Psalm 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look [and] stare upon me.

After thirty-three and a half years on earth, Christ died. His death was an extraordinary death. It was different from the death of any other man on earth. All religious leaders die as men and are buried as men. But Christ died in a way that is different from men.

His death was an exact fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah foretold by the prophets hundreds of years before. In the Old Testament, Psalm 22:15-18 was a vivid description of the way the Messiah was to die. If we read the record of the Gospels, we find that this was exactly the way Christ died. When Christ was hanging on the cross, His hands and feet were indeed pierced. The dehydration caused by the drainage of blood and water would surely have caused His tongue to stick to His jaws and His bones to stand out.

Also, in Exodus 12 the record of the Feast of the Passover tells us that a lamb was to be prepared for the feast. This lamb was to be without blemish and was to be examined for four days before the Passover. It was to be killed on the 14th day of the first month on a wooden stick in the shape of a cross. This is a full portrayal of the way Christ died on the cross. Before He was put on the cross, He was examined by the Jews and the Gentiles six times and was found to be without fault. His death fell also on the 14th day of the first month, the day of the Passover.

Precious Heavenly Father, thank you for giving Your Son who died such a painful death as the Passover lamb for us. Death has passed over us because of the blood of the Lamb shed on the cross. Amen.