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In this essay, I will explain how Psalm 22 matches up with the description of Jesus, crucifixion in the gospels of Matthew and John perfectly. And thus, although it was initially by a severely depressed Israelite under unimaginable duress, the doctrine of Sensus Plenior is at play and Psalm 22 is ultimately a messianic prophecy that Jesus fulfilled in His death on the cross. In addition to this, I want to have a subsection talking about the supernatural nature of the “Bulls of Bashan”. I will argue that far from being a simple metaphor, the Bulls Of Bashan are supernatural entities who thought they had beaten Jesus by putting him on the cross.

Psalm 22 – In Its Original Setting

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, it’s important to remember that Psalm 22 would not have been understood as a messianic prophesy in its original setting and context. The superscription attributes the Psalm to David, saying “TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE DOE OF THE DAWN. A PSALM OF DAVID.” But as Tremper Longmann III points out in his commentary on Psalms, the term “Of David” could have a variety of meanings; it was a Psalm composed by King David, it was composed for David, it is a Psalm concerning David, or it was used with the intent of David’s use ^[1]Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 25. Longmann goes on to say “The first meaning indicating authorship is the traditional way of understanding the phrase, and there are sufficient reasons to believe that the editors did intend to so attribute authorship.” ^[2]Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 25. And I agree. Unless I have some strong reasons for doubting Davidic authorship, I typically take “of” to mean “by”. And it is quite plausible that David could have written many (though not all) of the Psalms ascribed to him. After all, 1 Samuel tells us that David was a player of the harp and lyre, and in fact, his amazing skill as a musician was what lead him into King Saul’s court (1 Samuel 16:14-23). In the case of Psalm 22, on the one hand, David was a skilled musician and he certainly had his fair share of hardships. On the other hand, what in the world could this possibly be referring to? Typical of the Psalms, they are often difficult to pin down to a specific historical referent. This is by design, of course, as songs are designed to be reappropriated by listeners to their own situations. ^[3]Even in the modern day, with secular songs, we do this. We hear a song on the radio and thing “That’s so me. That’s about what I’m going through.”. I believe The Holy … Continue reading If I were to guess, I would say that Psalm 22 was written by David about a time when he nearly died fighting in a war for Israel.

Verses 1-2 could be a lament by David who feels that God has no intention on rescuing him from his adversaries.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.” (ESV)

The Psalmist (David?) has been crying out to God for a long time, and God has not answered his prayer. The lack of a positive response in the light of such a dire situation is what has prompted the feeling of being forsaken, and the question “Why?” The Psalmist cannot find an answer. Using a Hebraic parallelism, he says he has cried out to God by day and night, and yet God has not answered. The prayers of the Psalmist have seemingly fallen on deaf ears. This causes a lack of rest for the Psalmist.

“Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (Verses 3-5, ESV)

About this section, biblical scholar Tremper Longmann III writes “God’s silence is baffling and confusing in the light of the praises and trust of Israel in the past. Verse 3 has been rendered differently depending on where the poetic division is set. The NRSV represents one school of thought with: ‘Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel’ (see also NJB and NLT). However, the NIV is more likely, since typically the first colon is longer than the second in Hebrew parallelism: Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. Fortunately, the meaning is not widely divergent, in that both appeal to God’s uniqueness (holy), his kingship, and as the recipient of Israel’s praise. While the NRSV’s version captures the imagination, God’s kingship is not dependent on Israel’s praise, although it is possible to understand Israel’s praise as an acknowledgment of the reality of his rule. The psalmist is also confused because in the past (our ancestors) Israel cried out to God for help, and they were rescued from their calamity and not shamed by being left in their troubles. If he cared to, the psalmist could have identified any number of instances, but perhaps the most striking was the exodus. Why is God not responding to him as he responded to his ancestors in the past?” ^[4]Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 129.

“But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
‘He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!'” (Verses 6-8, ESV)

If this is David, and the context is a war, the people referred to as the scorners and mockers who see Israel’s king beaten, battered, wounded, could be soldiers of an enemy army. And they mock his faith in God, for they too see that it doesn’t look like Yahweh is going to rescue him. So, adding insult to injury, they say “He trusts in The LORD; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, for he delights in him.” This is especially likely if we take David as the composer, as I find it odd that the people of Israel would so openly mock their King. ^[5]Did they not fear being beheaded!? Especially since we know that David, and Ancient Near Eastern kings in general, typically fought with their men on the battlefield, this is likely who the Psalmist is referring to.

“Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.” (ESV)

Despite feeling abandoned, the Psalmist doesn’t give up on God. He continues to petition Him for help, reminding Yahweh of his faithfulness to him throughout his whole life, even as far back as infancy! He petitions God not to be far from him, to come to his help because he can find it nowhere else.

Verses 14-18 continue to talk about the many ways in which the Psalmist is afflicted. Verses 19-21 contains more petitions for Yahweh to save the Psalmist from these afflictions, followed by a promise that He will tell others of His greatness (verses 22-24). I won’t comment much on the specific imagery and details here, as I’d rather save that for when we get to the Messianic deeper sense of the Psalm. Overall, in its original setting this was an Israelite (probably David) who was going through one of the darkest episodes of his life. Despite feeling abandoned, and having many of his prayers go unanswered, the Psalmist is still loyal to Yahweh and continues to call on him, never giving up hope. There is deep faith expressed in this prayer even in the midst of excruciating angst and pain. Psalm 22:27-31 (ESV) says “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.”

Keeping in mind its original context, we can pray this Psalm in our own lives today. When we are at our lowest moments, overwhelmed by darkness, enduring agonizing pain (emotional, physical, or both) looking back at countless unanswered prayers, God invites us to ask “Why? Why are you letting this happen?” We can pour out all of our hurt and sorrow to Him. And we can resolve in our minds that no matter how long the darkness lasts, we will not turn away. We will keep praying in the midst of the battle, and when we come out on the other side of this, we will praise Him. (see verses 22-24 ESV)

Because the truth of the matter is, even if we feel abandoned, God explicitly said that He never would. (see Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6). We can rest in the fact that God said “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and that “We know that God works all things for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28). As the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (ESV) ^[6]For a deeper discussion on why God allows suffering, see my blog posts “Why The Problem Of Evil Is A Failed Argument For Atheism” and “Super Hero Theodicies”. For this, we can praise Him even before our trials come to an end.

Psalm 22 – Jesus’ Crucifixion Hidden In Plain Sight

It is extremely unlikely that any Jew prior to the first century would have seen Psalm 22 as a psalm about any future event at all, let alone the brutal death of the Messiah. But this was by design. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:7-8, “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.“ (ESV, emphasis in mine bold). It is pretty common knowledge among Bible students that second-temple Jews had no concept of a dying and rising Messiah. They expected a conquering warrior king who would throw off the yoke of Rome. In God’s omniscience, this was all by design. As Paul said in the previous passage, if everyone knew that Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and free us from the god of death’s power, then it never would have happened. ^[7]I adhere to both Penal Substitutionary Atonement and The Ransom Theory. The former teaches that Jesus was punished in our place. The agonizing, torturous death that would be inflicted on me in Hell … Continue reading

If Satan and the other unseen powers of darkness really knew what the cross was about, they would have done everything in their power to try to prevent it. The Sanhedrin who considered Jesus a blasphemer, wouldn’t have taken him to Pilate because they would have known that they were fulfilling prophesy and giving the Messiah more credence, which is the last thing they would have wanted. I mean, think about it, why would Satan and the gods of the nation purposefully help Jesus defeat them? (Colossians 2:13-15). Rather than enter Judas to get him to betray Jesus to the Sanhedrin (John 13:27), he would have gotten Judas to keep Jesus safe at all costs. And so, given 2 Corinthians 2:8, that passages like Psalm 22 would not have been seen as prophesies to be fulfilled in the death of Jesus should not come as a surprise to us. It reminds me of that scene in Avengers: Endgame where Iron Man asks Doctor Strange whether this is a timeline in which they’d beat Thanos. Doctor Strange responded, “If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.” Well, God did technically tell us what would happen, but he did so in such a cryptic way that no one would get it until after the fact.

But why should we take Psalm 22 as a Messianic death prophecy? The answer comes from the striking similarities in Psalm 22 and the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion in the gospels. The table below shows the points of contact.

Psalm 22 Prophecy	Verse in Psalm 22	Gospel Fulfillment and Verse
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”	Psalm 22:1	Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 – Jesus cries this out from the cross.
The mocking crowd shakes their heads and insults the dying man.	Psalm 22:7	Matthew 27:39 and Mark 15:29 – Passersby shake their heads and hurl insults at Jesus.
“He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.”	Psalm 22:8	Matthew 27:43 – The chief priests and scribes mock Jesus with these exact words.
His hands and feet are pierced.	Psalm 22:16	John 20:25 – Thomas expresses his need to see the nail marks in Jesus’ hands.
His bones are out of joint.	Psalm 22:14	Luke 23:25 – The crucifixion process would have led to this physical reality for Jesus.
His clothes are divided, and lots are cast for his garment.	Psalm 22:18	Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, and John 19:24 – Soldiers divide Jesus’ clothes and gamble for his tunic.
His mouth is like a potsherd; his tongue sticks to his jaws.	Psalm 22:15	John 19:28 – Jesus says, “I am thirsty,” indicating extreme dehydration.
The suffering one is surrounded by strong bulls and roaring lions.	Psalm 22:12-13	While some take this to be another reference to the mocking unbelieving Jews and the Romans, others take them to be the thieves Jesus was crucified between (Mark 15:7, Luke 22:32). I myself take a third view, which I’ll explain more fully below.
He is delivered into the dust of death.	Psalm 22:15	Mark 15:37 and Luke 23:46 – Jesus dies on the cross.
Yahweh worship will one day become a global phenomenon. As Tremper Longmann III says “According to verse 27, praise for God will extend beyond Israel to include all nations. The phrase, all the families (mišpāḥôt) of the nations, evokes the similar ‘peoples [mišpāḥôt; lit. families] on earth’ of Genesis 12:3…” [8]Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 132.	Psalm 22:7	If you worship Yahweh and you aren’t living in Israel, but in the U.S, the U.K, Mexico, Canada, etc. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.

It seems to be quite a stretch to say that all of these touchpoints occurred by sheer coincidence. It is extremely difficult not to read Psalm 22 as being a prediction of what Jesus would go through on the cross. It reads almost like an eyewitness report!

Psalm 22 thus serves as a powerful apologetic for the messianic identity of Yeshuah Bar Yusif. ^[9]This is Jesus’ untransliterated name. Jesus/Yeshuah was and is the messiah of Israel. He fulfilled Psalm 22 to astonishing accuracy. The Jewish people of today who claim to be loyal to Yahweh and his word yet do not recognize Jesus as Messiah would do well to learn of this information and meditate on it. Moreover, this is a strong argument for The Bible’s inspiration and divine authority. If The Bible were a collection of man made books, what are the odds that Jesus would just so happen to fulfill words in old scrolls written centuries before he was born? Psalm 22 is thus a powerful apologetic not simply for the non-messianic Jews, but to any non-Christian who rejects The Bible as the word of God.

There are a few objections to the above points that are usually raised. First is how do we even know the Psalm we have today was what existed even at the time of Jesus, much less centuries before Jesus. This is easily answered by appealing to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1940s. A shepherd boy in the Middle East threw a stone in a cave in an attempt to scare one of his sheep out. When he threw the stone, he heard the sound of something shattering. Later, he brought others to investigate it and they found scrolls containing almost the entire Old Testament with the exception of the book of Esther. ^[10]See Emilie Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, “What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls and What Do They Prove?”, December 13th 2023, –> … Continue reading The scroll dates to 120 BC—a thousand years older than the previous oldest text. Most significantly, the Isaiah scroll hardly differs from the Masoretic text from the tenth century, demonstrating that Jewish scribes carefully preserved the original text. This shows us that the Old Testament text that existed before the time of Jesus is the same as today’s. And so, no conspiracy of changing Psalm 22 in hindsight in order to make it look like Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament is tenable.

Ok, but maybe the gospels were crafting the account of Jesus’ crucifixion to look like Psalm 22? First, there are many independent reasons to think the gospels are historically reliable eyewitness accounts. I talk about these in my book “The Case For The Reliability Of The Gospels: A Cerebral Faith Blog Book”. And so, a full case for the historical reliability of the gospels make the antecedent probability of this very low. But even apart from a conclusion that the gospels are reliable, the absurdity of this option is still prima facie implausible. If you felt free to craft an account of a Messiah figure, the last thing you’d want to do is make him look so pathetic as to be crucified. Ok, yeah, the gospels say he was vindicated in resurrection, but still, not only did that fly in the face of Jewish expectations, but it was offensive to Gentiles as well. As Paul wrote “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;” (1 Corinthians 2:23, KJV) Many Greeks did not like the idea of resurrection. They were Platonists who saw death as an opportunity to escape the body once and for all. A physical resurrection was offensive to them in general. We know, even apart from assuming the gospels are reliable, that Jesus’ crucifixion is a fact of history because its multiply attested by secular writers like Josephus, Tacitus, Mara Bar Sarapian, and Lucian of Samosata, not to mention independent biblical writers like Mark, John, and Paul. So on the basis of the criterion of multiple attestation, that Jesus existed as a historical figure and was crucified is “as sure as anything historical can be” ^[11]See my article “The Evidence For Jesus’ Resurrection — Part 3: Fact (1) Jesus Died By Crucifixion” for specific historical quotations and references from these writers. It meets the criterion of embarrassment in a couple of ways, first by having most of Jesus’ male disciples flee the scene while depicting only the women as having the guts to stay with him in his final hours (see John 19:26-27), and secondly, that for as exalted as the gospel authors took Jesus to be ^[12]Even skeptical scholars hold that at least John had a high Christology, although as I’ve argued in my video “The High Christology Of The Gospel Of Mark”, the synoptic did as well., it would be unlikely that if they were going to make up a story of him dying at all, it would be bloody and naked on a Roman cross. This would have been the ultimate shame in the ancient world. Even disputing the deity of Jesus, the gospels at least depict Jesus as Israel’s King, Messiah, and the ultimate prophet of God. Why would they write the story this way? But, this raises the question; if they wouldn’t make up these details, on what grounds do we suppose that they made up the other details as well? It smells of the cherry-picking fallacy to say the gospels told the truth about some of the details of Jesus’ crucifixion, but not others, specifically the ones that would make an argument from Psalm 22 work. How convenient for the atheist and non-messianic Jew.

Finally, some object that we can’t be sure that Psalm 22:16 says “they have pierced my hands and feet”, arguing that there is a textual discrepancy. And that it could (or even should) read “Like a lion, they are at my hands and feet”. They are quite right. A footnote of my ESV says “Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet.” However, this is a terrible objection for two reasons; First, the detail of the Psalmist’s hands and feet being pierced is only one of a plethora of touch points between Psalm 22 and the crucifixion accounts of Jesus (see the table above). The cumulative weight of each touch point makes a strong case even if one is lost. Secondly, whether the text literally says “They have pierced my hands and feet”, the imagery of piercing is still present either way. Just Google images of a lion’s mouth and tell me what you see? Lions have massive fangs at the top and bottom of their mouths. “Adult male lions have a bite force that averages around 650 PSI (or approximately 45.86 kg/cm²). To put this in perspective, it’s a force more than enough to crush a human skull or snap a spine.” ^[13]Julian, “Bite Force Of A Lion: The Lion’s Crushing Power Compared and Explained” Exploration Junkie, –> https://www.explorationjunkie.com/lion-bite-force/ If the lions are at the Psalmist’s feet, what exactly are we supposed to be picturing other than biting and tearing. With fangs that long and a bite force that strong, if one of them bit your wrists, do you think it might be enough to pierce? Absolutely! So this textual difference, in the end, doesn’t really change the meaning of the text. It would only change whether we should see a literal expression of piercing or a metaphorical picture of piercing. However, arguments have been made that “pierced” is the correct reading. ^[14]See, for example, “What Is The Correct Translation Of Psalm 22:16?” GotQuestions.org, –> https://www.gotquestions.org/Psalm-22-16-lion-pierced.html) and “What Is The … Continue reading

Who Or What Are The Bulls Of Bashan?

In his book “The Unseen Realm: Recovering The Supernatural Worldview of The Bible”, the late biblical scholar Dr. Michael S. Heiser argues that the “Bulls of Bashan” mentioned in Psalm 22:12 should not be understood as literal bulls or human enemies, but as a reference to powerful, supernatural evil beings. This is a part of a much wider sub-worldview of the Christian Worldview that The Bible teaches that Heiser and others have dubbed “The Divine Council Worldview”. And by the way, there’s an awesome podcast called The Divine Council Worldview Podcast that you should listen to. No, they did not pay me to say that. And if that’s new to you, in a nutshell The Divine Council Worldview teaches that Yahweh has an assembly of heavenly beings (“gods” in English, “elohim” in Hebrew) who participate in decision making with him (e.g Genesis 1:26, 1 Kings 22), and some of them fell and became the gods that pagans worship (Deuteronomy 4:19, Deuteronomy 32:8-9) and will be judged for that in addition to other corrupt practices some day (see Psalm 82). The Divine Council Worldview is a much richer, more nuanced, and more biblically accurate (if you’ll pardon the pun) version of the simpler angelology and demonology Christians have typically accepted for years.

Heiser’s exposition connects the phrase to the location of Bashan. In the Old Testament, Bashan is associated with the Rephaim, a race of giants who were remnants of the Nephilim and were the progeny of the “Sons of God” and human women (Genesis 6). ^[15]For a deep discussion of this, see my essay “Genesis 6: The Nephilim – Descendents Of Cain, Neanderthals, Ancient Kings, or Angel-Human Hybrids?” These beings, in Heiser’s view, are part of the rebellious divine council members who were judged by Yahweh. Therefore, the “bulls” are not animals, but a metaphor for these powerful, demonic entities, representing strength and aggression. Heiser posits that Psalm 22 is a prophetic passage about the crucifixion, and the “Bulls of Bashan” are the supernatural forces of evil at work against Jesus. ^[16]Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (pp. 288-292). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

Dr. Michael Heiser wrote “The Israelites eventually made their way into a region known as Bashan. The place had a terrifying reputation. In ancient literature outside the Bible, Bashan was known as ; the place of the serpent.‘ Two of its major cities, Ashtaroth and Edrei, both mentioned in connection with this journey (Deut. 1:4, Josh. 13:12), were considered gateways to the underworld realm of the dead. In the context of Israel’s supernatural worldview, God had led the Israelites to the gates of hell.” ^[17]Michael S. Heiser, Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, ed. David Lambert (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 92. Emphasis in bold added.

Centuries later, in Jesus’ day, the highest mountain of Bashan, Mt. Hermon, had numerous occult temples and sacrificial sites for demonic worship. Jesus took his leadership team into this heart of darkness, to Mount Doom, the very gates of hell.

Again from Dr. Heiser:

“Jesus was challenging the powers of darkness. At the fall, humanity lost eternal life with God and earned instead a fate of death and eternal separation from God. The lord of the dead—the Serpent, known as Satan and the Devil—had claim over humanity. Every human would join him in the realm of the dead. But God had other ideas.” ^[18]ibid. Page 113

Jesus took the inner three up Mt. Doom. “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” (Matthew 17:1-8, ESV) The gospel of Matthew goes on to record Simon’s confession to Jesus and Jesus’ statement that Simon will now be called Peter, and “On this rock I will build my church”, saying that the gates of Hell won’t be able to prevail against it. But this is a subject for another essay.

“The creepy part of this description is the fierce bulls from Bashan. As we noted earlier, in Old Testament times, Bashan was ground zero to demonic gods and the realm of the dead. The area was a leading center for the worship of Baal, symbolized by bulls and cows. “Bulls from the land of Bashan” is a reference to demons, the powers of darkness.” ^[19]Ibid. Page 122.

Dr. Heiser likens this to the scene in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, when Aslan is killed.

Conclusion

Psalm 22, like so many of the passages in the book of Psalms, is a rich text and a precious treasure from God’s holy word. While we recognize its original context, we also recognize that this passage had a deeper meaning, known only to The Holy Spirit who breathed this psalm out (2 Timothy 3:16-17) until after its fulfillment in the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ fulfillment of Psalm 22 is a powerful apologetic for both his messianic identity as well as the divine nature of The Bible, for it would be quite a feat for a merely man-made text to so powerfully pre-figure an event centuries in the future. Moreover, when the nature and connotations of “Bashan” in its ancient Israelite context is understood, we can infer that Jesus had more enemies mocking and jeering at him than just the unbelieving Jews and unbelieving Romans. The spiritual forces of wickedness were there too, surrounding Him, thinking they had won. But they didn’t. Jesus rose from the dead! Jesus was vindicated! He conquered death!