshua's day equated Paradise with the New Jerusalem and saw it as the present abode of the souls of the departed patriarchs, the elect, and the righteous. We see this tree again in Revelation 22, which is the New Jerusalem.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2 ESV
In the New Jerusalem, which is the New Covenant, we have access to the tree of life.
Paul speaks of this tree in 2 Corinthians 12.
And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 2 Corinthians 12:3-4 ESV
Paul seems to equate the "third heaven" with paradise. I think we can identify paradise with the presence of God. Yeshua is promising the believing thief that he will be with Him in the presence of God.
We necessarily have to ask whether they go into the presence of God that day? Yeshua said, "Today." This is difficult because we know that this believing criminal did not go into God's presence that day. One way to deal with this is to understand that Greek has no punctuation, and Yeshua could have said, "I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise." To me this is the best solution. Notice how The Scripture 2009 translates this.
And יהושע said to him, "Truly, I say to you today, you shall be with Me in paradise. Luke 23:43 TS2009
The main point is that as Christ is dying a slow horrible death, He gives hope to another dying man.
We find the third saying in John 19.
When Yeshua saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26-27 ESV
3. Caring. Now, Yeshua's mother Mary had four sons: James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. Yet, for reasons we don't know, Yeshua commits the care of His mother to Lazarus. The disciple whom Yeshua loved is clearly Lazarus.
Men, how is your disposition when you are in pain or not feeling well? If you are anything like me, you are selfish and irritable. But look at Yeshua, instead of being consumed with His own pain and misery, Yeshua cared for those around Him.
The fourth saying is found in Mark:
And at the ninth hour Yeshua cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mark 15:34 ESV
4. Spiritual Death. During His entire existence from eternity past, Yeshua had an intimate and vibrant relationship with God as His Father. But now, because He had taken our place on the cross, and had borne in His body the sin of mankind, the Father, too holy to look upon sin, had turned the countenance of His glory away from His Son. Yeshua experienced spiritual death; He was separated from the Father. Yeshua died physically and spiritually for us.
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death(s), although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Isaiah 53:9 ESV
Here Isaiah uses the intensive plural of "deaths." The lemma or lexical form is מָוֶת (mā'wet). The singular construct form is מוֹת (mot), meaning "death of." The plural absolute form is מוֹתִים (mô'tîm), meaning "deaths." Adding a 3rd-person, masculine gender, singular number pronominal suffix to the plural construct form מוֹתֵי yields מוֹתָיו, meaning "his/its deaths." This is the form that occurs in Isa. 53:9, with the addition of the prepositional prefix בְּ. Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon lists mâvet as being plural.
The plural declension of מָוֶת only occurs elsewhere in Ezekiel 28:10.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 28:10 ESV
Believers, we have spiritual life because Yeshua endured a spiritual death, a separation from the Father as the sins of the human race were poured out upon Him.
And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah." And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." Mark 15:35-36 ESV
Yeshua's own people did not recognize what was happening; they knew that rabbis in distress sometimes looked to Elijah for help (as in b. `Aboda Zara 17b; p. Ketubot12:3, Section 6), and they assumed that Yeshua was doing likewise.
We find our fifth saying in John 19.
After this, Yeshua, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." John 19:28 ESV
5. In Pain from Spiritual Death. Eternal life, which is fellowship with God, is illustrated in the Scriptures as living water.
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14 ESV
In Revelation John tells us that the blessing of God's presence is freedom from hunger, thirst, and "scorching heat."
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. Revelation 7:16 ESV
John tells us that the water of life is for the thirsty.
The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Revelation 22:17 ESV
Yeshua was obviously physically thirsty, but I think He was also saying, "I thirst for fellowship with my Father. I need living water."
Notice again that Scripture is being fulfilled.
They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Psalms 69:21 ESV
Mark says that
Yeshua uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. Mark 15:37 ESV
Such a cry would have been extraordinary because asphyxiation occurred in the victims of crucifixion. Being able to cry loudly was virtually impossible. Yet, Yeshua did just that. What was this loud cry?
We find the answer in Yeshua's sixth saying.
When Yeshua had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 ESV
6. Triumph. The loud cry was, "It is finished!" It is the Greek word tetelestai. It's actually a banking term that means "paid in full." The work of redemption, the eternal plan of the Father, the purpose of the Incarnation, and the salvation of God's elect were finished! Nothing more can be added to complete the work. "It is finished!" No works of righteousness, no rituals or ceremonies, and no rites of passage can add to what Yeshua has done. "It is finished!" No effort of the flesh, no attention to endless duties, and no absolution by a priest can add to Christ's work. "It is finished!"
There are those who teach that from the cross Yeshua went down into hell to suffer. But He didn't. The work was finished—there was nothing left to do.
Kenneth Copeland teaches, "When he said 'It is finished' on that cross, He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. The plan of redemption had just begun, there were still three days and three nights to be gone through." "He [Jesus] was down in that pit and there He suffered the punishment for three horrible days and nights for Adam's treason…" He's wrong! Yeshua' suffering ended when He died physically.
There are also many religions today that are seeking to convince people there's some sort of religious ritual that you must do in order to complete your salvation. But that is absolutely contrary to what Yeshua clearly stated on the cross. He did not say, "We're almost done here." He stated in absolute terms, "It is finished. The work has been done." And Yeshua cries out triumphantly that God's purposes had been accomplished.
Our seventh and final saying of Christ is found in verse 46.
Then Yeshua, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. Luke 23:46 ESV
7. Reunion. When He had said this, He breathed his last." He looked forward to finally being fully reunited with His Father. At that dramatic moment, Yeshua died for you and me and became the true Passover sacrifice for all who will trust Him.
The text in Mark goes on as follows:
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Mark 15:38 ESV
Matthew and Luke join Mark in mentioning the torn veil in the temple, as does the writer of Hebrews. So much theology is bound up in the torn veil! It was made of blue and purple and scarlet linen. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that it was a great double veil, each measuring 60 feet high and 30 feet wide and as thick as a man's hand. There was an opening at one end which allowed you to walk between the veils and come out the other end in the Holy of Holies. This was the innermost sanctum. It was the place where no Jew was permitted to go. Not even the priests were permitted to come here. Only by the high priest and only once a year was entrance into this place permitted. On Yom Kippur the high priest would enter beyond the veil and offer an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the nation.
It used to be that the Ark of the Covenant sat there. But the Ark of the Covenant had disappeared when Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city 600 years earlier and it had never been seen since. Now there was only the place where the Ark once stood. Just a barren rock covered with generations of dried blood.
The Holy of Holies signified the presence of God. The veil was there to keep men out. They could not come into the presence of God. Their sins separated them from the holiness of God.
The rending of the veil (probably the inner veil--compare Heb 6:19-20; 9:3; 10:19-20) around the time of the evening sacrifice (Mt 27:45-46) could symbolize the departure of God's presence that preceded His judgment against the temple (Ezek. 9:3; 10:4-18; compare Mt 23:35-38; 24:1-2.
It is the symbolism that because of Yeshua's death on the cross, God would no longer dwell in a temple made by men, but would now dwell within the hearts of those people who trusted Him as Savior. It meant that now God would usher in a New Covenant that would be the complete fulfillment of everything the Old Covenant and the temple represented.
And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" Mark 15:39 ESV
There was something about the way that Yeshua died that deeply affected those who stood by. A Roman soldier, who no doubt had witnessed countless deaths by crucifixion, was compelled to praise God:
Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!" Luke 23:47 ESV
And not only the soldier, but a convicted criminal who, only a short time before, was ridiculing the Lord Yeshua, now penitently asks to be remembered when He comes into His Kingdom (Luke 23:42). A timid member of the Sanhedrin, who was fearful of others knowing of his faith in Christ, now has the courage to ask Pilate for the body of Yeshua (John 19:38).
There was something about the way that Yeshua died that deeply affected those who stood by. And we see this in the Seven sayings of Christ from the cross.
Mark goes on to say:
There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. Mark 15:40-41 ESV
Where were the men? Where were James and John and Peter? The Fourth Gospel tells us that Lazarus had been there; he had been there with Mary, the mother of Yeshua, and they stood at the foot of the cross.
It is interesting that at Yeshua's death, the only male disciple was Lazarus. We can understand his bravery, after all he had been raised from the dead. But all the other men were gone. But the women who were disciples of Yeshua were there. These women had followed Him from Galilee, and they were with Him when He died.
As we began this message, I said that the Rabbis not only learned the text, they lived the text, they taught the text, they prayed the text, and it was the desire of every Rabbi to die reciting the text. The orthodox Israelite for the past twenty-four hundred years has prayed that when he died, he would die reciting Psalm 22 and die with Shema on his lips. And Yeshua was a Jewish Rabbi. So, I am quite confident that Yeshua died reciting Psalm 22. I believe that everything that Yeshua said on the cross came as a result of Him reciting this Psalm. I would like to close this morning by reading Psalm 22 and inserting the Seven sayings of Christ from the cross where I think they may have been said. I am not saying that this is exactly what happened, but it is a possibility.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Psalms 22:1 ESV
This is the Fourth Saying, "My God, my God why hast Thou forsaken me?" This is quite obvious.
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Psalms 22:2-5 ESV
This is the Second Saying, "You will be with me in paradise."
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!" Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. Psalms 22:6-10 ESV
Third Saying, "Woman behold your son, Behold your mother."
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 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; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. Psalms 22:11-15 ESV
Fifth Saying, "I am thirsty!"
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! Psalms 22:16-21 ESV
Seventh Saying, "Father, Into Your hands I commit my spirit!"
I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 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! 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. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever! Psalms 22:22-26 ESV
First Saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing!"
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. 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. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. Psalms 22:27-31 ESV
Sixth Saying, "It is Finished!"
Yeshua learned the text, He lived the text, He taught the text, He prayed the text, and He died the text. Do you want to be like Yeshua? If you do, it starts by spending time in the text. It's tough to be Christ-like when we are in great pain physically and emotionally. But as we "consider Christ" and His caring example, and as we look to Him for strength, we can be like Him even when we are suffering. We can be like Him, and we will be if we are abiding in Him.
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:6 ESV
So, believer if you are not walking like he walked, you are not abiding in Him.