While Christ was being crucified on the cross, many fierce men, like the mighty bulls of Bashan, encompassed Him (v. 12). They opened their mouth at Him like a ravening and roaring lion (v. 13). Evil men, a congregation of evildoers signified by dogs, surrounded and enclosed Him (v. 16).
Psalm 22:16 also says, “They pierce my hands and feet.” Zechariah 12:10 prophesies concerning Christ as the One “whom they have pierced.” The fulfillment of these prophecies is found in the New Testament in John 19:34 (cf. v. 37). Christ’s two hands and two feet were nailed to the cross, and His side was pierced with a spear by one of the Roman soldiers who executed Him and “immediately there came out blood and water” (v. 34). John indicates in verse 37 that this fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy: “They will look upon Me, whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10). Two substances came out of the Lord’s pierced side: blood and water. Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins (John 1:29; Heb. 9:22) for the purchasing of the church (Acts 20:28). Water is for imparting life, to deal with death (John 12:24; 3:14-15) for the producing of the church (Eph. 5:29-30). This picture shows that the Lord’s death, on the negative side, takes away our sins and, on the positive side, imparts life into us. His death is not only for terminating the old creation and redeeming sinners from death, but even more, it is for imparting life and producing the new creation.
Psalm 22:18 says that they divided His garments to themselves, and for His clothing they cast lots (John 19:23-24). In His crucifixion, the Lord’s right to be clothed was stripped from Him, along with His life. They made the Lord Jesus altogether naked in order to have a public, shameful display.
On the cross Christ was poured out like water (Psa. 22:14a). This is the pouring out of His soul, His life (Isa. 53:12). All His bones were out of joint, because He could not hold up the weight of His body as it hung on the cross (Psa. 22:14b). This caused Him great agony and pain. His heart was like wax melted within Him (v. 14c-d), His strength was dried up like a shard, and His tongue was stuck to His jaws (22:15a-b; John 19:28). Finally, God put Him into death, that is, put Him in the dust of death (Psa. 22:15c). Jesus’ dying was God’s putting Him into death. If Jesus had been killed only by man, He could never have been our Redeemer. He would merely have been a martyr. But God judged Him and put Him into death for our redemption (Isa. 53:4, 10a).
In Psalm 69:21 David says, “They gave me gall for my food, / And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” This prophesies that man gave gall and vinegar to Christ on the cross (Matt. 27:34; John 19:28-30). According to Matthew and Mark, wine mingled with gall was offered to the Lord before crucifixion, but when He tasted it, He would not drink (Matt. 27:34). The wine mingled with gall also had myrrh (Mark 15:23), and it was used as a stupefying drink. Even though the Lord knew that He was going to suffer great pain on the cross, He would not be stupefied; rather, He would drink the bitter cup to the dregs. John 19:28-29 says, “Jesus, knowing that all things had now been finished and so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. There was lying there a vessel full of vinegar; therefore, they put a sponge full of vinegar on hyssop and brought it to His mouth.” Thirst is a taste of death (Luke 16:24; Rev. 21:8). The Lord thirsted on the cross, which means that He tasted death on our behalf and on behalf of everything (Heb. 2:9). Even though He thirsted, man gave Him vinegar to mock Him (Mark 15:36). After Jesus “had taken the vinegar, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and delivered up His spirit” (John 19:30).
Psalm 22:1 prophesied that Christ was forsaken by God. At the end of His crucifixion, Christ cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). Christ was on the cross for six hours, from the third hour, 9:00 A.M., until the ninth hour, 3:00 P.M. In the first three hours He was persecuted by men for doing God’s will; in the last three hours He was judged by God to accomplish our redemption. During the last three hours, God counted Him as our Substitute, who suffered for our sin (Isa. 53:10). While He was on the earth, the Father was with Him all the time (John 8:29), but at the end of His crucifixion, God left Him economically. Essentially, God could never leave Him, because He and the Father are one (10:30). But economically, God caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isa. 53:6), making Christ the righteous One, the Substitute for the unrighteous. God considered Christ an offering for sin, making Him sin on our behalf (v. 10; 2 Cor. 5:21) and judging Him. Hence, God economically left Him temporarily so that man’s sin and sins and all negative things could be dealt with on the cross.