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Spurgeon on Jesus’ cry: “I thirst.”

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20131017_ithirst

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.“- Jhn 19:28 KJV

Earlier this week, someone tweeted the following:

Benjamin makes a great point. It’s a sermon worth reading. In the sermon, Spurgeon expounds upon a short phrase in John 19. It is one the cries of Jesus at Calvary: “I thirst.” In this short cry, we see something of Jesus’ humanity and suffering. Here is an excerpt from this sermon:

We shall by the assistance of the Holy Spirit try to regard these words of our Saviour in a five-fold light. First, we shall look upon them as THE ENSIGN OF HIS TRUE HUMANITY. Jesus said, “I thirst,” and this is the complaint of a man.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. “The sea is his, and he made it,” and all fountains and springs are of his digging. 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.

One would have said, If he were thirsty he would not tell us, for all the clouds and rains would be glad to refresh his brow, and the brooks and streams would joyously flow at his feet. 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.” How truly man he is; he is, indeed, “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,” for he bears our infirmities. I invite you to meditate upon the true humanity of our Lord very reverently, and very lovingly. Jesus was proved to be really man, because he suffered the pains which belong to manhood. Angels cannot suffer thirst. 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.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. Thirst is no royal grief, but an evil of universal manhood; Jesus is brother to the poorest and most humble of our race. Our Lord, however, endured thirst to an extreme degree, for it was the thirst of death which was upon him, and more, it was the thirst of one whose death was not a common one, for “he tasted death for every man.“

That thirst was caused, perhaps, in part by the loss of blood, and by the fever created by the irritation caused by his four grievous wounds. 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 extreme tension produced a burning feverishness. It was pain that dried his mouth and made it like an oven, till he declared, in the language of the twenty-second psalm, “My tongue cleaveth to my jaws.” It was a thirst such as none of us have ever known, for not yet has the death dew condensed upon our brows. We shall perhaps know it in our measure in our dying hour, but not yet, nor ever so terribly as he did. 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. Jesus, being a man, escaped none of the ills which are allotted to man in death. He is indeed “Immanuel, God with us” everywhere.

Believing this, let us tenderly feel how very near akin to us our Lord Jesus has become.

You have been ill, and you have been parched with fever as he was, and then you too have gasped out “I thirst.” Your path runs hard by that of your Master. 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. 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? 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 words, “I thirst,” are a common voice in death chambers. We can never forget the painful scenes of which we have been witness, when we have watched the dissolving of the human frame. Some of those whom we loved very dearly we have seen quite unable to help themselves; the death sweat has been upon them, and this has been one of the marks of their approaching dissolution, that they have been parched with thirst, and could only mutter between their half-closed lips, “Give me to drink.” Ah, beloved, our Lord was so truly man that all our griefs remind us of him: the next time we are thirsty we may gaze upon him; and whenever we see a friend faint and thirsting while dying we may behold our Lord dimly, but truly, mirrored in his members. How near akin the thirsty Saviour is to us; let us love him more and more.

How great the love which led him to such a condescension as this!

Do not let us forget the infinite distance between the Lord of glory on his throne and the Crucified dried up with thirst. 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. Who among us would not willingly pour out his soul unto death if he might but give refreshment to the Lord? 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. Glorious stoop of our exalted Head! O Lord Jesus, we love thee and we worship thee! We would fain lift thy name on high in grateful remembrance of the depths to which thou didst descend!

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. The next time we are in pain or are suffering depression of spirit we will remember that our Lord understands it all, for he has had practical, personal experience of it. Neither in torture of body nor in sadness of heart are we deserted by our Lord; his line is parallel with ours. The arrow which has lately pierced thee, my brother, was first stained with his blood. The cup of which thou art made to drink, though it be very bitter, bears the mark of his lips about its brim. He hath traversed the mournful way before thee, and every footprint thou leavest in the sodden soil is stamped side by side with his footmarks. Let the sympathy of Christ, then, be fully believed in and deeply appreciated, since he said, “I thirst.“

Comments

  1. Mat 5:6
    Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,
    Hbr 10:12-18, 1Th 4:15, Rom 8:19-39
    In patience God waits. Jesus Who died to save the lost will not lose any save those brethren of the son of perdition.
    Pastor Spurgeon spoke of types of pain. How thirsty the love of God must be!

  2. Wonderful words to consider from Charles, no doubt. He views these two words from Jhn 19:28 HNV from many vantage points.

    When I do a 20/20 of this verse I also see within the same verse that the Hebrew Messiah Yeshuah was fulfilling OT scripture (OT would be those words just to the left of the Gospels) as is actually stated in the verse, Psa 22:15 HNV, Psa 69:21 HNV for this particular one in John. I also know that Messiah was reciting Psa 22 HNV in entirety while on the Tree, as any “King of the Jews” and “Kohen Gadol” would have. Lessons in scripture take on a broader and much, much deeper dimension for us to learn more of and enrich our relationship with HIM when the entire WOG is taken into account and view the concepts presented there from their original Hebrew culture.

    J.

    P.s. the Greeks knew nothing of the concept of a Messiah, Act 17:16-34 HNV

  3. I can not imagine what more God could have done to reach us. I feel my mind is unable to hold onto the treasure he has given me for long so he has given me preachers and blogs.
    Thanks Blueletter.

    1 Peter 1:12
    So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

  4. Mat 5:6
    Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,

    That really is the key Bob, isn’t it. To hunger and thirst and what a awesome promise follows in this one simple verse. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness have God’s PROMISE that they shall be filled.

    We cannot expect that our preacher eat and drink for us. Or expect that sitting in the pews will satisfy. Or that mere acceptance of or intellectual agreement with the gospel message and truly making Jesus our Lord and master will fulfill the call of Christ. We must hunger and thirst and feed upon every Word of God. We must come with humble hearts, true repentance and honest willingness to be a child of God.

    We sometimes view God as some higher being up there somewhere in a place called heaven who is un-involved with our daily lives. Not really participating until we call out to Him but that is so untrue. He is active and aware of our every thought, word and deed and actively sanctifying us through the gift of the Holy Spirit with every breath we take. He does not ignore us until we need correcting or a prayer answered. He abides with us, in us and through us.

    When we truly open our hearts we become foreigners in the world. Our thoughts and deeds are not about ourselves, our meetings, our circumstances our demands. Life becomes about walking out the calling of a Maker who created us for His glory. It becomes about getting to know the God who created and cares for every aspect of our lives. We don’t merely obey God. We step into the glorious existence His grace provides for all those who love Him.

    God does not exist to make us happy and meet our every need and want. We exist for Him. He loves us enough to allow us consequences for course correction. He loves us enough to suffer with us during trials and uses those trials to filter the dross and refine us. He loves us enough to meet our daily needs. He cares enough to abide within us and guide us in paths of righteousness for His names sake. He is actively preparing us to be heirs in His Kingdom and take a place beside Him for eternity. He suffered and died to purchase His reward. WE are His reward and His beloved children.

    Spurgeon had such a God given talent. An ability to express the glory that is our God. I’m blessed by his sermons and books. I’m also very thankful to BLB for making such wonderful commentaries, bible study tools and all of the many services they provide.

    Please pray for Danielle. A friend who is hearing and hopefully receiving and that she will respond to Gods call to her. Pray for me that God will use me to help her to find Him and receive Him.

    • Wow, truth Tess. Jesus is not an intellectual exercise. Dr. Charles Price expressed it so well, “In other words, all true faith begins and ends in Him. It does not say that He is the Author and the Finisher of His faith alone, but it states that He is the Author and Finisher of my faith and of yours. There is nothing before the Alpha and nothing after the Omega. He begins it, and it begins in Him. He ends it and it ends in Him. When I want it, I must seek His face! I cannot get it anywhere else, but from that matchless One of whom it is said, He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Not of His alone but of yours and mine. . . . Remember that faith acts, but the act comes from the faith, rather than faith from the act. That is why it is very easy to step over the border line from the Faith God imparts into the realm of presumption.”
      May Danielle come to know Jesus.

      • Act 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
        Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
        Act 13:40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
        Act 13:41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
        Jhn 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

    • Tess, we do become foreigners. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jhn 18:36
      Jhn 1:14, Jesus is the Word. Jhn 5:34, 8:31,37,43, Rev 3:8
      As we think Jesus, speak Jesus we are meek and kind as He is and this world is discredited. Our hearts dwell on eternal fruits, behaviors and the water of Life. We no longer heed or seek the things of death, that which is under the curse, that which dies. Jhn 17:17, Isa 8:13, 1Pe 3:15

  5. Amen Bob!

    A wonderful friend and sister in Christ came to see me today at the library. She has stage 4 cancer and I’ve seen her loose her husband who died and then not even a year later she got the news about the cancer. She lost her hair, it’s growing back, now her face is swelling. She’s had surgery and there is still cancer on her liver and throughout her body but this beautiful saintly sister talked to me not about her troubles but about how much easier all the chemo and procedures have been for her than many she knows and how thankful and blessed she is that God has kept her from most of the agony of this dreadful disease thus far.

    We talked about the reality that regardless of our trials we have so much to look forward to. We talked about acceptance of God’s will and thankfulness and blessings. We talked about the unique love we are able to hang onto that sustains us, comforts us and makes each day and moment full of blessing. This wonderful sister of mines only worry is for those of us she sees suffering for her and with her.

    Of course God can cure cancer as easily as He can a headache but we shared the kind of faith that reaches past a cure and the cares of this world. We settle comfortably into the arms of a Savior who is always there and the reality of the victory regardless of all the fleshly battles is the peace that passes understanding.

    All who make Jesus Lord and Master in their lives have so very much on both sides of eternity to be thankful for. I’m so very thankful to have the kind of friend whose relationship with God transcends this broken world. Lord please help me to hold onto You the way she does. With peace and joy and unquenchable faith.

    Had satan known she’d use this disease to shine forth His message with her walk of faith, I’m sure he would rather have attacked somebody else. She’s taking his worst and using it to glorify God. I LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!!!

    • Jhn 14:27, 1Jo 5:20, 1Jo 3:24, Phl 4:7

      When all is good and right there is peace. Perfect righteousness, perfect truth, God is peace. So we rejoice with your friend in Jesus. She is a witness of His presence as she knows His peace even in the face of death.

      • Let’s pray that the people for His Name awaken to the truth, the Word of God. Hashem is not the name. We pray that Israel proclaims, “blessed in He that comes in the Name of the Lord.” Yeshua, Jesus is Messiah God. Jhn 17:17, 14:6

  6. Jhn 5:28-29
    Tess, your friend is blessed to know the Word of God, the Truth. Death does not absolve or erase, pity all who flee to what they hope is the end, the death of this life. The chance to choose God is the brief opportunity that is this life. The grave is no sanctuary, hell is the destination for all who refuse Jesus.

    • It should be a honor for anyone to know Jesus. Jesus was the spiritural sacrifice for a humanity that did not deserve it. Your friend is bless to be alive to have an opportunity to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior for the great work he did on the cross.

  7. Jesus, a name above all other names. His suffering on the cross exemplify that. His humanity can into play, but he did not deviate from his appointed task of saving humanity.

    I think his thirst exemplifies how was should thirst after righteousness. We all know that it is not comfortable when we are thirsty and cannot find a drink of water anywhere.

  8. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. It is surely a blessing to read this word this morning. Sunday I cried on my way home as I thought about the sinful life of my sisters. As often as I pray for them and their children, it seems to get worse and worse. I cried out in pain for them, I cried out because I thought of our family legacy and what will become of it when we pass on. I do not have children yet pray that my life be an example to my nieces and nephews. Reading this reminded me that God is with me, He is with them. He knows the suffering that I feel, He knows the suffering they feel. I thirst. They thirst but can not find it within, to ask for a drink.