Pierced and Exalted as King
«For dogs have surrounded me; a company of evildoers has encircled me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; they look and stare upon me.»
«And Pilate wrote an inscription also, and put it on the cross. And there was written: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This inscription therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate: Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written.»
Promise and fulfilment
In the Old Testament, it is foretold that the righteous sufferer would be surrounded by evildoers, pierced in hands and feet, and exposed defenceless to the gaze of all.
In Christ, this was fulfilled to the letter: He was nailed to the cross, and above His pierced hands even the pagan occupying power bore public witness that He is King.
Let these verses remind you to take your own Bible in your hands, read them there again and, if you wish, continue a little further. Holding God's Word in your hands also gives you a precious moment away from the digital world.
Do not read the Bible in one long run, but passage by passage: one text, unhurried, asking the Holy Spirit for understanding. Whoever tries to swallow everything at once loses the overview. Whoever takes one passage each day will see the whole picture over time.
The connection
In the psalm, David portrays a cruel indignity: hands and feet pierced, with the gazes of mockers fixed upon the sufferer. On the cross at Golgotha, Christ takes this very humiliation upon Himself, transforming it into the throne of His reign. Where the world puts a condemned man on display, the inscription proclaims irrevocably in the world languages of the time: here the true King reigns through self-giving love.
Reflection
Yesterday you reflected on how Jesus’ strength ebbed away as He was led out to Golgotha. Today you stand at the journey's end. The piercing of hands and feet was the cruelest execution the ancient world could devise—designed to break a human being utterly and strip away every shred of dignity. Yet at this darkest of places, something unexpected unfolds: above His head, in three languages, witness is borne to who He truly is.
Perhaps you, too, know situations where you feel painfully exposed. Moments when the eyes of others rest upon your weaknesses or wounds, and you wish you could simply disappear. Evil always seeks to bind pain with shame, trying to convince you that your suffering makes you worthless.
Christ overturns this verdict on the cross. His pierced hands are not the mark of defeat, but the seal of His unbreakable faithfulness to you. What men wrote of Him in mockery remains eternally true: He is King. Step into this Sunday knowing that no mockery and no wound in your life has the final word, because Christ has hallowed your wounds.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, You allowed Your hands and feet to be pierced to reconcile me to God. In the midst of the deepest humiliation, You remained King—a sovereign who rules not by oppressing, but by giving Himself away. Today I bring You my own wounds and the shame that so often seeks to paralyse me. Heal my sight and let me see how deeply secure I am in Your love. What You bore for me on the cross gives me an eternal anchor. Amen.
The thread
On the seventh day of our week at the cross, we see how the piercing of Psalm 22 becomes the exaltation of the true King; from tomorrow, we enter into the stillness of the tomb.
Go with confidence into this day: your wounds are held safe in the pierced hands of your King.
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