In Touch Questions and Answers

Where is Jesus here in Psalm 22?

Question:

The Lord said in John 5:39 – “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.” He was referring to the OT (Old Testament), because the NT (New Testament) had not been written yet. – Where is Jesus here in Psalm 22? 

Answer:

Although David wrote this concerning himself, the true fulfillment of these verses is found in the Lord Jesus while on the cross.


  1. All the young people were familiar with this cry of agony in Psalm 22:1.  It was the same cry that Jesus cried from the cross (Matthew 27:46).  Although Jesus is God, and knows all things, He asked this question.  The question was really asked so that we might ask ourselves, “Why did God forsake Jesus while He was on the cross?”  The answer is found in Psalm 22:3.  God is holy and cannot look (favorably) upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). 

  2. Verse 6 shows that David was hated.  Jesus was hated and rejected (John 1:10,11; 15:25).

  3. Verses 7 and 8 show that David was mocked during his time of suffering.  Jesus was mocked and made fun of by the very ones He loved and came to save (Matthew 27:40-44).

  4. Verse 14 speaks of all his bones being out of joint.  The Lord Jesus was laid on the ground and nailed to the cross.  The cross was lifted up and dropped into a hole deep enough to keep the cross from falling over.  His bones would have come out of joint by the impact of this dropping.

  5. Verse 15 speaks of great thirst.  The Lord Jesus cried out from the cross because He was thirsty (John 19:28).

  6. Verse 16 says his hands and feet were pierced.  Nails were driven into the hands and feet of the Lord to secure Him to the cross.

  7. Verse 17 speaks of his bones being exposed.  We considered all the beatings the Lord endured, such that He didn’t even look like a man (Isaiah 52:13,14).  We also talked about how Isaiah has much that is prophetic of the Lord Jesus.  We compared Isaiah 50:6 with Matthew 26:67.

  8. Verse 18 tells about people gambling for his clothes.  When Jesus was on the cross, the guards there gambled for His clothes (Luke 23:34). 

The young people seemed to enjoy the exercises of finding Jesus in type and in prophecy in the Old Testament.  May we all learn to find Jesus in the OT because, “They are they which testify of Me.”