March 10, 2002
Scripture Text:
John 19:28-29
Speaker:
Jeff Williams
Series Overview
Dying for a Drink
In 1991, I moved from the city of Memphis, Tennessee, population of over one million, to the town of Crossnore, North Carolina, population 258, including the stray dogs. Needless to say, I experienced significant culture shock. I was a city boy, not a mountain man, and had a difficult time adjusting to the altitude, let alone the attitude. I didn’t own a gun, had no animal heads to hang on my wall, knew nothing about NASCAR which I think is the state religion, and had never been swimming in a creek. I did learn how to do one thing while living in the mountains, other than how to talk a little bit like Billy Graham. I learned how to hike!
One hot, humid summer day I was asked to go with a group of students to hike the “Spring trail.” We parked on the side of the highway and entered the tree line and hiked for nearly an hour before we reached our destination. When I think of a spring, I picture a bubbling brook with trout jumping and deer drinking. Maybe that’s just from watching Bambi too many times! What I saw disappointed me greatly. Sticking out of the rock facing, there was a two foot long metal pipe with water dribbling out of it. I was hot and terribly thirsty. It is not what I had in mind. But then I knelt and cupped my hands under the water and drank from the spring. It was the coldest, clearest, most refreshing water I had ever tasted. It instantly satisfied my thirst. I filled up my water bottle, (city boys don’t own canteens), and stopped several times on the way down the mountain to drink and be refreshed. Have I made you thirsty yet? Good!
For the last four weeks, Pastor Brian has been teaching through the Seven Shouts from the Savior. These cries from the cross take us into the very heart of God. Last week, we shuddered as we heard Jesus quote from Psalm 22 in despair, “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?” We felt the agony of separation as God the Father turned His back on God the Son and allowed Him to be our sin-bearer. We realized He was forsaken by God because of His Forever love for us.
Now we come to the fifth shout, the shortest of all the prophetic proclamations. One word in the Greek language that is recorded only by the beloved apostle John. We translate that word - “I am thirsty.”
Medical experts tell us that we can live for more than forty days without food. Right now, several of the Taliban prisoners in Cuba are on a hunger strike. They have given up food to make their point. But they are still drinking water. As oil is to an automobile, so is water to the human body. The body can not operate without water for very long, only about seventy-two hours. About that time, dehydration begins. The muscles begin to cramp and the kidneys shut down. Very few of us has ever been that thirsty. Very few of us understand the torture that Jesus Christ underwent on our behalf.
Three little words in English…I am thirsty…within this harsh whisper lay three vitally important points that we must understand if we are to consider whether we should put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ:
A. “I am thirsty” we observe Jesus’ PERFECT HUMANITY
B. “I am thirsty” we are witness to Jesus’ PROFOUD SUFFERING
C. “I am thirsty” we stand in awe of PROPHESY FULFILLED
Prayer: Lord, help me to teach clearly, help these people hear your words, and may you be glorified in the process. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
PERFECT HUMANITY
Theology Lesson
Those outside of the church struggle with the notion that Jesus was God. They say, “he was a good man…a prophet…a moral teacher…but God in the flesh is a little too much.” They ask with cynicism, “How can a man be God?” Before you start getting proud of the fact that you believe that Jesus was God, let me point out a fact about those within the church. While we affirm the ancient creeds declaring Jesus Christ to be God Incarnate, we often struggle with the idea that he was perfectly human. We have become comfortable with the idea of Jesus calming the seas and raising the dead but bristle at the idea of Jesus being tired, or sick, or frustrated, or needing a bath.
Some time ago Pastor used this picture in one of his sermons. It is an artist’s rendition of what Jesus may have actually looked like. If I am truthful with you, that picture made me uncomfortable. He is too plain, I thought to myself. Then I remembered that Isaiah said the Messiah would look like a normal guy. You would not have been able to pick him out of a line up:
“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2)
You see, Jesus was Perfectly God but at the same time He was perfectly human. Paul tells Timothy this is a “mystery.” (I Timothy 3:16) This “mystery” has been denied, distorted, and defended though every age of the church. I am afraid we are in need of a theology lesson. Stay awake this is good stuff!
In October of AD 451, a large church council was held in the city of Chalcedon near Constantinople. False teachers had been distorting the truths of Christianity and the leaders issued a document to refute their heretical babblings. Let me read you the first two lines of what John Macarthur has called “the most significant Christological statement in the history of the church”:
“We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhood and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man…” This is what the theologians call the “Hypostatic Union.” Not a divine man or a humanized God but the “God-man, Jesus Christ.” (I Timothy 2:5)
Listen to Paul writing to the church at Rome:
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God the Gospel he promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:1-4)
John writing in his gospel says,
“The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Truly theology sharpens our minds, but it is useless unless it can be applied to our hearts.
Practical Implications
Now that we understand that Jesus was truly God and truly man, comes the question that only the really deep spiritual people ask, “So what?!” What does that have to do with me? I am having a bad hair day, I do not understand algebra, my dog is not potty trained, and I am thirsty from the two donuts I ate before service.
When living in Mississippi, we had large ant hills in our front yard. I ran over them with the lawn mower and tried to set them on fire but they just didn’t get the point. How could I communicate with them? What if I got down on one knee and tried to reason with them that my neighbor’s yard was a much more comfortable place to live than mine? No, it wouldn’t work. I am too big and too scary. But if I could become one of them and speak their language then I could organize an expedition to move their hill to another yard. Do you see the parallel?
God wanted to communicate the greatest love story of all time, but He was too big and too scary for us. A hit song from a couple of years ago asks longingly, “What if God was one of us?” Christianity answers this haunting question. God did become one of us! Immanuel means “God with us.”
Max Lucado wrote in one of his books about Jesus as a teenager. He described him as awkward and having pimples. He received a letter from a irate woman who said she would never buy another one of his books. Her point of contention: My Savior did not have pimples! Let me make this clear: if your Prince of Peace did not have pimples then you really have no Savior at all.
You see Jesus was born of a woman (Luke 2:4-7), but he was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). He had to be fully man to be tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15a) but he had to be fully God to not sin, not even once in his 33 years on this earth (Hebrews 4:15b). He had to be fully man to live under the Law but he had to be fully God to be the first person in history to actually fulfill every rule of the Law (Galatians 4:4). He had to be fully man in order to suffering, bleed, be nailed to a cross and have every sin that you and I have ever committed to be poured out upon him. He had to be fully human to die and be buried. He had to be fully God to be resurrected and ascend into heaven. Paul wrote to Timothy:
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men the testimony given in its proper time. (I Timothy 2:5-6)
What’s the answer to “so what?” He knows your pain! He knows what it is like to be hungry, thirsty, angry, lonely, frustrated, tired, and tempted. He knows the pain of a stubbed toe as well as a grieving heart. The writer of Hebrews sums this point up well:
“Therefore since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in everyway yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Michael Card states it beautifully, “So the light became alive and manna became man/eternity stepped into time so we could understand…”
PROFOUND SUFFERING
Physical Suffering
Because Jesus was perfectly human, Good Friday was anything but a good day for our Lord. As Pastor said two weeks ago, we have cleaned up the cross. We have wiped off the blood, the pieces of flesh, and the smell of death. We have become too comfortable…too familiar. There is even a t-shirt that has become popular recently that says, “Body Piercing Saved My Life.” We wear crosses around our necks but have we really ever considered the implications of his suffering on that cruel instrument of torture?
From nine to twelve, man did what they could to the King of the Jews He hung on the cross by his tendons in his wrists, with the shame of his nakedness, his arms and legs cramping from lack of water, his shredded back rubbing against the rough grains of the crossbeam, the blood from the crown of thorns covering his face that was unrecognizable from the beatings he had received (Isaiah 52:14). The pain in his wrists was excruciating and his arms contorted with cramps. Every breath was an ordeal and to speak meant sacrificing precious air from his lungs. The loss of blood, exposure, the heat, the flies, exhaustion, and finally dehydration have taken their toll. Jesus has had nothing to eat or drink since the Passover meal he shared with his disciples the night before. He is ravaged with thirst.
The word for thirst and fire are related in the Swiss language. Jesus knew what it was to burn with thirst. First, the fever, then the throbbing pain in the head, cramps in his abdomen, vomiting, his eyeballs would dry out, lips cracked, his tongue thick and vocal cords swollen. Minutes before his heart would stop beating he lifts his head and says, “I am thirsty.” This is the only utterance from the cross that had to do with His own physical sufferings. But there is something much deeper than just physical thirst here.
Spiritual Thirst
Last week we heard Jesus cry out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” For the first time in all eternity, God the Father turned His back on God the Son and poured out all His anger toward our sin on to Jesus. For three long, dark hours Jesus bore the brunt of hell, which is eternal separation from God.
In trying to describe what hell is like Jesus told a story of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus who used to beg outside the gates of his mansion. After death, the rich man is separated from God eternally in hell. Listen as he now has become the beggar:
“In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.” (Luke 16:22-24)
He begs for one thing water!
It has been said that Jesus thirsted under the heat of God’s wrath, that we might not be scorched with it forever. Jesus would rather bear your sins on the cross than bear the thought of you in hell. At the cross we see the depths of God’s love for us and the ugliness of our sin. In those three hours, He experienced the horrors of hell and entered into our suffering.
Jesus not only took your sins to the cross but your fear, anguish, and heartbreak. Listen to Isaiah:
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered
him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)
Paul Claudel writes, “Christ did not come to do away with suffering; he did not come to explain it; he came to fill it with his presence.”
The Savior’s greatest suffering though was his separation from His Father. Jesus is longing to be back in communion with God again. I am sure that King David’s words were echoing in his head:
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?”
(Psalm 42:1-2)
His harsh whisper seems to indicate that the exchange was complete. God’s wrath had been satisfied and the clouds parted and sunlight poured down on to his swollen face. John 19:28 says, “Later, knowing that all was now completed…” The hard part was over.
He now recognizes his physical needs. He needs to have his lips wetted in order to shout the victory cry of Good Friday: “It is finished…the deal is done…the debt has been paid…I took your place and your debt has been paid by my blood…” At the cross we learn that suffering is never meaningless and that it always comes to an end. But there was more to it than that…
PROPHECY FULFILLED
Specific Fulfilment
While in one sense, his request for drink was prompted by his physical need, there was much more. Look at what the Scripture says,
“…and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said I am thirsty. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on the stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus lips.” (John 19:28-29)
Jesus was fully alert and very aware of his situation. He had earlier refused an offer of a narcotic type drink (Matthew 27:34) because he wants to be fully conscious. He is not in a swoon, or hallucinating, but is considering the last of the prophecies to be fulfilled.
David writing prophetically of the Suffering Savior’s death states, “…they gave me vinegar for my thirst.”(Psalm 69:21b) And in Psalm 22:15, “My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.”
The Roman soldiers would have carried such wine in their canteens. It was the drink of common people and the poor. This was a far cry from the wine that Jesus made out of the water at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11). Instead of having a drugging effect, this would temporarily revive his physical strength.
An unknown soldier becomes a part of the cosmic play of redemption. He dips the sponge into the bucket and puts it on a branch of a hyssop plant. Oh, do not miss this. Even the branch has significance! It was the hyssop plant that was dipped in the blood of a lamb and smeared on the doorposts of the Jewish houses the night the angel of death passed over the Jews and killed each first born son and animal of the Egyptians (Exodus 12). Now, on Passover weekend, the hyssop plant is used to wet the lips of the “Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29) so he can fulfill Scripture:
Lenski writes, “The entire Scriptures in all they present concerning the earthly work of Jesus has now been turned into actuality, the work mapped out by Scripture is now a work actually completed.”
God’s Master Plan
There are over three hundred and thirty prophesies in the Old Testament concerning the coming Messiah and 240 of them were fulfilled before his ascension. Acts 2:23 says, “Jesus was handed over to die for God’s set purposes and foreknowledge.”
Genesis 3:15 is a prophesy directed at the devil:
“And I will put enmity between you (the devil) and the woman and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
The word offspring, which is seed in other translations, is singular. In other words, one descendent of Eve, one particular human being will crush the devil although he will be struck while doing so. This human being is mentioned over 300 times in the Old Testament and is called the Messiah or Christ which means “Anointed One.” Let me tell you what he will be like so we can keep our eyes open for him: (Don’t take notes)
He will be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); He will be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10 and Micah 5:2); from the family line of Jesse(Isaiah11:1) and the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5); He will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); When he is born he will be presented with gifts ( Psalm 72:10); When he is born other children will be murdered ( Jeremiah 31:15); He will be proceeded by a messenger ( Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1); His ministry will begin in a little town called Galilee ( Isaiah 9:1); He will do miracles (Isaiah 33:5); he will teach people in parables (Psalm 78:2); He will enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) on March 30, AD 33 (Daniel 9:24-27).
Of his death, he will be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9) for thirty pieces of silver (Zachariah 11:12). His disciples will abandon him (Zechariah 13:7) and will be accused by false witnesses (Psalm 35:11) but will not answer them (Isaiah 53:7). He will be wounded and bruised (Isaiah 53:5), spit upon (Isaiah 50:6), and mocked (Psalm 22:7-8). He will have his hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:5 and Zachariah 12:10) and he will be killed with others (Isaiah 53:12). The people will shake their heads at him (Psalm 109:25) and stare at him (Psalm 22:17). Even though they will gamble for his clothes (Psalm 22:18) he will ask God to forgive them (Isaiah 53:12). While dying he will suffering from extreme thirst (Psalm 69:21) and cheap wine will be offered to him (Psalm 69:21). Although he will feel abandoned by God (Psalm 22:1), he will commit his spirit into God’s hands (Psalm 31:5). Not one of his bones will be broken (Psalm 34:20) and his side will be pierced (Zachariah 12:10) revealing a broken heart (Psalm 22:14). While he is dying darkness will cover the land (Amos 8:9) and after he dies he will be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9). Does this sound vaguely familiar to you?
The odds of one human being fulfilling just eight of these prophesy is 1x 10 to the17th power. That’s 100,000,000,000,000,000. Imagine we have enough silver dollars to cover the entire state of Texas two feet deep. We put and x on one those silver dollars and hide it, then stir the whole pile. Then we blindfold a man in Dallas and tell him he can go as far as he wants, but he must pick up the silver dollar we have marked. That’s the same chance as a human being fulfilling these specific prophesies, many of which he would have no control over, such as his place of birth. If forty-eight of these prophesies were true of one man the odds increase to 1x 10 to the 157th power. (Source: Evidence that Demands a Verdict)
I believe it is abundantly clear that the last two paragraphs refer to Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, if you can find someone other than Jesus, living or dead, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning the Messiah,
The Christian Victory Publishing Company of Denver will write you a check for one thousand dollars.
It is amazing to me that the chief priests and the teachers of the law, that knew the Old Testament backwards and forwards, who literally wore the Scriptures on their arms and on their foreheads, did not immediately see all of the prophesies converging right before their eyes. In fact twenty-nine specific prophesies were fulfilled within a twenty-four hour period of time. They were witnesses of these events yet did not believe (Matthew 23:37). Maybe it was because they didn’t realize how thirsty they were.
Are you PARCHED for GOD’S PRESENCE?
Two Friday nights ago, the Stalters invited Pastor Brian’s family and mine to a mystery dinner. It was a wonderful night of fun. We were given menus and had to order our courses by numbers and clues. When the first course was brought out I had ordered meatloaf, mash potatoes, and…a tooth pick! I picked up the meatloaf and dipped it in the potatoes and enjoyed eating with my hands. Emily did not fair much better. She spent the first part of the meal trying to balance corn on her knife. Maxine and Beth both hit the jackpot. They not only had silver wear but each received a tall glass of ice water. After eating the moist meatloaf and the buttered corn, we were thirsty. Emily softly whimpered as her mother took a long drink. I prayed forgiveness for all the commandments I was breaking. I not only coveted Maxine’s water but begin trying to steal her water. Near the end of the meal, I would have killed for her water. Maxine thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
This is a thirsty world. We humans will try anything to satisfy that thirst. We run after the mirages of money, alcohol, drugs, sex, power, relationships, and a thousand other cheap imitations. We stand amazed as the rich and famous again and again testify with their words and actions that they are thirsty for something more. I believe it was the outspoken atheist billionaire Ted Turner who said, “I would give away every dollar I have for a good night’s sleep.” There is a hole in our heart that everything pours through like sand through a sieve. The hole is cross-shaped. St. Augustine wrote long ago, “Our soul is restless until it rests in Thee O Lord.”
Jeremiah records God’s feelings about our propensity to drink the cheep stuff:
“They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that can not hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, he met a woman while traveling through the region of Samaria. He begins a conversation with her that would change her whole life and concept of being filled. I love the way Eugene Peterson translates Jesus’ words:
“Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give him will never thirst not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” (John 4:13-14, The Message)
Are you thirsty?
Jesus stood up at the Feast and said in a loud voice:
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures have said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38)
Are you thirsty?
Teaching the greatest sermon ever given, Jesus said,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
Are you thirsty?
John, describing heaven writes,
“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.” (Revelation 7:16-17)
The spring in North Carolina was just a shadow of a heavenly reality. Are you thirsty?
As if to make a powerful point, the Bible actually ends with John recording Jesus’ words:
“Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)
Are you thirsty?
Are you parched for God’s presence? Have you been drinking out of broken cisterns? Living water is available to us free because it cost God everything.
He is not going to pour it down your throat though. It is a gift and a gift must be received. If you have never trusted Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins believing that he died in your place to satisfy once and for all (Hebrews10:10) God’s righteous requirements pray with me now.
“Lord Jesus, I realize now how much you suffered in my place for my sin. I know I need a Savior so I surrender totally toYou. Forgive me of my sins that nailed You to the cross. Fill me now with Your presence put my feet on the path of the Great Adventure of faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Maybe you are a Christ-Follower but are thirsty for his Presence this morning. You may be going through a difficult time, a dry time- experiencing doubt, fear, or feeling like God has abandoned you. Pray with me now:
“Lord Jesus, I am parched for You presence. As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul thirsts after You, O God. My soul thirsts for the Living God…Give me the desire to drink deep of Your Word and worship You even when I do not feel like it. I realize You understand what I am going through and will walk with me. Thank you. In Jesus Name, Amen.
There was a billboard in Louisiana that showed Jesus hanging on the cross. The caption under the picture read, “It’s your move.”
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