THE WORM THAT TURNED

"I am a worm and no man".

Do you know who those words refer to? Can you believe that Holy Scripture would describe Christ as a worm? Surely not? Bringing Him down to the level of a worm would be blasphemy, would it not?

But Psalm 22, also known as the Crucifixion Psalm because of its references to Jesus and the Crucifixion, does just that. Let us read it:

Psalm 22:6: "I am a worm and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people v7 All those who see Me ridicule me…"

Just look at the suffering that Jesus came down from heaven to endure. He was a reproach of men. They ridiculed and despised Him, and as Hebrews 10:29 tells us, He was trodden underfoot. So low was He regarded that He is called a worm and no man.

But look! It was His way to perfection. When He came to the earth, He had been trained by His Father to be incapable of corruption, but He was not yet perfect. He did not have proven knowledge. Until He was brought as low as a worm, despised and ridiculed to the point of death, without sinning, there would have been no proof that God could train a child in the way he should go and have Him never depart from it (see Proverbs 22:6).

So by enduring all those sufferings and yet remaining sinless, Jesus received the proven knowledge He needed to turn from imperfection to perfection. He was the worm that turned.

The big problem now is that if we are going to be saved from death, we also need to be incorruptible. As Paul said, this corruptible must put on incorruptibility. To escape death, we need to escape sin, because the wages of sin is death. So what the world needs is incorruptibility.

In that case, let me show you how, through His sufferings, Jesus not only provided for Himself to be turned from imperfection to perfection, He also left God with no choice but to turn the world from imperfection to incorruptibility and ultimately to perfection.

We have already seen Christ described as a worm, but just look at the Hebrew word for "worm" in Psalm 22:6. It is from towla, which refers to a particular type of worm, known as the coccus ilicis or kermes insect. It was the scarlet worm, which was common in the Mediterranean area and used by the Israelites to make scarlet dye, for such things as the cloth in the tabernacle.

When the scarlet worm was pregnant, it would attach itself to a tree, where it would lay thousands of eggs after which it would die. However, as it died its body would burst, and the scarlet fluid it contained covered the eggs.

You can see in this process a picture of Jesus. That is why it is written, "I am a worm and no man". Because, just as the worm died whilst attached to a tree, so Jesus, as Peter said, was "…murdered by hanging on a tree" (Acts 5:30).

What is more, what happened at the death of the worm, also points to Jesus. As I have said above, when the worm died on the tree, its body would burst and the scarlet fluid that it contained covered its eggs. You see, the death of Jesus on the cross, established a provision whereby we can come under His blood and be saved. This was also pictured by the first Passover, when the Israelites could come under the lamb's blood and be saved from death.

Can you see that in being brought as low as a worm and enduring all the sufferings, Jesus provided a way for us to come under His blood and be saved from death? If we are going to be saved from death we must be turned away from sin. So this Worm, who was trodden under foot, gave us a way to come under His blood and, at the appointed time, be turned from corruptibles to incorruptibles. Through enduring a life in which He was treated as a worm, He provided for us to be turned.

But you may say, that is not the same as Universal Salvation. What about the separation of the sheep and goats? The goats do not repent, and therefore can not come under the blood of the lamb.

And you would be right.

So let me show you how, even the unrepentant goats can be turned from being corruptibles to incorruptibles, through the sufferings of this Worm.

Let us look at something that happened at the Crucifixion:

John 19:23 says: "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece."

At the crucifixion, Jesus' garments were taken from Him. Bearing that in mind, let us now look at Proverbs 20:16 which says: "Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger…" The Hebrew word for "surety" in this scripture is arav, which can also mean "to be guarantor, or security". Therefore by putting that meaning into the verse, the result is: "Take the garment of one who is guarantor for a stranger.

To be guarantor, simply means that a person is a guarantee of something for someone else.

So, when Jesus had His garments taken from Him at the cross, we can see a picture of Him being a guarantee for those who are strangers to Him. These unrepentant goats will be strangers to Jesus. Yet He can still turn them arround.

Judah was a guarantee for the life of his younger brother, Benjamin, when he said to his father, Israel, at Genesis 43:9: "I myself will be surety (arav: guarantor) for him: from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever."

Just as Judah undertook to bring back Benjamin to his father, so Jesus is also going to bring back everyone to His Father. And from Jesus' hand, God is going to require everyone who has been created.

One thing that many people do not know is that because Jesus came down and was treated as if He were a worm, yet remained sinless throughout all of the suffering that it involved, this made Him the guarantee that everyone would be turned from their sinful natures, to the same incorruptible nature that He has.

You see, when it was established that God could take a created being up to incorruptibility, it meant that that quality could not be withheld from anyone. Otherwise God would have double standards. What is freely given to one, must eventually be freely given to every other.

Now that God has proved that the only way to make correct decisions and remain sinless is to be turned to incorruptibility, how can He make salvation dependent on our works, if He knows that we are still corruptible? If He did, you could argue like this: "Is it right for God to ask you to do something, that He has proved you can not do, and then punish you eternally for failing to do it?"

No. It is not right. Therefore, through being treated as a worm, Jesus provided the legal case that would guarantee that even the unrepentant goats are turned to incorruptibility.

So, now that Jesus has the legal case to do so, He can do what is written at Proverbs 31:8: "Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die." Jesus can now open His mouth in the cause of all who are appointed to die, and see that they are all turned to God.