- David prophesied that they would give Him vinegar to drink.
Prophesied: PSA 69:21
Fulfilled: MAT 27:34, MAT 27:48, JOH 19:28
Psalm 69:21 "They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink."
Matthew 27:34 "they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when He tasted it, He would not drink it."
In contrast to the apostle John, Matthew provides no detail about the process of the crucifixion itself.
Some of that is decency: crucifixion was considered so vile and hateful that it was rarely spoken of directly, or in mixed company.
Likely, Matthew's original readers were all too familiar with Roman crucifixion and didn't need Matthew to diagram it for them.
Roman crucifixion was one of the most painful, longest lasting, and shameful ways a person could be killed.
It was universally feared by Rome's enemies.
The process was at once an act of terror, torture, and cruel precision. A slow, excruciating process of suffocation.
With all the details we have gone into, those dying on the cross would naturally become terribly thirsty.
- David prophesied that they would give Him vinegar to drink.
Prophesied: PSA 69:21
Fulfilled: MAT 27:34, MAT 27:48, JOH 19:28
We just saw Psalm 69:21 and Matthew 27:34.
But we are also going to look at two more passages that we believe go along with this prophecy…
This is an exact message that we studied back in 2004, from my dad, our PT, which was titled:
Jesus Christ Thirsted On The Cross That We Might Never Thirst Again. PSA 69:21; Joh 19:28-30; Mat 27:33-34,48; 1Jo 1: 1-3; Heb 4:14-16; Luk 16:23-24; Rev 7:16, 22:17 These are some of the passages we will take a look at in this study.
This is going to be one of those messages where you may have questions but, if you pay enough attention, you will see those questions being answered as we move along.
Let’s begin with John 19:28:
JOH 19:28 "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already (notice that word “already”) been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, 'I am thirsty.'"
Our Lord says “I am thirsty”
The first principle we are going to see is that:
- His thirst was not just a desire for the relief of His body.
He had suffered for a while before this time, of course He would be thirsty.
However, His thirst was not just a desire for the relief of His body, but as this verse says, -- that the scripture might be fulfilled because the scripture says in Psalm 69:21
PSA 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Please notice that the vinegar is extended here and the prophecy is fulfilled.
What we also want you to notice is our 2nd principle:
Notice 2. Our Lord’s extreme self-control under the most horrifying circumstances.
We want to keep this in mind while we pursue this study, and we will see this prophecy is very pertinent to these principles.
Most Christians can’t handle their daily problems, their daily lives and it interferes with them taking in bible doctrine daily, coming to bible class and growing in God’s grace and knowledge.
And yet here is One who suffered for hours and hours and hours and notice His extreme self-control under the most horrifying circumstances.
We have definitely seen enough of our Lord’s suffering to recognize this principle through these prophecies.
By this time in John 19:28, He had hung on the cross for 6 hours, from 9am to 3pm, from 12-3 it was darkness.
During that darkness --- He had passed through underserved suffering -- like never before, and we will never comprehend it.
By the way remember in Luke 22:44 Before our Lord’s abuse by the hands of man, He had sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane the night before because of spiritual and demonic pressure, LUK 22:44.
So He was suffering even before the arrest, He knew what was coming, we can’t diminish that fact --- and I don’t want to get ahead of myself but I know that we will get so much more out of these principles --- if I point this out now and you keep in mind -- that -- We are talking about our Lord Jesus Christ the human being here.
He was human and that’s something that we have to get a grip on.
He was human just as we are human, every millisecond of every moment - of every hour - of every day - of every week - of every month - of every year - of every generation - of His short life, I will give you that, His earthly life was short, it was temporary, -- but What He went through as a HUMAN BEING during His earthly life - was for all of eternity --- for US!
In fact, if you study the gospel of John chapter 12 before the garden of gethsemane and before the Lord’s supper, He says My soul has become extremely troubled…
We just saw this word and we know why His soul was “agitated”, it was for His disciples because He knew that there was no way they could possibly understand what was happening, even after all the doctrine they were taught by Him, they understood very little of what was taking place at the time.
They didn’t understand it until after He suffered and rose again fulfilling the prophesies, that’s why John writes in his gospel JOH 19:28…in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, He said, 'I am thirsty.'"
So it wasn’t just the 6 hours on the cross and what took place during the arrest and the trial, --- He was suffering before the arrest, -- before the 6 trials that He went through, -- and then of course, before the suffering on the cross… (I believe we refer to all of this as “the passion”)
But don’t worry we are going to see “the victorious proclamation” and how that applies, by the end of this prophecy.
So, before His abuse by the hands of man, He had sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane the night before because of spiritual and demonic pressure.
In fact He was in so much agony we are told in Luke 22:43 that He prayed very fervently to God the Father and that God the Father had to send an angel to strengthen Him, an angel from heaven to strengthen Him, LUK 22:43.
Nevertheless, His mind, which is very interesting, remained perfectly clear, --- His memory entirely unimpaired.
He wasn’t messing around, -- He knew He would have to have a clear mind to fulfill these Messianic prophecies.
After going through all of this - He didn’t complain, - He didn’t say I’ve been through enough, after all, don’t forget --- by this time in John 19:28 (and also Matthew 27:48), the work has been finished.
I don’t want to get anyone confused, but we have 3 N.T. verses we are noting, and all 3 of them are in relation to Psalm 69:21, as well as some correlation to Psalm 22. (But our prophesy verse here is PSA 69:21)
Now in John 19:28 we know that the work is just about finished here, He has just come out of those 3 hours of darkness from 12pm-3pm.
He Our Lord is about to make that statement in John 19:30, using the Greek word tetelestai = entirely and fully completed in this moment: "It is finished." --
--He’s already suffered the divine judgement of God, ---during that darkness, - no complaints, - no murmuring, - no making excuses, - no saying it’s too much to bear, --- His mind remained perfectly clear.
He was beaten up beyond human recognition – and yet -He had perfect control of His senses.
He knew the entire scope of the Messianic prophecies and He overlooked - nothing.
Our Lord knew what was about to take place and He even suffered before it took place.
He truly had that PHI 4:7 mental attitude, that spiritual peace and prosperity from the source of the God, which surpasses or rises above and beyond all comprehension.
And by the way, this is the mental attitude we are told to have within us.
Let us have this mental attitude, that spiritual peace and prosperity that comes from the God, -- which surpasses or rises above and beyond all comprehension.
Notice this phrase “rises above” because every day when you have problems, you have the opportunity to rise above the problems.
Every day when something goes wrong -- you have the opportunity to rise above that which is going wrong.
You can stay down there with the details of life, you can complain, you can murmur, you can pace the floor, you can toss back and forth late at night because your worried and concerned and you don’t know how things are going to work out… -- and that is because your living under the circumstances of life, your living under the sun, ---
or you can rise above those situations and have that PHI 4:7 mental attitude that rises above and beyond all human comprehension.
And of course that means that you have the opportunity to RISE ABOVE your circumstances -- or allow your circumstances to drag you down.
And what pettiness or what an insult it is to our Lord and Savior, -- to let the little problems in life drag us down after all He went through -- so that-- we can -- rise above, and more importantly so that we can have eternal life.
Now back to JOH 19:28, and we are going to read to verse 30:
JOH 19:28 "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already (notice that word “already”) been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, 'I am thirsty.'" Notice that all things had “already” been accomplished, - (this is a phrase that keeps sticking out in our minds).
He had already accomplished all things.
Notice also - at this time, our Lord is still thinking about scripture, He still has His mind on the prophesies, of Psalm 69:21, and the one mentioned in Psalm 22.
In order that the scripture might be fulfilled, notice - He said “I am thirsty”
JOH 19:29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
JOH 19:30 Therefore when Jesus had received (notice that word received) the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Again, tetelestai = entirely and fully completed.
No further work needs to be done, nor can it be done, TIT 3:5.
There is no room for other actions, rituals, sacraments, sacrifices, or payments to accomplish salvation, 1PE 3:18; HEB 10:12-14.
(This is where we have to pay attention in order to avoid confusion)
Notice the word “received” That verb for “received” in John 19:30, means He didn’t just taste it and spit it out as He did on another occasion, in MAT 27:34, He received the sour wine, He actually tasted it and swallowed it.
Now here is where something very important comes in and some of you may already be asking this in your minds.
This act recorded in JOH 19:28 must be carefully distinguished from the one mentioned in MAT 27:34, JOH 19:28 being the same one found in MAT 27:48.
JOH 19:28 and MAT 27:48 are the same recorded act and they come after the first act recorded earlier in MAT 27:34.
So, we have Matthew recording the first act in MAT 27:34, and then we have both Matthew and John recording the second act, simultaneously in MAT 27:48 and JOH 19:28.
These are two different acts, and they seem to be saying the same thing but they are not.
Again, we have two actions here, we have the one found in John 19:28 and the one found in Matthew 27:48 and they are one and the same, and then we also have Matthew 27:34, that is the first one and that one is totally different than John 19:28 and Matthew 27:48.
Repetition is good!
Did I make that clear enough?
Let’s look at the first one found in Matthew 27:34 so we can make sure we have this down pat.
Beginning with verse 33:
MAT 27:33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,
MAT 27:34 they gave Him wine mixed with gall to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it. He did not receive this one.
Notice that the first drink of wine was mixed with something called gall and He refused to drink it.
Gall was a bitter poison to speed up or accelerate the speed of death.
It was for the purpose of deadening pain.
And our Lord did - not - want to have His pain deadened.
Our Lord refused, listen to me carefully, the medication (ladies if you have ever been in labor pains, you may relate to a bit of this experience because at that time we are offered medication to numb some of the pain and there are some ladies who refuse this medication, I am not one of them, if you are one of them – I admire your courage)
Because He knew the medication would have deadened His senses and hindered His ability to fulfill the plan of God and have a clear mind, our Lord refused the drink here.
There is nothing wrong with medication, -- but when medication is hindering your walk in the plan of God, -- there is then everything wrong with that medication.
So we know that sometime between MAT 27:34 and MAT 27:48 that those 3 hours of darkness took place.
Please notice in Matthew 27:48, this is after verse 34 and this is after the 3 hours of darkness:
MAT 27:48 And immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine (please notice the absence of gall) and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.
Here He accepted the wine in obedience to the Father’s will.
So think about it The One who said –
JOH 7:37 “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink”
– was Himself thirsty.
And by the way, why is thirst used?
Because Thirst represents the result of sin.
That’s why our Lord said in Luke 16:24, He taught LUK 16:24 The rich man cried out and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.”
And if the Lord had not thirsted for us, every-one of us would have an eternal thirst forever, that eternal thirst has to do with being separated from God.
Our sinful tongues would have burned forever had not our Lord’s tongue been tormented with thirst. remember this the next time you enter into the sins of the tongue.
What a shocking - vicious - wicked thing the sins of the tongue are, I mean mental attitude sins are bad enough but sins of the tongue -- they come out and they are part of God’s top seven sins, -- but they are motivated by mental attitude sins.
So when someone has a problem with the sins of the tongue they also have a problem with their mental attitude, because the mental attitude motivates the sins of the tongue.
If you can stop the mental attitude sins than you can stop the sins of the tongue.
We have a policy in our family, if it is going to cause you to sin, we avoid it as much as we possibly can.
We don’t go looking for it, we don’t go sticking our noses into it.
For example, if you have an issue with someone or the way someone is doing something, you don’t go looking at their facebook or social media to try to find out what’s going on with them in hopes to find something that you can go back and tell so and so only to make your own sick heart feel better, because that is not the remedy…
At least that is not the remedy that Christ provided through His work on the cross… and that is not the remedy that our pastor teaches us to use.
This is how we allow garbage into our soul and then the mental attitude sins come into play (garbage in) and then the sins of the tongue come into play (garbage out) because you have to tell everyone you think cares -- and tempt them into coming along with you on your “garbage scavenger hunt”.
Listen, if you have people in your life like that – you need to use the doctrine of separation…and step away from that.
If you are that person than you need to take a self-examination and forget about who is right and who is wrong, whose listening to who, or what so and so has to say about this matter or that…
You need to rebound and recover from that, separate yourself from those things that make your heart sick and hand them over to the Supreme Court of Heaven!
Don’t go looking for it, and if we happen to just nonchalantly come across it, don’t go sticking our noses into it.
So, our sinful tongues would have burned forever had our Lord’s tongue Not been tormented with thirst.
Now it’s interesting to note that The shortest of all statements that our Lord made from the cross is JOH 19:28, “I thirst.”(It’s not John 19:30 it is finished, because it is one word Dipso – thirst.)
”I thirst” = Dipso – Diyw = the only statement in which our Lord referred to His body and His physical suffering.
It’s the only statement our Lord referred to His body and His physical suffering, all the other statements He did not refer to His body or His physical suffering.
This “thirst” is for us.
This simple word “thirst” was for you and I.
This one word reveals to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we see His love in a deeper way.
That word reveals that He is doing something for us.
He has just already satisfied God the Father and the judgement of God the Father, but He wanted us to know something:
Our Lord wanted us to know the result of being separated from God is being thirsty.
That’s why our Lord Jesus Christ said in JOH 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
Now when we hear the Lord say I thirst, in this very short statement, we have 3 portraits of our Lord to focus in on:
- The suffering Son of Man.
- The obedient Servant of God.
- The loving Savior of sinners.
(Please turn to 1 John 1, not the gospel but the epistle of John.)
In the first portrait - the suffering Son of Man, we have the fact that:
This phrase I thirst tells us something about Jesus Christ that many will say big deal, but there’s a lot of people who don’t understand it, He was truly human, many people take that for granted.
This phrase I thirst tells us Jesus Christ was truly human just as He is truly God.
Only man can thirst, deity does not get thirsty - nor does deity get hungry, - deity has no needs whatsoever.
Jesus Christ was truly man - so don’t ever deny His humanity and don’t ever diminish it either.
We have allot of liberal theologians who deny His deity today and they deceive many.
Jehovah’s Witnesses deny His deity, Mormons deny His deity, the Hindus, the Buddhist, the Muslims, etc.… obviously the atheist deny His deity… (and my dad had a great joke at the beginning of this message from 2004, maybe I will share it with you. It was April 1, 2004 and it was a good one about atheist.)
However, in the early church there was no question about the deity of Christ, - they had questions about His humanity but not His deity.
In fact this was one of the reasons 1 John was written:
1Jo was written to reaffirm, once again, the fact that Jesus Christ was truly man as well as truly God.
Let’s read 1JO 1:1-3
1 John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life
1JO 1:2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us
1JO 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
And of course Jesus Christ was born as a baby, He grew up as a child and as a youth, He ate, He drank, He became weary, He became tired, discouraged, He had to sleep, He felt pain, He wept, He died.
All of those experiences belong to humanity and they are the sinless experiences of humanity.
Weeping is a sinless experience of humanity, being discouraged is a sinless experience of humanity, when your being excessively troubled that’s a part of sinless humanity, but when you let it control you and get you out of fellowship that’s when it becomes sinful.
Jesus Christ experienced all of these experiences a human can experience, and He did so sinlessly.
But remember Hebrews 7:26 tells us that Jesus Christ who is our High Priest is said to be HEB 7:26 holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.
It makes sense that God's ultimate plan for our salvation would involve a high priest who is eternal, exalted, and without sin.
This verse summarizes the overall point, our 3rd principle, that 3. Jesus is the perfect, complete fulfillment of God's promised role of high priest.
Jesus is "holy," meaning "set apart" (JOH 6:69).
He is "innocent" and "unstained" by sin (2CO 5:21).
He is "separated" from sinners, in the sense that He was tempted without falling into sin (HEB 4:15).
And, Jesus is "exalted" by God (PHI 2:9).
Further in HEB 10 HEB 10:10, "By this will, (the will of God the Father) we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time." Keep in mind that word sanctified.
God's plan was always to use O.T. sacrifices as a temporary measure, pointing towards the eventual ministry of the Messiah.
PSA 40:6-8 was quoted to show how God's intent for His will involves a physical body, not offerings.
PSA 40:6 You have not desired sacrifice and meal offering; You have opened my ears; (remember digging ears)
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
PSA 40:7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is written of me in the scroll of the book.
PSA 40:8 I delight to do Your will, my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40 was quoted to show that God Himself contrasted offerings and sacrifices with the use of a "body" to accomplish His will.
The work Jesus did on the cross, then, becomes the fulfillment of that promise.
Earlier passages in HEB 9:8-10 point out that:
Animal sacrifices could never fully cleanse man from sin, nor could they change us from the inside (HEB 9:8-10).
HEB 8:7-9 - The new covenant which God promised was to be in each person's heart and mind.
PSA 40:8 … Your Law is within my heart.”
Animal blood was only able to atone for ceremonial issues, not to solve our deepest problems of sin.
Jesus' sacrifice, on the other hand, obtains what animal blood never could.
Instead of being offered over and over, Jesus was sacrificed "once for all."
In fact HEB 10:1-2 tells us If animal sacrifices could have obtained that salvation, there would have been no need to repeat them, HEB 10:1-2.
The very fact that priests offered the same sacrifices over and over was proof that God never intended them to fully pay for sin. Why would they have to be repeated?
Our "sanctification" comes only by the blood of Christ, not the sacrifice of animals.
The term "sanctification" here is from the Greek word hēgiasmenoi, (HEY-GIAS - MOE-NIA) which is also translated as "made holy."
We are made holy through the literal blood of Jesus.
The context here is important.
While the Bible often speaks of a lifelong, progressive growth in holiness—often referred to as "sanctification"—the topic at hand here is salvation.
The writer of Hebrews is currently speaking of the difference between temporary, repeated animal sacrifices, and the single, perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
The context, then, indicates that This reference to "sanctification" is a reference to our salvation from eternal judgment, not our spiritual growth in Christ.
HEB 10:14 "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." He has made us holy through His work on the cross.
Reminds me of what we just noted with Caiaphas, the (supposedly) high priest of Jerusalem who sent Jesus to Pilate for His execution, when he said in JOH 11:50 … it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.'"
The use of the term "perfected" here, in HEB 10:14, should be taken as a reference to maturity and completion.
This is not a reference to sinlessness, since even Jesus—who had no sin (HEB 4:15)—is said to be "perfected" in a sense by God as He performed the Father's will (HEB 2:10).
Instead, this echoes the idea presented in Hebrews 7:25: that Christ's sacrifice can do, completely, what the animal sacrifices of the old covenant could only do partially.
So, He was a perfect Man.
Jesus Christ is the suffering Son of Man.
When our Lord Jesus was on the cross, He felt the depths of suffering, both physical suffering and spiritual suffering and that was all a part of Him identifying with us.
He refused to drink the wine that was mingled with gall because He did not want His senses to be stupefied in any way.
Sometimes we look at someone who may be going through some pain and suffering, or they look discouraged or maybe even depressed and we think that is living in sin, - they are under divine discipline, - that is NOT living in sin, that’s a part of being human.
It’s when they let these things drag them down and control their life and take them away from the fellowship of God that it is then sin controlling their lives.
Jesus Christ did not feel good when He hung dying on the cross, -- when He was being punched in the face, scourged, whipped, mocked, ridiculed and going through all of that undeserved suffering.
Which brings out our 4th principle 4. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross, was in perfect control of His faculties; He did not seek to escape pain in any way.
The high priest in the old testament were warned about something when they went inside the tabernacle or the temple. And this is not saying do not drink alcohol ever, or that drinking alcohol is a sin.
LEV 10:8-9 The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when (notice that word “when” it does not say ever, it says when) you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die – it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations”
The reason for this - was because The high priesthood pointed toward the Messiah and He would not do anything to dull His senses.
He did not want to be identified with anything humanly possible that would make it easier for Him.
Jesus Christ is the suffering Son of Man.
As the Son of God He lived a certain way, --- as the Son of Man He lived another.
Our 5th point: 5. Jesus Christ is able to empathize completely with us, to identify with our pain and our need and our hurt.
And - If I am going to have the mind of Christ, I better be able to identify with other people, -- not put them down in their pain - and their need - and their suffering, -- and then tell other people about their pain - and their need - and their hurt…
Hebrews 4:14-16 talks about our Lord’s high priesthood:
HEB 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession.
HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.
We have a High Priest who experienced our thirst and He quenched our thirst…
Some people think that because He was Jesus - the Son of God, -- that He didn’t truly suffer as a human would.
Let me tell you something, His temptations were way beyond our temptations.
And here is what we are to do in HEB 4:16 HEB 4:16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need. It doesn’t say let’s approach the situation and try to solve our problems on our own…
You see, He did not want anything to stop Him from identifying with us, He wanted us to know that we too can have this very same confidence approaching the throne of grace.
- Our Lord Jesus Christ, to become our merciful High Priest, endured that suffering and paid the full price.
- Our Lord, the suffering Son of Man, who cried, “I thirst,” has identified Himself with our every need.
That should encourage us to go on, encourage us to pray, to pick up our cross and keep moving forward in the plan of God.
Don’t let the viciousness of others, the criticism, the judgmental attitude of others drag you down and interfere with your life, your walk or “your work” in the plan of God.
Whatever your dealing with in life, good or bad, -- keep in mind that -- God made the choice to place your soul in your human body, dispensation and geographical location because He knew your heart.
No matter how many times you have failed you can go to Him, by means of the Holy Spirit, you can go to the throne of Grace and receive mercy.
No matter how many times… it doesn’t mean that there are no consequences but He will give us enough grace to get through them.
Mercy is for your past mistakes, grace is now for your present and your future.
In the 2nd portrait, our prophesy verse peaks out:
The second portrait we see in the words “I thirst” is that of the obedient servant of God.
Please turn to PHI 2
Everything our Lord did was in obedience to God.
When our Lord hung on the cross His physical strength was drained right out of Him.
One of the things Psalm 69:20 says isPSA 69:20 Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick.
PSA 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
The gall He refused but the vinegar is that which He drank.
If you do a study on Psalm 69 you will see a portrait of Jesus Christ as the suffering Son Savior and the obedient Servant of God.
Our Lord was more concerned with fulfilling the will of God than to satisfy His own needs.
Ask yourself that question, Are you more concerned with fulfilling the will of God, honoring God, using your time talent and treasure to glorify God or are you more concerned with your physical needs? That’s a question we all have to answer and maybe more often than most, for some of us…
Jesus Christ made this statement in JOH 4:34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.”
Food is meant to refresh and recharge to body.
A body which does not consume the right kinds of food will be weak, ineffective, and sickly.
On the other hand, eating a good meal provides the body with energy and strength.
Spiritually speaking, the "food" of our spirit is the will of God.
Jesus was tired and weary from a long journey in John 4:6. And yet, simply following the will of God gave Him a spiritual boost.
This makes sense when we consider the idea of God as the Creator, and He is.
If we are created for a purpose, which we are, and that purpose is the will of God, which it is, then it makes sense that we feel best when we're accomplishing that purpose.
Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 when being tempted by Satan in Matthew chapter 4.
His comment then was that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God", MAT 4:4.
There is more to our lives than simply keeping the physical body running; we have a purpose beyond this world.
We can't feel "right" unless we're living out that purpose. We can't help but feel refreshed when we've made progress on behalf of the One who created us.
So When we see the words “I thirst” we should be reminded to do the will of God and be the obedient servants of God.
Many times we read in the bible that -- He does or says this -- so that the scriptures would be fulfilled.
Our Lord was more concerned about fulfilling prophecy than He was about His own human concerns.
For example, I have a few questions for us: Why was He born in Bethlehem? Because it fulfilled prophecy:
MIC 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
Why did He go down to Egypt? Because it fulfilled prophecy:
MAT 2:15 and was there until the death of Herod, that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt did I call My Son.”
Why did our Lord move to Nazareth? Because it fulfilled prophecy:
MAT 2:23 and came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Why did He do all these things? Because He was obeying the will of God.
That’s why we read in PHI 2:8 In fact, although having being discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of spiritual death, that is the death of the cross. (btw, this is my dad’s corrected translation)
Again Why did He do all these things? Because He was the obedient Servant of God.
The most important thing in the life of Jesus Christ was to know what the will of God was and to do it.
--- And He turns around and says Be an imitator of Me, at least 10 times in the N.T. 1PE 2:21; PHI 2:3-8; 2 CO 3:18; JOH 13:12-15, 13:34, 15:9-11; 1CO 11:1; 1JO 2:6; EPH 4:32; COL 3:13
It is NOT an impossibility!!!
Jesus Christ came down to earth to show us just that!!!
That’s why the apostle Paul says EPH 6:6 doing the will of God from the heart. Imitate the obedient Servant of God.
So, we have noted 1. The suffering Son of Man.
- The obedient servant of God.
Now we have The third portrait – 3.The loving Savior of sinners. this is the one we will close with.
Jesus was thirsty - to be sure, - because of the physical agony that He was experiencing,
but I want to remind you that He had just come through those 3 hours of darkness when even the sun had veiled its face, it was completely dark and it was in that time of darkness when He cried out in MAT 27:46 …“Eli, Eli, lema sabaktanei?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
And when the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin FOR US, He completed that great transaction for our salvation, He endured our hell as it where!
Remember Hell is a place of outer darkness as we have seen in MAT 8:12, our Lord experienced darkness for us.
Why? Why did He do this for us? Because of Love!!!
And I don’t know about you, but - THIS - is the kind of love that gives me chills!!! Gives me the fuzzy wuzzies in my belly and gives me the desire to push through the problems in my life!
Remember this love, every day as you live out your life, this is true love, this is the love that surpasses all other love, this is the love that we are to imitate.
It’s like that feeling you get when you first fall in love with your right man or right woman and every time the phone rings you jump up because it just might be him or her, well the phone is ringing and guess what?
Its defiantly Jesus calling you on the line Because His love - is the love that took our place through hell.
We should be able to look unto Christ, the Author and Finisher or our faith and that should serve as our motivation based up that word love.
Hell is described as a place of torment,
LUK 16:28, our Lord was tormented for us.
He was tormented much more during those 3 hours of darkness than He was any other time, including the 6 trials before the cross.
We don’t even have the ability to comprehend this kind of torment.
Hell is a place of unspeakable misery indicated by MAT 25:41, our Lord went through that for us.
Don’t wait until it’s too late, don’t be the rich man
in LUK 16:23 And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
LUK 16:24 And he cried out and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.”
People that are in that place of judgement right now, do you know they are saying?
Yes it is a very sad thing to think about but people who rejected Christ as their Lord and Savior, are in that place of judgment right now.
It’s the very same place that people go to now, it’s not the very same place that believers would go to like they did back in Luke 16, - that’s why the rich man saw Abraham and Lazurus…
that’s a different place that they went to until Christ opened up a passage way into heaven,
- that’s where the victorious proclamation comes in,
that’s what they did after Jesus Christ died physically when He went into the ground for 3 days and 3 nights, --He didn’t just lie in the tomb and take a nap or a sabot, --
He went down into the ground, by means of the Holy Spirit, - in an interim body, - and He taught and He communicated the victorious proclamation
and He led all the Old Testament saints out of Hades and into Heaven.
That took place right after what many celebrate as good Friday today, but we know it’s not good Friday anyways its good Wednesday if you want to be accurate and I happen to like to be accurate (but that’s another story)
What happened is He took all of those people, O.T.S., to Heaven but the people left behind were in this place called Hades the place of torment, that’s where they still go and stay until they have their own resurrection, -- all unbelievers are raised from the dead too -- when they stand before God.
The fact of the matter is they are thirsting.
They are thirsting just like the rich man did in Luke 16:24, we don’t thirst as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, -- He thirsted for us, - that comes from the phrase “I thirst” and hell is a place of eternal thirst - and please don’t just think of the physical thirst, - think of the mental and spiritual and soulish thirst.
It’s a place of eternal thirst where people will thirst endlessly and never be satisfied.
They will thirst for their family, for their loved ones, for reality, and satisfaction but their thirst will never be quenched.
Our 8th and final point 8. As the loving Savior of sinners - the Lord Jesus Christ thirsted for us, so that we would never have to thirst again.
And when it comes to thirst let’s bring in the cups, these are the cups of Calvary:
- The cup of charity – they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh, an opium to deaden His pain, but He rejected it, MAR 15:23.
- The cup of mockery – the soldiers offered Him sour wine –
LUK 23:36 And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,
- The cup of sympathy –
somebody put some vinegar on a sponge and lifted it to His dry lips, JOH 19:29.
And then the greatest cup of all was
- The cup of iniquity.
He said in the Garden, “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink of it?” JOH 18:11.
Have you ever traced the word water in the gospel of John?
For example in Joh 2 – our Lord turned water into wine. They ran out of wine, because everything the world has eventually runs out.
The world cannot supply what you need.
It can deceive you into thinking that it can supply your needs but it will run out.
We can spend a lot of money and a lot of time, and a lot of treasure going to the world for a cup to satisfy your thirst. It’s never going to satisfy your thirst…
Young people learn from us older people, we have been there and done that.
Everything the world has to offer runs out…
In Joh 4 – Jesus said to that woman at the well, “If you drink of this water, you’ll thirst again; if you drink of the water that I’m going to give you, you’ll never thirst again,” JOH 4:13-14. She was a Samaritan woman, half Jewish half Gentile.
The world, sin, evil - never quenches our thirst - what it does do is - it makes the desire even stronger and satisfaction even weaker.
So that in eternity the desire is at its highest strength and the satisfaction is at its weakest element.
It’s worse than the worst thing we could ever imagine.
At the Feast of Tabernacles, our Lord cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink,” JOH 7:37.
We go back to that word “thirst” again -- and what was He referring to?
He was referring to that rock in the Old Testament that was smitten by the Jews and that Rock refers to our Lord JC smitten on the cross.
It’s interesting that the bible teaches that there is NO thirst in heaven, REV 7.
There is no thirst in heaven, why? -- Because Someone already quenched our thirst for us…
REV 7:16 - talking about those who are in heaven and have eternal life.
REV 7:16 They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat;
REV 7:17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
They only desire we will have is to get to know Him!
And then in REV 22:17 - the Spirit and the bride say something:
REV 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the water of life without cost.
So The question today is not, “Do you thirst?” -- Because all mankind has a thirst for reality, - a thirst for God, - a thirst for forgiveness.
The real question is “How long are you going to thirst?”
For this original message from Pastor McLaughlin you can visit: https://gbible.org/daily-message/jesus-christ-thirsted-cross-might-never-thirst-psa-6921-joh-1928-30-mat-2733-3448-1jo-1-1-3-heb-414-16-luk-1623-24-rev-716-2217/