The Scarlet Worm
One verse from the 22nd psalm, but such a powerful revelation!
But I [am] a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Psalm 22:6.
There can be little doubt that this psalm is prophetic, or that it presages the crucifixion of Christ. In effect, then, this psalm is Jesus' confession.
Several different Hebrew words could be translated, man. This one is the same as the word in Psalm 37, where it says that the steps of a purpose-driven man, a good man, are ordered by the Lord.The "good-man" described in that psalm, and in this one, is the kind of man who makes a formidable warrior. The good man is at least, an enterprising go-getter, or a valiant, stalwart warrior - the kind that Jesus spoke of as "the good man of the house", who defends the house against a midnight break-in. In short, the "good man" warrior type was not what Jesus was to be, though the sort of Messiah the Jews were hoping for, or even earnestly expecting.
For the Jews, Jesus was a bitter disappointment.
Jesus confessed, I am a worm.
There are two different Hebrew words which could be translated, worm. Of the two, this one is the more profoundly significant: This word for worm denotes the so-called scarlet worm, the species coccus ilicis.
The scarlet worm is a truly remarkable creature - most particularly, that is, the female of the species. What makes her unique is the manner by which she bears her offspring. When it comes time to lay her eggs, the female scarlet worm finds a tree suitable for her purpose, and affixes herself firmly to it, by burying her claws deeply into it - so deeply, in fact, that she places herself in a position she will never be able to extricate herself from - and she lays her eggs there, between her body and the tree, so that her body could provide some protection for them from natural predators. In point of fact, she gives her life to protect them.
In short, she gives her life in sacrifice. And she does this, being "nailed" to a tree. And she does this as an act of love, for her children.
Thus it was that Jesus knew the manner of his death, ahead of time.
When the maternal scarlet worm expires, her heart ruptures, and her blood vessels burst, flooding her hatchlings with her life-blood. Having no alternative provision of nutrition, her hatchlings drink it. Having no source of further nutrition, the hatchlings then turn to the cannibalization of her dead body. So they eat her body, and drink her blood. Otherwise, they would "have no part" of her.
It gives me pause to say it, but the analogy derived here gives me a unique perspective on the practice of communion.
The phenomenon of the scarlet worm was well known to the ancients, for the residue of her reproduction stained the tree with a color of brilliant red. It was a simple matter to cut down the tree, and boil its wood to produce a scarlet dye, which was the very sort of scarlet dye required to prepare the articles of the temple.
Other uses of the terms (worm, and scarlet):
Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob...(see Jacob in the Psalms)
Isa 1:18 Though your sins be as scarlet...
The following reference is extracted from Biblical Basis for Modern Science, 1985, Baker Book House, by Henry Morris, obtained from www.blueletterbible.org
When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might "bring many sons unto glory" ("#Heb 2:10")! He died for us, that we might live through him! "#Ps 22:6" describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. "#Isa 1:18")
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