Down to the Dust - Episode XVII -The Last Lament

An Unflinching Look at Death, Dying, Age, and Aging

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👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻 I apologize slightly for the length of this post. If you are under 60, you can skip the center section on aging. However, it will apply to you one day.

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Down to the Dust

I often think I should reintroduce the central idea of Psalm 22. It was written by King David for no known reason. Scholars and bible readers do not know of a single instance in his life where these events suggested in Psalm 22 would have occurred.

But yet, the psalm is a near blow-by-blow recap of what Jesus was experiencing.

That is part of the mystery of the Psalm. And, of course, it is why Jesus chose the Psalm. He knew it by heart.

He thoroughly identified with each harrowing depiction after harrowing depiction. Jesus knew what it would take to survive the ordeal; thus, He knew He would NOT survive.

That’s where we are now. Verse 15

On the Cross, as Jesus recites this Psalm, we find He is fading fast. Every part of His body is failing. Death is inevitable. Collapse is imminent. He moans these words:

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” —Psalm 22:15

• His voice, once strong enough to still storm and call the dead to life, now cracks in thirst.

• His strength once poured out for others in healing touch and cleansing words, is gone.

• His body, once carrying the burdens of others, can no longer carry its own weight.

Death is the humiliation of our physical life. It is fast approaching Jesus. And barring any sudden death of instant collapse, death will come like this for most of us all.

Slow degradation. Weakening. Shallow breaths, This is approaching death. It happens to each of us. Even the healthiest of us. We pretend we can hold it off—with treatments, supplements, creams, injections, and distractions. But still, the years add up. We fade. We die.

And Jesus does, too. He fades. He dies.

So, Let’s Talk about Death

(This is the part people under 40 might skip. The rest of us pay attention.)

I will turn 70 in two months—May 27th. And while I am not obsessed with death and dying (Am I?) I think about it far more than I did in my 20’s or 30’s. I can’t see the end from where I am, but I can see the place where I can see the end.

If you can relate, please feel free to leave a comment.

The Bible is so clear and hopeful about life and eternal life. But it is also clear about the process of death—if you know how to read its metaphors.