Holy Scripture remains the basis of our faith, established by every word and act of our Redeemer. See, brethren, where sin begins, and mark that there it ends. Cover it with a cloak? Those once highly favored people of God who cursed themselves with, "His blood be upon us and upon our children," ought to make us mourn when we think of their present degradation. Today! "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." In the fourth place, one or two words upon CHRIST'S FELLOW-SUFFERERS. One word: transformation. Your noble Prince is preparing for his marriage: mine is hastening to his doom. 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. 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. The nails were fastened in the most sensitive parts of the body, and the wounds were widened as the weight of his body dragged the nails through his blessed flesh, and tore his tender nerves. The Via Dolorosa, as the Romanists call it, is a long street at the present time, but it may have been but a few yards. He loved the Gentile, but still Jerusalem was the city of the Great King. "It is finished" is the last word but one, and there you see the perfected Saviour, the Captain of our salvation, who has completed the undertaking upon which he had entered, finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in ever lasting righteousness. 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. Mark you, the ransom of men was all paid by Christ; that was redemption by price. As for yourselves, thirst after perfection. He had no sooner said "I thirst," and sipped the vinegar, than he shouted, "It is finished"; and all was over: the battle was fought and the victory won for ever, and our great Deliverer's thirst was the sign of his having smitten the last foe. Justice must fly the field lest it be severe to so deserving a being; as for punishment, it must not be whispered to his ears polite. "I thirst," is his human body tormented by grievous pain. They force him without the walls, and are not satisfied till they have rid themselves of his obnoxious presence. What doth he say? We read, "The soldiers also mocked him, offering him vinegar." 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 cup of which thou art made to drink, though it be very bitter, bears the mark of his lips about its brim. They are these Weep not because the Savior bled, but because your sins made him bleed. 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. Think, dear friends, there are some in this congregation who as yet have no interest in Jesu's blood, some sitting next to you, your nearest friends who, if they were now to close their eyes in death, would open them in hell! Do not let us forget the infinite distance between the Lord of glory on his throne and the Crucified dried up with thirst. 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." Believing this, let us tenderly feel how very near akin to us our Lord Jesus has become. I cannot give you more than a mere taste of this rich subject, but I have been most struck with two ways of regarding our Lord's last words. It came from the parched lips of the Divine Victim towards the close of his agony, and after the darkness which endured from the sixth to the ninth hour. What but for the juice of the vine that he might be refreshed? 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. May we not be half ashamed of our pleasures when he says, "I thirst"? And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. Add to Cart. I like to think of our Lord's saying, "It is finished," directly after he had exclaimed, "I thirst"; for these two voices come so naturally together. Do we not see here the truth of that which was set forth in shadow by the scape-goat? If we be true to our Master we shall soon lose the friendship of the world. As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. 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. There is a fulness of meaning in each utterance which no man shall be able fully to bring forth, and when combined they make up a vast deep of thought, which no human line can fathom. 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. You do suffer. Let all your love be his. I claim for the procession of my Lord an interest superior to the pageant you are now so anxiously expecting. Metaphorically understood, thirst is dissatisfaction, the craving of the mind for something which it has not, but which it pines for. I cannot think that natural thirst was all he felt. Let this mind be in you also. Next Saturday all eyes will be fixed on a great Prince who shall ride through our streets with his Royal Bride. We used to melt when we heard about his sufferings, but we did not turn from our sins. Oh I raise the question, and be not satisfied unless you can answer it most positively in the affirmative. "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." John 19:30. He is exiled from their friendship, too. III. But ye ask me where is the spouse, the king's daughter fair and beautiful? Methinks Death thought it a splendid triumph when he saw the Master impaled and bleeding in the dominions of destruction; little did he know that the grave was to be rifled, and himself destroyed, by that crucified Son of man. 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. According to modern thought man is a very fine and noble creature, struggling to become better. Our Lord in his death-cries, as in all else, was perfection itself. His most fruitful years of ministry were at the New Park Street and later the Metropolitan Tabernacle pulpit in London. While thus we admire his condescension let our thoughts also turn with delight to his sure sympathy: for if Jesus said, "I thirst," then he knows all our frailties and woes. Oh! He died in less time than persons crucified commonly did. Angels cannot suffer thirst. Then came, "Women, behold thy son!" Will ye raise a clamor of tumultuous shouting? It is the empty cup placed under the flowing stream; the penniless hand held out for heavenly alms." . We would fain lift thy name on high in grateful remembrance of the depths to which thou didst descend! Well, beloved, the cross we have to carry is only for a little while at most. Beloved, can you say he carried your sin? The extreme tension produced a burning feverishness. There are many other ways in which these words might be read, and they would be found to be all full of instruction. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Remember how Paul said, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. The woes which broke the Savior's heart must crush theirs. And said, Hail, King of the Jews!_ We are to reckon upon all this, and should the worst befal us, it is to be no strange thing to us. To-day I invite your attention to another Prince, marching in another fashion through his metropolis. "And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes," vinegar, and not wine; sourness, and not sweetness. I will not say it is because we are unfaithful to our Master that the world is more kind to us, but I half suspect it is, and it is very possible that if we were more thoroughly Christians the world would more heartily detest us, and if we would cleave more closely to Christ we might expect to receive more slander, more abuse, less tolerance, and less favor from men. I am ashamed of some professed Christians, heartily ashamed of them! Your Prince is surrounded by a multitude of friends; hark how they joyously welcome him! 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." Conservative, but not too much depth. John 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged 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. John 19:16 . Ah, that I cannot tell, except his own great love. (1-3) Jesus enters the garden, followed by Judas and his troops. Beloved, if our Master said, "I thirst," do we expect every day to drink of streams from Lebanon? Christ comes forth from Pilate's hall with the cumbrous wood upon his shoulder, but through weariness he travels slowly, and his enemies urgent for his death, and half afraid, from his emaciated appearance, that he may die before he reaches the place of execution, allow another to carry his burden. Jesus said, "I thirst," and this is the complaint of a man. Shall carnal appetites be indulged and bodies pampered when Jesus cried :I thirst"? . This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. 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. 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." O thou blessed Master, if we are indeed nailed up to the tree with thee, give us a thirst after thee with a thirst which only the cup of "the new covenant in thy blood" can ever satisfy. And they asked him, What then? "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. London shall see the glory of the one: Jerusalem beheld the shame of the other. Trust in the Son of God and you shall never die. Every word, therefore, you see teaches us some grand fundamental doctrine of our blessed faith. Let there be nothing but your religion to object to, and then if that offends them let them be offended, it is a cross which you must carry joyfully. I show unto you a more excellent way. 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. I have heard sermons, and studied works by Romish writers upon the passion and agony, which have moved me to copious tears, but I am not clear that all the emotion was profitable. Let us now gaze for awhile upon CHRIST CARRYING HIS CROSS. A phantom, as some have called him, could not suffer in his fashion: but Jesus really suffered, not only the more refined pains of delicate and sensitive minds, but the rougher and commoner pangs of flesh and blood. A new edition of Spurgeon's classic devotional using the ESV. No blood but that which He has spilt, no groans but those which came from His heart, no suffering but that which was endured by Him, can ever make a recompense for sin. That little rising ground, which perhaps was called Golgotha, the place of a skull, from its somewhat resembling the crown of a man's skull, was the common place of execution. Therefore while he thirsts give him to drink this day. Oh! Yonder young Prince is ruddy with the bloom of early youth and health; my Master's visage is more marred than that of any man. See how man at his best mingles admiration of the Saviour's person with scorn of his claims; writing books to hold him up as an example and at the same moment rejecting his deity; admitting that he was a wonderful man, but denying his most sacred mission; extolling his ethical teaching and then trampling on his blood: thus giving him drink, but that drink vinegar. These are silken days, and religion fights not so stern a battle. You young believers, who have lately followed Christ, should father and mother forsake you, remember you were bidden to reckon upon it; should brothers and sisters deride, you must put this down as part of the cost of being a Christian. May the Holy Spirit often lead us to glean therein. Let us muse upon the fact that Jesus was conducted without the gates of the city. Commentators like Thomas Manton and John Calvin are represented in this series. (6) John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, " It is finished! When you are molested for your piety; when your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings upon you; then remember, it is not your cross, it is Christ's cross; and how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus? Such a greeting had the Lord of glory, but alas, it was not the shout of welcome, but the yell of "Away with him! I have shown you, believer, your position; let me now show you your service. Come hither, ye lovers of Immanuel, and I will show you this great sight the King of sorrow marching to his throne of grief, the cross. 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. There were two other cross-bearers in the throng; they were malefactors; their crosses were just as heavy as the Lord's, and yet, at least, one of them had no sympathy with him, and his bearing the cross only led to his death, and not to his salvation. Charles Haddon Spurgeon December 1, 1861 Scripture: John 19:30 From: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 7 It is Finished! Have we not often given him vinegar to drink? No man dare call him friend now, or whisper a word of comfort to him. 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. All this is a blessed clog upon us, and a means of keeping us more near the Lord. C.H. In the same song he speaks of his church, and says, "The roof of thy mouth is as the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak." London shall see the glory of the one: Jerusalem beheld the shame of the other. Alas poor African, thou hast been compelled to carry the cross even until now. I. This is man's treatment of his Saviour. _Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. Have you repented of sin? 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! For his sake we may rejoice in self-denials, and accept Christ and a crust as all we desire between here and heaven. But what shall be your cry when you shall say, "Good God! It is a blow at the fable of purgatory which strikes it to the heart. I know he loves to receive from you, because he delights even in a cup of cold water that you give to one of his disciples; how much more will he delight in the giving of your whole self to him? Did I not describe last Sabbath the knotted scourges which fell upon the Saviours back? Was not the Redeemer led thither to aggravate his shame? The words, "I thirst," are a common voice in death chambers. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. Though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it gave him lasting honor. The voice of sympathy prevailed over the voice of scorn. By contrast, the Christian faith is built on the . He must love his chosen whom he has once begun to love, for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 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. 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