A WORM ON THE CROSS

As touching nature, I am a worm of this earth,
and yet a subject of this commonwealth; but as
touching the office wherein it has pleased God to
place me, I am a watchman. For that reason, I am
bound in conscience to blow the trumpet publicly.
John Knox [1514-1572]

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David's Psalm & Isaac's Hymn

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet and philosopher who wrote the Divine Comedy, which many believe to be one of the most important works of the Middle Ages. In one part of that work, he issued a challenge to mankind's tendency toward arrogance and self-exaltation, saying that a truer self-evaluation is to regard ourselves as "insects." He asked, "Why does your mind take such an exalted pose? Do you not perceive that we are worms?"

I like the comment by Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) on this: "We are all worms, but I believe that I am a glow-worm." Yes, there are times in life when, for various reasons, we may feel rather worm-like; little more than a creeping insect. David prophetically writes about how Jesus felt on the stake: "But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads" (Psalm 22:6-7). We see from this that Jesus felt helpless and worthless; he felt loathed, and not loved. Bildad said to Job: "How can one born of woman be pure?" (Job 25:4), for man "is but a maggot, ... only a worm" (vs. 6). Yet, God has not abandoned the "worms" of this world; He is there for us! To Jacob/Israel Yehovah declared, "Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you!" (Isaiah 41:14).

I find it rather interesting that Psalm 22, which was written by David during a time of personal distress, is nevertheless one of the more powerful and memorable Messianic passion psalms. In fact, while on the cross, Jesus referred to the opening words of this psalm of David. "And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' -- that is, 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?'" (Mark 15:34; cf. Matthew 27:46).

This entire psalm is filled with prophetic statements about the future passion of the Anointed One of God. David speaks of the sneering and mocking of men (vs. 7). He writes, "They pierced my hands and my feet" (vs. 16). "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots" (vs. 18). Some scholars have suggested that the "worm" reference in this Davidic psalm may be applied to the suffering Savior as he hung upon the cross. As one being despised and rejected by men, he was less than a worm in their sight. When suffering and feeling rejected, it is not uncommon for men to feel "less than a man; a mere worm." What an insight into what our lord suffered for our sake!

I love the thoughts of Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), the English Baptist pastor and author, on this text (Psalm 22:6) as it applied to Jesus. He wrote, "This verse is a miracle in language. Jesus felt himself to be comparable to a helpless, powerless, down-trodden worm, passive while crushed, and unnoticed and despised by those who trod upon him. He selects the weakest of creatures, which is all flesh; and becomes, when trodden upon, writhing, quivering flesh, utterly devoid of any might except strength to suffer. This was a true likeness of himself when his body had become a mass of misery - the very essence of agony - in the dying pangs of crucifixion. Man by nature is but a worm; but our lord puts himself beneath man, on account of the scorn which was heaped upon him and the weakness which he felt, and therefore he says, 'I am a worm, and not a man'" [Treasury of David, e-Sword].

Another English Baptist pastor and author, John Gill (1697-1771), wrote, "The Messiah calls himself a worm ... on account of the opinion that men of the world had of him. The Jews esteemed the Messiah as a worm, and treated him as such; He was loathsome to them and hated by them; everyone trampled upon him and trod him underfoot as men do worms; such a phrase is used of him in Hebrews 10:29: those “'who have trodden under foot the Son of God'" [Exposition of the Old Testament, e-Sword].

"The Messiah Jesus may be said to have been a worm concerning the mean and poor condition in which he lived; but especially to that kind of death to which he suffered; for he was stripped of his clothes, and fixed upon the cross, naked as a worm of the earth" [Dr. Joseph Benson, Commentary of the Old and New Testaments, e-Sword].

The ancient Greek poet Homer (born c. 8th century B.C.) spoke of "a man of inferior consequence" as being "a worm" [The Iliad]. Like Homer, "biblical authors used the worm as a symbol of something humble, worthless, and useless" [Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, p. 1389]. It was an "expression of deprecation," for "the Hebrews seem to have viewed the worm as the lowest form of created life," with humanity being the highest [The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4, p. 1117]. First Maccabees 2:62 states: "Do not fear the words of a sinner, for his splendor will turn into dung and worms." Worms writhing in excrement! It's hard to get much lower than that! Yet, this is how many viewed Jesus; it was also how some viewed David and was even how David had come to view himself. "The first step in a downward spiral is to sink in the estimation of others; the next and more fatal one is to sink in our own estimation. Pungent and continued suffering depresses the mind and fills it with gloomy and but half-comprehended thoughts, and the sufferer is tempted to depreciate himself and all his doings;" regarding his existence as nothingness [The Preacher's Homiletic Commentary, e-Sword].

Therefore, David penned the following from the depths of his personal despair, and prophetically of the despair of the lord Jesus, "Look at me now; I am like a woeful worm, crushed, and I'm bleeding crimson. I don't even look like a man anymore. I've been abused, despised, and scorned by everyone!" (Psalm 22:6, The Passion Translation). David "expresses his feeling of being less than human. The sense of human dignity is lost when it seems that God is absent and that people reject him. ... The psalmist is the object of scorn and reviling. Unwanted, alone, and full of anguish, he cannot enjoy the presence of his fellowmen, who do not understand his situation. Out of sheer disregard for his feelings, they apply their 'theological' measuring sticks to his situation and conclude that if he truly were to trust God, he would not suffer. They mock him, shaking their heads out of shock and misunderstanding" [The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 202].

Jesus, being the Son of God, perceived the ultimate purpose, and thus appreciated the significance, of his suffering; David, however, did not have that advantage, and neither do most of us when we're feeling more worm-like than human. Indeed, at times we feel that perhaps God has forsaken us; that maybe we are not worthy of His love and care.

One of our beloved hymns in the church expresses this very thought. It is the hymn: "Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed" (sometimes known as "At the Cross" - the original title was: "Godly Sorrow Arising from the Sufferings of Christ"). It was written in 1707 by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), who was a most interesting character, as well as a somewhat controversial one. Later, during our own Revolutionary War, copies of this man's hymns would actually play a significant role in one of the battles fought with the British, where the battle cry of the Minutemen in the Battle of Springfield became, "Give 'em Watts, boys! Give 'em Watts!"

Returning to the above-mentioned hymn, however, notice the first stanza:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I?

Isaac Watts, to the discomfort of many, has stated the obvious: when compared with the majesty and holiness of our Sovereign God Yehovah, we are by comparison far lesser creatures - little more than worms, figuratively speaking. The harsh reality is, that we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The apostle Paul, during a time of intense self-examination, could only conclude: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). He could just as easily have stated it in the wording of David - "What a worm I am!" What hope is there for those in such a state of moral and spiritual worthlessness? Who in their right mind, would risk their own life to save an earthworm? The answer is: JESUS - YEHOSHUA! In the words of another old hymn of the church: "There was One who was willing to die in my stead, that a soul so unworthy might live" ["Nailed to the Cross," written by Carrie Ellis Breck in 1899]. Like Paul, and also like each of us (if we are honest with ourselves), Isaac Watts recognized his unworthiness to stand in the presence of a holy God, and his utter inability to redeem himself from that wretched state of being.

Yet, none of us relish the idea of being a lowly worm. It is a blow to our self-esteem and our human nature rebels against the thought. I can still remember, as a young child, hearing my dad's response to Isaac Watts' hymn every time it was sung in an assembly. He would refuse to sing that hymn, declaring, "I am NOT a WORM!" And, in fact, he was not alone in that sentiment. In several later versions of that hymn, the wording has been changed in our hymnals to "for sinners such as I" and "for such a one as I." Nevertheless, in the wording of one of the stanzas of Watts' hymn, "When the Messiah, our savior died, for man, the creature's sin" - our lord did indeed shed his precious blood for the unworthy worms of this world!

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

The love of our God and of His Son is amazing; it is love, mercy, and grace hard to fathom. Watts put that truth into several stirring stanzas, and that hymn has touched countless "worms" for centuries. Notice one such individual whose life was transformed by this hymn: "In the Fall of 1850, at the age of thirty, Fanny J. Crosby went to the altar at the Thirtieth Street Methodist Church in New York City. She had been to the altar twice before, but she had not received the peace she sought. While at the altar on this occasion, the congregation was singing the hymn, 'Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed,' according to her own testimony, and in her own words she says, '...it seemed to me that the light must indeed come then or never; and so, I arose and went to the altar alone. After a prayer was offered, they began to sing the grand old consecration hymn, "Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed, And Did My Sovereign Die?" And when they reached the third line of the fourth stanza, "Here lord, I give myself away," my very soul was flooded with celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting "Hallelujah," and then for the first time I realized that I had been trying to hold the world in one hand and the lord in the other'" [C. W. Kerns, The Story Behind the Song - Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed, an article appearing on Church Choir Music]. Kerns ended the article, as will I, with this insight and challenge: "The only appropriate response to the realization that such selfless sacrifice on the part of a perfect sinless man was for the sake of the imperfect, selfish creatures we know ourselves to be is total surrender. We know we can never repay our debt of gratitude, so we sing:"

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do.

 

Written by Al Maxey and edited by Bruce Lyon