In his preface to Psalm 22 Martin Luther outlines the three-fold suffering of Jesus.
- Physical Pain. First, there is the physical suffering of the cross, the whip, the nails, the agony of your lungs filling with fluid as you fight for another breath. This suffering we can begin to understand; we’ve all been hurt, injured, wounded in some way.
- Shame. The second suffering is the shame of the cross, the mockery, the spit, the hanging on the cross naked, the blasphemy. The Gospel accounts of the Passion say the most about this suffering, and we, too, can begin to understand this. All of us have been sinned against, shamed, mocked.
- God’s Wrath. The third type of suffering is unique to the cross, Jesus suffers the wrath of God over sin. He is rejected by God, forsaken (Psalm 22:1), smitten (Isaiah 53:4). This is a suffering so deep and profound that we cannot understand it. In fact, Jesus is suffering this spiritual affliction so that we will never know it; so that we will never be forsaken by God.
Jesus, in a blessed way, prays Psalm 22 (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”) so that we can pray Psalm 23 (“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me!”).
Praise the Lord that He was willing to suffer everything for us, to have us as His own dear children.
