A WORD OF PAIN (Fifth Word from the Cross)

#104                                                                    A WORD OF PAIN (Fifth Word from the Cross)                                                                                            

Scripture  John 19:28 NIV                                                                                                                  Orig. Date 3/30/1980

                                                                                                                                                                 Rewr. Dates 3/30/1987

Passage: 28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

Purpose: In this message from the fifth word from the cross, to show the agony of intent for Jesus to live in commitment to the will of God

Keywords:           Christ Redeemer              Dedication          Commitment                     Will of God         Suffering

Timeline/Series:               Words from the Cross

Introduction

                It is easy enough to entitle the message “A Word of Pain,” and use it to point directly to the physical suffering of Jesus.  Any person who has experienced thirst knows its intense discomfort.

                Some of you have had to leave a sickroom to announce to others the nearness of death.  It is that feeling now, here at the cross, that capitalizes on the  raw edge of our emotions.  Death is imminent, but there is still no doubt as to who is in charge.

                It is normative, here at Calvary, to sustain this sense of death’s inevitability.  But, then, neither can we remain long in this place without having our sense of dread replaced by a sense of hope.  Those there then felt hope: hope that these religious leaders would become more tolerant; hope that some military authority would declare this to be illegal; hope even, that Jesus would tire of the petulance of these vengeful people, and with a wave of His hand be suddenly transformed from this place; perhaps, hope for the direct intervention of God.

                The people gathered at Golgotha are spectators.  And death is what many of them came to see.  All, but a few, are awaiting this inevitable end.  It is not unlike a suicide scene.  A quietness pervades the atmosphere.  So quiet in fact, that they hear Jesus’ low moan of pain.  It is the normative word to express “yearning” for whatever will quench His thirst.  No doubt, however, the thirst is symbolic of a stronger yearning on the part of Christ.  He “thirsts” for the will of God, for men to be at peace with God.  He “thirsted” that those who were His followers would likewise thirst for God, and for humanity.

I.             So, Consider that Jesus Thirsted to do the Will of God.  Luke 9:51 “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”  John 18:11 “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I  not drink it?”

                Does it raise an eyelid of  surprise anywhere that Jesus could feel thirst?  He had spoken about it:  “He who believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35.)  He had declared it to be inviolate; “. . . but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into . . . life.”  John 4:14.  But there were title rights to that stream, and Jesus was yet to lay claim to it.  Remember the Psalmist’s appeal: “O God, thou art my God; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.” Psalm 63:1.  Remember the picture forming in Revelation 5: “. . . I saw a book written on both sides and sealed with seven seals. . . .  Who is worthy?  No man in heaven, or in earth, or under the  earth.” No doubt that thirst is present here, but not thirst for water, rather, thirst of God-forsakenness.”  The confrontation with Satan had to come.  It had to come where man is the most accessible, in the flesh.

                To long for the will of God as Jesus did, disallows questioning His will.  Some conclude that Jesus knew His will perfectly. Scripture teaches Jesus’ life was one of change. Luke 2:52 “And Jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”  Mark 13:32 “But of that day . . . knoweth no man . . . neither the Son, but the Father.”  Concluding Jesus KNEW allows us to excuse ourselves when we know we know not.  But learning from Jesus, is learning to choose what brings God glory.  Psalm 137:6 “Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”

                There is no evidence Jesus had prior understanding of the events being lived out.  No doubt He  had spiritual intuition which we cannot match, cannot even approach.  But He lived by faith just as we are called to do.  So the disciples were taught.  Phillip: “Show us the Father and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus: “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.”  Jesus teaches that those who long to know to the point of agony will know, and will be satisfied.  Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteous, or they shall be filled.”  Luke 12:32 “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

II.            Consider Also, that Jesus Thirsted to Accomplish Salvation. Matthew 20:28 “The son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom.”                 

                We have already observed Christ’s concern.  Those who put Him on the cross were forgiven.  A soldier acknowledged He was God’s son, another reached out to quench His thirst.  He insisted this  to be God’s will so that guilt would not overwhelm His followers.  To a convicted felon, He gave the promise of eternal life.  To His mother and close friend, John, He gave words of meaningful concession.

                His challenge, however, is for the lost souls.  The human condition, then as now, was sin.  That problem is a raging torrent that must somehow be bridged.  His death was not to make access to God easy, but rather, to make the way plain.  Matthew 7:13 “. . . wide is the gate . . . broad the way leading to destruction, and many . . . go in . . . .  Strait is the gate and narrow is the way leading to life, and few there be that find it.”

                It is a lostness that must be faced.  Contemporary events compromise hungry hearts.  Present disparity of televangelists.  Man in Colorado Springs picked up little girl by her ankles, dashed her head against pavement saying “Jesus saves.”  (Returned to asylum.)  It is a lostness that destroys: disrupting families, breaking up marriages, enslaving people to drugs, alcohol, sex.  It is the lostness (Psalm 63:1) . . . “of a dry and thirst land where no water is.”  To die in our sins, without Christ, is to die with this eternal thirst upon our souls.  Luke 16:23f “. . . being in torments . . . he cried send Lazarus that he may dip . . . [his finger] in water and cool my tongue.”  Christ has suffered this thirst for us, but to reject Him is to reclaim that awful thirst.

III.           Lastly, He Thirsted as an Example of Compassion to His Friends and Followers.  John 17:25f “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me . . . that the love wherewith thou has loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

                Yes, there were those at the cross who would  quench His thirst.  One attempted to do so: soldier, temple guard, bystander. Surely, those who loved Him would have done so.  There were also those there who could have helped, but who would not.  Some waited curiously to see if Elijah would come.  Jesus had  not addressed Elijah, however, but the Father.  And this is the Father’s “beloved son.  Hear Him.”

                One thing, brethren, can quench to thirst of Jesus on the cross.  It is the quenching waters of faith when believers reach out to the lost. There are some who would and cannot.  Regrettably, too many, could, and will not. 

                Who are those who can, and will, and must?  And more importantly, are you one of them?  Matthew 25:31f “When the son of man shall come in his glory, . . . then shall he sit upon the throne . . . before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them . . . on his right hand, . . . on (his) left.  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom . . . For I was hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink . . . Then shall the righteous answer . . . When . . . ?  And the King shall answer and say unto them, . . . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

                The call of Jesus is still the call to quench the thirst of a weary world.

Conclusion

                This Christ still thirsts.  He thirsts for your love, for your service, for your holiness, for your prayer.  Let me quote James Stalker in closing (t20p148) “Whenever the heart of a human being turns to Him with a genuine impulse of penitence, affection or consecration, the Saviour sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied.”