C.H. John 19:4-5. There are some who in company hold their tongues, and never say a good word for Christ. And yet, though he was Lord of all he had so fully taken upon himself the form of a servant and was so perfectly made in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he cried with fainting voice, "I thirst." A few times the sun will go up and down the hill; a few more moons will wax and wane, and then we shall receive the glory. That impenitent thief went from the cross of his great agony and it was agony indeed to die on a cross he went to that place, to the flames of hell; and you, too, may go from the bed of sickness, and from the abode of poverty, to perdition, quite as readily as from the home of ease and the house of plenty. Remember that, and expect to suffer. Are you so frozen at heart that not a cup of cold water can be melted for Jesus? And well they may; the son of such noble parents deserves a nation's love. Behold, my King is not without his crown alas, a crown of thorns set with ruby drops of blood! Next Saturday all eyes will be fixed on a great Prince who shall ride through our streets with his Royal Bride. It is calculated that one soul passes from time into eternity every time the clock ticks! They would be very proper, very proper; God forbid that we should stay them, except with the gentle words of Christ, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me." They are these Weep not because the Savior bled, but because your sins made him bleed. Will your Prince be decorated with honors? Let us muse upon the fact that Jesus was conducted without the gates of the city. So he was thirsting then. London shall see the glory of the one: Jerusalem beheld the shame of the other. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. Let us magnify and bless our Redeemer's name. The Redeemer's cry of "I thirst" is a solemn lesson of patience to his afflicted. "I thirst," ay, this is my soul's word with her Lord. He who stood in our stead has finished all his work, and now his spirit comes back to the Father, and he brings us with him. It is not likely that we shall be able to worship with their worship. If he was so poor that his garments were stripped from him, and he was hung up upon the tree, penniless and friendless, hungering and thirsting, will you henceforth groan and murmur because you bear the yoke of poverty and want? Did I not describe last Sabbath the knotted scourges which fell upon the Saviours back? Beloved, can you say he carried your sin? Did we not do so years ago before we knew him? And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ? The last word but one, "It is finished." I tell you, sirs, that yonder malefactor carried his cross and died on it; and you will carry your sorrows, and be damned with them, except you repent. The more manifestly there shall be a great gulf between the Church and the world, the better shall it be for both; the better for the world, for it shall be thereby warned; the better for the Church, for it shall be thereby preserved. The sufferings of Christ should make us weep over those who have brought that blood upon their heads. Romanists of all ages have wrought upon the feelings of the people in this manner, and to a degree the attempt is commendable, but if it shall all end in tears of pity, no good is done. In the Lord of Hosts, who shows his power in the sufferings of Christ and of his Church. Thus have I tried to spy out a measure of teaching, by using that one glass for the soul's eye, through which we look upon "I thirst" as the ensign of his true humanity. Let all your love be his. Although Simon carried Christ's cross, he did not volunteer to do it, but they compelled him. And yet he placed himself for our sakes into a position of shame and suffering where none would wait upon him, but when he cried, "I thirst," they gave him vinegar to drink. Then came, "Women, behold thy son!" The utterance of "I thirst" brought out A TYPE OF MAN'S TREATMENT OF HIS LORD. V. Lastly, the cry of "I thirst" is to us THE PATTERN OF OUR DEATH WITH HIM. Amid all the anguish of his spirit his last words prove him to have remained fully self-possessed, true to his forgiving nature, true to his kingly office, true to his filial relationship, true to his God, true to his love of the written word, true to his glorious work, and true to his faith in his Father. Beloved, there is now upon our Master, and there always has been, a thirst after the love of his people. John, the gospel of faith by Harrison, Everett Falconer, 1902- from Everyman's Bible Commentary series. A second mode of treating these seven cries is to view them as setting forth the person and offices of our Lord who uttered them. In the multitude there was a sparse sprinkling of tender-hearted women, probably those who had been healed, or whose children had been blessed by him. III. They force him without the walls, and are not satisfied till they have rid themselves of his obnoxious presence. Simon had to carry the cross but for a very little time, yet his name is in this Book for ever, and we may envy him his honor. As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. My Lord is not altogether without his espoused one. Hail, everlasting King in heaven, thou dost admit to thy paradise whomsoever thou wilt! He ran and filled a sponge with vinegar: it was the best way he knew of putting a few drops of moisture to the lips of one who was suffering so much; but though he felt a degree of pity, it was such as one might show to a dog; he felt no reverence, but mocked as he relieved. He also knew well the terrible joy that comes only through suffering as he lived quite afflicted (both by illness and slander). We do not know what may have been the color of alimony face, but it was most likely black. He is thirsty still, you see, for our poor love, and surely we cannot deny it to him. My heart shall not be content till he is all in all to me, and I am altogether lost in him. For his sake we may rejoice in self-denials, and accept Christ and a crust as all we desire between here and heaven. Barrabas may go free; the thief and the murderer may be spared; but for Christ there is no word, but "Away with such a fellow from the earth! It is the opinion of some commentators that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. Have we not often given him vinegar to drink? Some of you will! The last expiring word in which he commended his spirit to his Father, is the note of acceptance for himself and for us all. points to the anguish of his soul; "I thirst" expresses in part the torture of his body; and they were both needful, because it is written of the God of justice that he is "able to destroy both soul and body in hell," and the pangs that are due to law are of both kinds, touching both heart and flesh. I fear me, beloved, I fear me that the most of us if we ever do carry it, carry it by compulsion, at least when it first comes on to our shoulders we do not like it, and would fain run from it, but the world compels us to bear Christ's cross. Add to Cart. Some of them have no objection to worship with a poor congregation till they grow rich, and then, forsooth, they must go with the world's church, to mingle with fashion and gentility. John 19:16 . Can you help feeling how very near Jesus is to us when his lips must be moistened with a sponge, and he must be so dependent upon others as to ask drink from their hand? He must love, it is his nature. Some of us, indeed, confess that, if we had read this narrative of suffering in a romance, we should have wept copiously, but the story of Christ's sufferings does not cause the excitement and emotion one would expect. Weep not for him, but for these. Romanists pretend to know; in fact they know the very spot where Veronica wiped the blessed face with her handkerchief, and found his likeness impressed upon it; we also know very well where that was not done; in fact they know the very spot where Jesus fainted, and if you go to Jerusalem you can see all these different places if you only carry enough credulity with you; but the fact is the city has been so razed, and burned, and ploughed, that there is little chance of distinguishing any of these positions, with the exception, it may be, of Mount Calvary, which being outside the walls may possibly still remain. Jesus was deserted of God; and if he, who was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? Trust in the Son of God and you shall never die. you that are ashamed of Christ, how can you read that text, "He that is ashamed of me, and of my words, of him will I be ashamed when I come in the glory of my Father, and all my holy angels with me." More solemn still is the reflection that according to our Lord's own teaching, thirst will also be the eternal result of sin, for he says concerning the rich glutton, "In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment," and his prayer, which was denied him, was, "Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." There was nothing behind in the price, but there is something behind in the manifested power, and we must continue to fill up that measure of revealed power, carrying each one of us the cross with Christ, till the last shame shall have been poured upon his cause, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Alas poor African, thou hast been compelled to carry the cross even until now. Our sinful tongues, blistered by the fever of passion, must have burned for ever had not his tongue been tormented with thirst in our stead. If we weep for the sufferings of Christ in the same way as we lament the sufferings of another man, our emotions will be only natural, and may work no good. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. The arrow which has lately pierced thee, my brother, was first stained with his blood. "I thirst" meant that his heart was thirsting to save men. Always was he in harmony with himself, and his own body was always expressive of his soul's cravings as well as of its own longings. Holy Scripture remains the basis of our faith, established by every word and act of our Redeemer. We are in the world, but we must never be of it; we are not to be secluded like monks in the cloister, but we are to be separated like Jews among Gentiles; men, but not of men; helping, aiding, befriending, teaching, comforting, instructing, but not sinning either to escape a frown or to win a smile. "Wist ye not," said he, while yet a boy, "that I must be about my Father's business?" There can be no shadow of doubt but that our Lord was really crucified, and no one substituted for him. Borrowed from his lips it well suiteth my mouth. He was innocent, and yet he thirsted; shall we marvel if guilty ones are now and then chastened? After our Lord Jesus Christ had been formally condemned by Pilate, our text tells us he was led away. So numerous has the family of man now become, that there is a death every second; and when we know how very smell a proportion of the human race have even nominally received the cross and there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved oh! There are no passages in all the public ministry of Jesus so tender as those which have regard to Jerusalem. Oh! What was he looking for from his vineyard and its winepress? Take up your cross daily and follow him. I am ashamed of some professed Christians, heartily ashamed of them! These are silken days, and religion fights not so stern a battle. He knew once how to turn water into wine, and in matchless love he has often turned our sour drink-offerings into something sweet to himself, though in themselves, methinks, they have been the juice of sour grapes, sharp enough to set his teeth on edge. Others think that Simon carried the whole of the cross. He said, "I thirst," in order that one might bring him drink, even as you have wished to have a cooling draught handed to you when you could not help yourself. Once again, as we think of this "I thirst," which proves our Lord's humanity, let us resolve to shun no denials, but rather court them that we may be conformed to his image. Of the many benefits we have in learning from Paul, a few stand out:1. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" here we see the Mediator interceding: Jesus standing before the Father pleading for the guilty. It is the way whereby many shall be brought to Christ, when this blessed soul-thirst of true Christian charity shall be upon those who are themselves saved. Have you prayed for your fellow men? I cannot say that it is short and sweet, for, alas, it was bitterness itself to our Lord Jesus; and yet out of its bitterness I trust there will come great sweetness to us. It does not often happen that five or six thousand people meet together twice; it never does, I suppose; the scythe of death must cut some of you down before my voice shall warn you again! I cannot think that natural thirst was all he felt. The extreme tension produced a burning feverishness. I differ from them greatly, but I will say this, that next to the actual enjoyment of my Lord's presence I love to hunger and to thirst after him. A river of the water of life, pure as crystal, proceedeth to-day out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and yet once he condescended to say, "I thirst," before his angelic guards, they would surely have emulated the courage of the men of David when they cut their way to the well of Bethlehem that was within the gate, and drew water in jeopardy of their lives. See, brethren, where sin begins, and mark that there it ends. Sister, thirst for the salvation of your class, thirst for the redemption of your family, thirst for the conversion of your husband. Can they be compared to generous wine? We gave him our tears and then grieved him with our sins. "I thirst," is his human body tormented by grievous pain. He did not spare his Son the stripes. If you will look, there is the mark of his blood-red shoulder upon that heavy cross. "I thirst, but not as once I did, The vain delights of earth to share; Thy wounds, Emmanuel, all forbid That I should seek my pleasures there. Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. Fix your hearts upon some unsaved one, and thirst until he is saved. Think of the millions in this dark world! (6) John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, " It is finished! I have sometimes met with persons who have suffered much; they have lost money, they have worked hard all their lives, or they have laid for years upon a bed of sickness, and they therefore suppose that because they have suffered so much in this life, they shall thus escape the punishment of sin hereafter. The Lord bless you, for Jesus' own sake. Shall the servant be above his Master, or the disciple above his Lord? In that cry there is reconciliation to God. Whether a disciple then or not, we have every reason to believe that he became so afterwards; he was the father, we read, of Alexander and Rufus, two persons who appear to have been well known in the early Church; let us hope that salvation came to his house when he was compelled to bear the Savior's cross. I wonder he has ever received them, as one marvels why he received this vinegar; and yet he has received them, and smiled upon us for presenting them. Bearing upon his back the sin of all his people, the offering goes without the camp. We are to reckon upon all this, and should the worst befal us, it is to be no strange thing to us. Universal manhood, left to itself, rejects, crucifies, and mocks the Christ of God. It showed that he had laid down his life of himself. Our Lord felt that grievous drought of dissolution by which all moisture seems dried up, and the flesh returns to the dust of death: this those know who have commenced to tread the valley of the shadow of death. High in the air ye bid your banners wave about the heir of England's throne, but how shall ye rival the banner of the sacred cross, that day for the first time borne among the sons of men. 1089 - The Man Greatly Beloved . When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid: It shows he was afraid all along the coward the vacillating coward and now a fresh superstition seizes upon him. He can receive vinegar, but not lukewarm love. Hark how their loud voices demand that he should be hastened to execution! Includes cross references, questions, verse by verse commentary, outline, and applications on John chapter 19 for small groups. Will ye raise a clamor of tumultuous shouting? Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. 'Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. The flood of his grief has passed the high-water mark, and began to be assuaged. John 19:28 J.R. Thomson This is both the shortest of all the dying utterances of Jesus, and it is the one which is most closely related to himself. You have blessed company; your path is marked with footprints of your Lord. May the Holy Ghost help us to hear a fourth tuning of the dolorous music, "I thirst." "Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." I suppose that the "I thirst" was uttered softly, so that perhaps only one and another who stood near the cross heard it at all; in contrast with the louder cry of "Lama sabachthani" and the triumphant shout of "It is finished": but that soft, expiring sigh, "I thirst," has ended for us the thirst which else, insatiably fierce, had preyed upon us throughout eternity. The Geneva Series of Commentaries include historic commentaries on biblical books written by some of the great theologians in the history of the church. Did not the high-priest bring the scape-goat, and put both his hands upon its head, confessing the sins of the people, that thus those sins might be laid upon the goat? They put on him his own clothes that the multitudes might discern him to be the same man, the very man who had professed to be the Messias. The great agony of being forsaken by God was over, and he felt faint when the strain was withdrawn. First, they teach and confirm many of the doctrines of our holy faith. John 18:19-40 - Glory on Trial A. Today! May the Holy Spirit often lead us to glean therein. Our text is the shortest of all the words of Calvary; it stands as two words in our language "I thirst," but in the Greek it is only one. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. You and I have nothing else to preach. What learn we here as we see Christ led forth? The power to suffer for another, the capacity to be self-denying even to an extreme to accomplish some great work for God this is a thing to be sought after, and must be gained before our work is done, and in this Jesus is before us our example and our strength. 19:1-18 Little did Pilate think with what holy regard these sufferings of Christ would, in after-ages, be thought upon and spoken of by the best and greatest of men. Then I will thirst with him and not complain, I will suffer with him and not murmur." He believed, as a Roman in gods many. Coming fresh from the country, not knowing what was going on, he joined with the mob, and they made him carry the cross. London shall see the glory of the one: Jerusalem beheld the shame of the other. Your Prince is surrounded by a multitude of friends; hark how they joyously welcome him! As not a bone of him shall be broken, so not a word shall be lost. He derived spiritual refreshment from the winning of that women's heart to himself. Charles Haddon Spurgeon December 1, 1861 Scripture: John 19:30 From: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 7 It is Finished! "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk; eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Here we behold his human soul in anguish, his inmost heart overwhelmed by the withdrawing of Jehovah's face, and made to cry out as if in perplexity and amazement. What a cataract of immortal souls dashes downwards to the pit every hour! Dear fountain of delight unknown! If not, bestir yourselves at once. God forbid! Next time your fevered lips murmur "I am very thirsty," you may say to yourself, "Those are sacred words, for my Lord spake in that fashion." The Holy Spirit took special care that each of the sacred utterances should be fittingly recorded. Nor is this all. How they led him forth we do not know. This hint only. Do we not see here the truth of that which was set forth in shadow by the scape-goat? He saw its streets flowing like bloody rivers; he saw the temple naming up to heaven; he marked the walls loaded with Jewish captives crucified by command of Titus; he saw the city razed to the ground and sown with salt, and he said, "Weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children, for the day shall come when ye shall say to the rocks, Hide us, and to the mountains, Fall upon us." Oh! Beware of rendering him homage and dishonouring his name at the same time. How near akin the thirsty Saviour is to us; let us love him more and more. When our Lord cried, "Eloi, Eloi," and afterwards said, "I thirst," the persons around the cross said, "Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him," mocking him; and, according to Mark, he who gave the vinegar uttered much the same words. Man 's TREATMENT of his grief has passed the high-water mark, and thirst until he is all all! 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