I am Thirsty
The Seven Sayings of Jesus from the Cross • Sermon • Submitted
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I am Thirsty
I am Thirsty
How thirsty have you ever been.
How thirsty have you ever been.
What is dehydration?
What is dehydration?
Dehydration happens when our bodies are not consuming enough water or fluids to account for the water lost.* Although our bodies process and lose water at a baseline rate that generally aligns with our metabolism, we can lose fluids at higher rates when we are sick, exercising, sweating heavily or suffering from other conditions that result in the loss of excess amounts of water.
Dehydration happens when our bodies are not consuming enough water or fluids to account for the water lost.* Although our bodies process and lose water at a baseline rate that generally aligns with our metabolism, we can lose fluids at higher rates when we are sick, exercising, sweating heavily or suffering from other conditions that result in the loss of excess amounts of water.
Whats it like to be dehydrated?
Whats it like to be dehydrated?
Muscle fatigue,Reduced cognitive processing, Dizziness, Confused or dazed states of awareness, Thirst, infrequent urination and dark colored urine, Dry mouth and yes tragic injuries
Muscle fatigue,Reduced cognitive processing, Dizziness, Confused or dazed states of awareness, Thirst, infrequent urination and dark colored urine, Dry mouth and yes tragic injuries
I’ve been severely dehydrated twice
I’ve been severely dehydrated twice
Once while Training for my first 1/2 Marathon
Once while Training for my first 1/2 Marathon
Second after my third 1/2 Marathon
Second after my third 1/2 Marathon
There are two references to drink at the cross.
There are two references to drink at the cross.
The first one offered to Jesus at the beginning of the crucifixion contained gall, used as a narcotic to help deaden pain (Matt. 27:34). This Jesus rejected.
The first one offered to Jesus at the beginning of the crucifixion contained gall, used as a narcotic to help deaden pain (Matt. 27:34). This Jesus rejected.
The second one Jesus was given which he received is described as sour wine. The soldiers may have taken this along to drink themselves because they expected to sit in the hot sun until their duty was complete. Knowing the danger of drinking the local water they used wine which had turned vinegary to mix with the water in the hope of killing any bacteria. But interestingly there was also a sponge and reed which indicates that they thought not only of themselves, but also of the crucified.
The second one Jesus was given which he received is described as sour wine. The soldiers may have taken this along to drink themselves because they expected to sit in the hot sun until their duty was complete. Knowing the danger of drinking the local water they used wine which had turned vinegary to mix with the water in the hope of killing any bacteria. But interestingly there was also a sponge and reed which indicates that they thought not only of themselves, but also of the crucified.
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What are we meant to understand this saying? How do we respond? Why was this seemingly basic statement recorded.
What are we meant to understand this saying? How do we respond? Why was this seemingly basic statement recorded.
1. A Testimony of His Suffering
1. A Testimony of His Suffering
Jesus declares that He thirsts, expressing a need for that thirst to be met.
Jesus declares that He thirsts, expressing a need for that thirst to be met.
We can see in this moment an obvious thirst and one not so obvious
We can see in this moment an obvious thirst and one not so obvious
lets look at the obvious one first.
A. He thirsted physically.
A. He thirsted physically.
Some people are so cool in a crisis, so strong under pressure, which would inflame or cripple ‘lesser’ mortals like you and I that we wonder if they are human at all.
Some people are so cool in a crisis, so strong under pressure, which would inflame or cripple ‘lesser’ mortals like you and I that we wonder if they are human at all.
One could almost think from the way that Jesus had responded during the trials and now 6 hours of crucifixion that He wasn’t really suffering – after all He seemed to handle it so calmly and patiently.
One could almost think from the way that Jesus had responded during the trials and now 6 hours of crucifixion that He wasn’t really suffering – after all He seemed to handle it so calmly and patiently.
That is until you hear this cry of distress.
That is until you hear this cry of distress.
This displayed his true humanity in no uncertain terms:
This displayed his true humanity in no uncertain terms:
He felt the moment of dehydration.
He felt the moment of dehydration.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
“I thirst!”
“I thirst!”
Remember God does not thirst , angels do not thirst, we will not thirst in glory
16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;
He was experiencing this for you and for me
But we thirst now because we are human and Jesus was the God/Man
But we thirst now because we are human and Jesus was the God/Man
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
We thirst because we live in a fallen world a world of sorrow.
We thirst because we live in a fallen world a world of sorrow.
And as a man He entered fully into our suffering, even the suffering of thirst often associated with those mortally wounded.
B. But He thirsted spiritually.
B. But He thirsted spiritually.
His thirst was real but it was not just physical. We need to remember that Jesus was on the cross as a substitute for sinners, and therefore was going through an experience vicariously of a sinner alienated from God and receiving God’s judgement.
His thirst was real but it was not just physical. We need to remember that Jesus was on the cross as a substitute for sinners, and therefore was going through an experience vicariously of a sinner alienated from God and receiving God’s judgement.
We all know the close connection of the soul and body, that what occurs in one affects the other – lets look in ....
We all know the close connection of the soul and body, that what occurs in one affects the other – lets look in ....
22 A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.
In this remember the parable Jesus told of Lazarus and the Rich Man, where Jesus highlights thirst as a symbol of the experience of divine punishment. The Rich Man after this life finds himself in hell, agonized by an inward thirst, begging that Abraham would be allowed to place a drop of water on his parched tongue. It was a symbol for dryness of the soul, a dryness that could only be relieved by communion with God, a communion which those in hell will never know.
In this remember the parable Jesus told of Lazarus and the Rich Man, where Jesus highlights thirst as a symbol of the experience of divine punishment. The Rich Man after this life finds himself in hell, agonized by an inward thirst, begging that Abraham would be allowed to place a drop of water on his parched tongue. It was a symbol for dryness of the soul, a dryness that could only be relieved by communion with God, a communion which those in hell will never know.
It would be astonishing if Christ didn’t have to experience here the thirst of that man in the parable. But that He did. He held onto God by faith, yet without feeling Him to be so He cried “I thirst!”
It would be astonishing if Christ didn’t have to experience here the thirst of that man in the parable. But that He did. He held onto God by faith, yet without feeling Him to be so He cried “I thirst!”
Jesus had been forsaken from God because He bore our sin, so He knows its consequence of thirsting after God, for communion once again with His Father. It was not only His mouth but His soul that was parched.
Jesus had been forsaken from God because He bore our sin, so He knows its consequence of thirsting after God, for communion once again with His Father. It was not only His mouth but His soul that was parched.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
A Testimony of His Suffering
A Testimony of His Suffering
2. A Testimony of His Submission
2. A Testimony of His Submission
We read also that this was a conscious cry of Jesus.
We read also that this was a conscious cry of Jesus.
It did not simply slip out of His mouth under the sheer pressure of this physical and spiritual thirst.
It did not simply slip out of His mouth under the sheer pressure of this physical and spiritual thirst.
No, though the thirst was real, yet this word was carefully and deliberately chosen, for we read here that “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled…”
No, though the thirst was real, yet this word was carefully and deliberately chosen, for we read here that “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled…”
Jesus was clearly aware of what was happening, very much in control of His thoughts despite the suffering involved for Him as our sin-bearer.
He knew that there was this one prophecy of the Bible not yet fulfilled, and so spoke this way in order to fulfil that Scripture given in
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Jesus was dying according to the timetable fixed in eternity and in part revealed in the OT.
Jesus was dying according to the timetable fixed in eternity and in part revealed in the OT.
There were some 350+ prophesies that Jesus fulfilled.
There were some 350+ prophesies that Jesus fulfilled.
Other things had been happening this day without His direct action But here Jesus was deliberately and directly acting so that the prophecy might be fulfilled.
Other things had been happening this day without His direct action But here Jesus was deliberately and directly acting so that the prophecy might be fulfilled.
In other words He was very conscious of God’s agenda here, and showed His determination to decisively fulfil His Father’s will through satisfying His Father’s design in so sending Him into this world.
In other words He was very conscious of God’s agenda here, and showed His determination to decisively fulfil His Father’s will through satisfying His Father’s design in so sending Him into this world.
He never thought for a minute.... I've done enough haven’t I
He never thought for a minute.... I've done enough haven’t I
A Testimony of His Suffering
A Testimony of His Suffering
A Testimony of His Submission
A Testimony of His Submission
3. A Testimony of His Sureness
3. A Testimony of His Sureness
Not only was Jesus committed to God’s program, He clearly saw Himself as God’s Man, the Messiah.
Not only was Jesus committed to God’s program, He clearly saw Himself as God’s Man, the Messiah.
Even when everything was screaming against Him: suffering, rejected, forsaken – how satan must have sought to attack Him saying ‘How could you possibly think You are the Messiah’. Yet Jesus by this very deliberate word was saying ‘NO – look at the Scripture this is what is said of the Messiah, this is what I can say about myself – I am the Messiah.’ It was a silent proclamation
Even when everything was screaming against Him: suffering, rejected, forsaken – how satan must have sought to attack Him saying ‘How could you possibly think You are the Messiah’. Yet Jesus by this very deliberate word was saying ‘NO – look at the Scripture this is what is said of the Messiah, this is what I can say about myself – I am the Messiah.’ It was a silent proclamation
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Bearing the wrath of God and the approach death had not robbed him of His understanding of Who He is and what He would achieve through it, but confirmed it. The cross may be a stumbling block to the Jews and an offence to the Greeks – but not so to Jesus. It was the declaration of His Messiahship and the scene of His great victory over sin, satan and death.
Bearing the wrath of God and the approach death had not robbed him of His understanding of Who He is and what He would achieve through it, but confirmed it. The cross may be a stumbling block to the Jews and an offence to the Greeks – but not so to Jesus. It was the declaration of His Messiahship and the scene of His great victory over sin, satan and death.
By the words “I Thirst” Jesus identified Himself to the whole world as the Saviour. He is saying I alone can met man’s thirst now and free them from enduring that thirst intensified throughout all eternity.
By the words “I Thirst” Jesus identified Himself to the whole world as the Saviour. He is saying I alone can met man’s thirst now and free them from enduring that thirst intensified throughout all eternity.
The Lord Jesus Christ suffered thirst so that we might drink of the water of life forever and thirst no more. Do you know the sureness that Jesus is the Messiah? Have you turned to Jesus and received the ‘water of life’ that He gives? Are you drinking deeply of the life that He gives to His people through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God? There is no need for any of us to continue to thirst, not even as Christians.
The Lord Jesus Christ suffered thirst so that we might drink of the water of life forever and thirst no more. Do you know the sureness that Jesus is the Messiah? Have you turned to Jesus and received the ‘water of life’ that He gives? Are you drinking deeply of the life that He gives to His people through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God? There is no need for any of us to continue to thirst, not even as Christians.
A Testimony of His Suffering
A Testimony of His Suffering
A Testimony of His Submission
A Testimony of His Submission
A Testimony of His Sureness
A Testimony of His Sureness
4. A testimony of Victory
4. A testimony of Victory
We see also in this cry, “I thirst”, a victor’s cry. Jesus is saying the victory has been won. Look at the verse in John chapter 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished; that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.” Knowing that all things were know accomplished He had fought the battle, He had seen it won and then He thought of Himself.
We see also in this cry, “I thirst”, a victor’s cry. Jesus is saying the victory has been won. Look at the verse in John chapter 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished; that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.” Knowing that all things were know accomplished He had fought the battle, He had seen it won and then He thought of Himself.
Robert Louis Stevenson tell us a story about a ship on the high seas. It is caught in a storm and carried near some treacherous rocks. The passengers and crew were terribly frightened. They were afraid they would be caught upon the rocks and the ship would sink. The passengers were in the restaurant part of the ship. one of the passengers went up to the bridge to see the captain and there he finds him lashed to the bridge. He watches him fighting with that wheel, he sees him striving to work the ship away from those rocks. The pilot sees him and smiles. The fellow turns and goes back to his companions and says, ‘There is no need for you to worry, I have been up on the bridge, I have seen the captain and he smiled.’ The battle’s won.
Although our Lord was not smiling on the cross, He cries out and says, “I thirst” and it is an affirmation to us that the victory has been won, the battle is over. He has won the battle for our souls. Having done all He cries out, “I thirst.”