The third affliction enumerated by Christ on the cross in this His prayer is the physical suffering of the cross. He describes the perpetrators of the suffering: “Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me” (vs. 12). The “bulls” and the “lions”: the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Roman Guard; the “bulls” and the “lions”: strong, fierce, proud, cruel; the “bulls” and the “lions”: all out for the blood of Jesus.
In verses 14 through 17, we are given a graphic, vivid, and moving description of Christ’s physical suffering on the cross. Interestingly, not the gospels, but the Old Testament contains the most graphic descriptions of the agony of Christ’s physical suffering on the cross (mainly here in Psalm 22, and in Isaiah 53). While reading this, who cannot maintain a reverent silence at such a description?:
* “I am poured out like water” – Physically, Christ had been emptied. He had been drenched in sweat and blood as He endured the forty lashes, and the hanging on the cross.
* “All my bones are out of joint.” – Hanging under the full weight of His body for so long, His bones would slowly come out of joint; or, possibly, many bones came out of joint from the jolt as the cross with the hanging body was thrust into the ground.
* “My heart has turned to wax, it has melted away within me” – In such pain, one becomes aware of all the bodily functions: every strained breath, every pump of the heart, as the blood seemingly runs thicks.
* “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth” – Second only to the body’s craving for air to breathe, thirst when deprived of water is an extremely strong craving. Thus, extreme thirst is unbearably uncomfortable. Christ’s thirst was due to many things, among them, the loss of blood and bodily fluids during the devastation of His body prior to and during the crucifixion, and the exposure of His naked body to the elements. Christ is recorded to have cried out: “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28). To quench this thirst, our Lord was given vinegar: hardly satisfying.
* “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me” – In His pain, Christ had to endure the endless taunts of the onlooking mob; depraved men, “dogs”, who watched the crucifixion for sport.
* “They have pierced my hands and my feet” – An amazing prophecy, given that crucifixion was not even invented until hundreds of years after David wrote this. The piercing of Christ’s hands and feet was excruciating, given that the wounds had to support the full weight of His body.
* “I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me” – His bones could be counted in two ways: by Christ Himself as, in His pain, He was aware of every bone; by the onlooking mob, as they could see each and every bone protruding from the emaciated body.
* “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” – Another amazingly accurate prophecy. This event is described in all four gospels (see Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23). It is enumerated here with the other elements of suffering because it intimates that Christ was entirely naked upon the cross. Christ gave all to redeem us: He humbled Himself entirely, He gave His life, He died a humiliating death, His body hung unclothed in front of the derisive mob.
This was the suffering of our Lord, our Redeemer, our Savior; suffering that by all rights should have been ours. To appreciate the love of our Lord for us, we should, painful as it is, meditate on His suffering.
In verses 19 through 21, Christ prays for strength and deliverance from His Father. Deliverance would come, but not as the world would define deliverance: Christ did not come down from the cross. Rather, Christ was delivered in concert with God’s will, delivered into the Lordship of the universe. He receives the presence of mind to bear the suffering, while looking ahead to the victory of the cross, as we shall see in the next section.
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