2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, . As for yourselves, thirst after perfection. Oh, wondrous substitution of the just for the unjust, of God for man, of the perfect Christ for us guilty, hell-deserving rebels. 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. "'Twere you my sins, my cruel sins, His chief tormentors were; Each of my grimes became a nail, And unbelief the spear. Our Lord says, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink," that thirst being the result of sin in every ungodly man at this moment. Our great hero, the destroyer of Death, bearded the lion in his den, slew the monster in his own castle, and dragged the dragon captive from his own den. Jesus, being a man, escaped none of the ills which are allotted to man in death. 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. He sipped of the vinegar, and he was refreshed, and no sooner has he thrown off the thirst than he shouted like a conqueror, "It is finished," and quitted the field, covered with renown. "Women, behold thy son!" Some of you will not be baptized because you think people will say, "He is a professor; how holy he ought to be." The last word but one, "It is finished." "I thirst" is the fifth cry, and its utterance teaches us the truth of Scripture, for all things were accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, and therefore our Lord said, "I thirst." Amen. The sorrow of these good women was a very proper sorrow; Jesus did not by any means forbid it, he only recommended another sorrow as being better; not finding fault with this, but still commending that. 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. There have been times, and the days may come again, when faithfulness to Christ has entailed exclusion from what is called "society." It was a confirmation of the Scripture testimony with regard to man's natural enmity to God. Jesus is formally condemned to crucifixion, but before he is led away he is given over to the Praetorian guards that those rough legionaries may insult him. Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. NOTICE the connection, or you will miss the meaning of the words; for at first sight it looks as if our Saviour taught us that it John:6:29 The Marvellous Magnet is the fourth cry, and it illustrates the penalty endured by our Substitute when he bore our sins, and so was forsaken of his God. We shall perhaps know it in our measure in our dying hour, but not yet, nor ever so terribly as he did. You carry the cross after him. The Geneva Series of Commentaries include historic commentaries on biblical books written by some of the great theologians in the history of the church. Usually the crier went before with an announcement such as this, "This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, who for making himself a King, and stirring up the people, has been condemned to die." Here you see how the mortal flesh had to share in the agony of the inward spirit. My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein." 1089 - The Man Greatly Beloved . II. It is almost done, thou Christ of God; thou hast almost saved thy people; there remaineth but one thing more, that thou shouldst actually die, and hence thy strong desire to come to the end and complete thy labour. 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. We would fain lift thy name on high in grateful remembrance of the depths to which thou didst descend! July 2nd, 1882 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892) "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:26 . I am not the One anointed of God to save mankind. John 1:21. This was the act too of man at his best, when he is moved to pity; for it seems clear that he who lifted up the wet sponge to the Redeemer's lips, did it in compassion. Then comes the "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus was proved to be really man, because he suffered the pains which belong to manhood. A strong emphasis in Spurgeon's preaching was God's grace and sovereignty over man's helpless state. There is one way by which you can tell whether he carried your sin or not. He poureth out the streams that run among the hills, the torrents which rush adown the mountains, and the flowing rivers which enrich the plains. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"[ a] 37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."[ b] Read full chapter Footnotes They take matters very gently; they think it unnecessary to be soldiers of the cross. John and Herod 1549 - Good News for Thirsty Souls 1550 - The Unspeakable Gift 1551 - Today! First, they teach and confirm many of the doctrines of our holy faith. The excitement of a great struggle makes men forget thirst and faintness; it is only when all is over that they come back to themselves and note the spending of their strength. May the Holy Spirit often lead us to glean therein. The last of his last words is also taken from the Scriptures, and shows where his mind was feeding. Shall it ever be a hardship to be denied the satisfying draught when he said, "I thirst." Come, bring him your warm heart, and let him drink from that purified chalice as much as he wills. May the Holy Ghost work in you the complete pattern of Christ crucified, and to him shall be praise for ever and ever. As you look at the cross upon his shoulders does it represent your sin? Have you repented of sin? Ray Stedman Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. I think, beloved friends, that the cry of "I thirst" was THE MYSTICAL EXPRESSION OF THE DESIRE OF HIS HEART "I thirst." Think of that! Did I not describe last Sabbath the knotted scourges which fell upon the Saviours back? Then I will thirst with him and not complain, I will suffer with him and not murmur." "We, whose proneness to forget Thy dear love, on Olivet Bathed thy brow with bloody sweat; "We whose sins, with awful power, Like a cloud did o'er thee lower, In that God-excluding hour; "We, who still, in thought and dead, Often hold the bitter reed To thee, in thy time of need.". Beware of rendering him homage and dishonouring his name at the same time. Trust in the Son of God and you shall never die. Let patience have her perfect work. What joy, what satisfaotion this will give if we can sing, "My soul looks back to see The burden thou didst bear, When hastening to the accursed tree, And knows her guilt was there!". Now recollect, if Jesus had not thirsted, every one of us would have thirsted for ever afar off from God, with an impassable gulf between us and heaven. Jesus said, "I thirst," and this is the complaint of a man. And yet again in the eighth chapter the bride saith, "I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate." what a black thought crosses our mind! Appetite was the door of sin, and therefore in that point our Lord was put to pain. Exposition of the Gospel according to John by Hendriksen, William, 1900-1982 (1953) 526 pages 19 ratings 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. Amen. That man is a fool and deserves no pity, who purposely excites the disgust of other people. I cannot roll up into one word all the mass of sorrows which met upon the head of Christ who died for us, therefore it is impossible for me to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you now are. It is a blow at the fable of purgatory which strikes it to the heart. I am glad the world expects much from us, and watches us narrowly. Yes, he loves to be with his people; they are the garden where he walks for refreshment, and their love, their graces, are the milk and wine which he delights to drink. Will ye raise a clamor of tumultuous shouting? The Redeemer's cry of "I thirst" is a solemn lesson of patience to his afflicted. He derived spiritual refreshment from the winning of that women's heart to himself. Thirst is a common-place misery, such as may happen to peasants or beggars; it is a real pain, and not a thing of a fancy or a nightmare of dreamland. Beloved, let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon's, it is not our cross, but Christ's cross which we carry. Beloved, there is now upon our Master, and there always has been, a thirst after the love of his people. Every word, therefore, you see teaches us some grand fundamental doctrine of our blessed faith. Call to mind his complaint in the fifth chapter of Isaiah, "Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. What whips of steel for you, what knots of burning wire for you, when conscience shall smite you, when the law shall scourge you with its ten-thonged whip! Hail, everlasting King in heaven, thou dost admit to thy paradise whomsoever thou wilt! They force him without the walls, and are not satisfied till they have rid themselves of his obnoxious presence. Perhaps, dear sister, you carry about with you a gnawing disease which eats at your heart, but Jesus took our sicknesses, and his cup was more bitter than yours. 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. We can never forget the painful scenes of which we have been witness, when we have watched the dissolving of the human frame. 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. 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. A carnal appetite of the body, the satisfaction of the desire for food, first brought us down under the first Adam, and now the pang of thirst, the denial of what the body craved for, restores us to our place. Complain not, then. "I reckon that these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." I will give you one of his thirsty prayers "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." Rutherford used words somewhat to this effect, "I thirst for my Lord and this is joy; a joy which no man taketh from me. 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. Think of the millions in this dark world! As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. But such is not the truthful estimate of man according to the Scriptures: there man is a fallen creature, with a carnal mind which cannot be reconciled to God; a worse than brutish creature, rendering evil for good, and treating his God with vile ingratitude. And now, brethren, our blessed Lord has at this time a thirst for communion with each one of you who are his people, not because you can do him good, but because he can do you good. 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. Let this mind be in you also. Thirst is no royal grief, but an evil of universal manhood; Jesus is brother to the poorest and most humble of our race. Oh! So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. We are not sure that Simon was a disciple of Christ; he may have been a friendly spectator; yet one would think the Jews would naturally select a disciple if they could. John 19:16 . Holy Scripture remains the basis of our faith, established by every word and act of our Redeemer. 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. Will your Prince be decorated with honors? Remember, dear friends, that what Christ suffered for us, these unregenerate ones must suffer for themselves, except they put their trust in Christ. Hark how their loud voices demand that he should be hastened to execution! God forbid! He came to save, and man denied him hospitality: at the first there was no room for him at the inn, and at the last there was not one cool cup of water for him to drink; but when he thirsted they gave him vinegar to drink. He did not spare his Son the stripes. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. Let us exult as we see our Substitute going through with his work even to the bitter end, and then with a "Consummatum est" returning to his Father, God. and they smote him with their hands. 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. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. Brother, thirst to have your children save. But further, my brethren; this, I think, is the great lesson from Christ's being slaughtered without the gate of the city let us go forth, therefore, without the camp, bearing his reproach. Our Lord is the Maker of the ocean and the waters that are above the firmament: it is his hand that stays or opens the bottles of heaven, and sendeth rain upon the evil and upon the good. You may think that this remark is not needed; but I have met with one or two cases where it was required; and I have often said I would preach a sermon for even one person, and, therefore, I make this remark, even though it should rebuke but one. The platted crown of thorns, the purple robe, the reed with which they smote him, and the spittle with which they disfigured him, all these marked the contempt in which they held the King of the Jews. 'Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. There can be no shadow of doubt but that our Lord was really crucified, and no one substituted for him. Hate sin, and heartily loathe it; but thirst to be holy as God is holy, thirst to be like Christ, thirst to bring glory to his sacred name by complete conformity to his will. Henceforth, also, let us cultivate the spirit of resignation, for we may well rejoice to carry a cross which his shoulders have borne before us. It is not sorrow over Rome, but Jerusalem. Go ye, then, like the Master, expecting to be abused, to wear an ill-name, and to earn reproach; go ye, like him, without the camp. Now Christ standing in the stead of the ungodly suffers thirst as a type of his enduring the result of sin. 1. His great love makes him thirst to have us much nearer than we are; he will never be satisfied till all his redeemed are beyond gunshot of thee enemy. V. I close with THE SAVIOR'S WARNING QUESTION "If they do these things in the green tree, what will they do in the dry?". 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