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Welcome; it’s good to see you all. As we gather to look into the word, that principle we’ll never neglect on purpose is total reliance on God’s Holy Spirit. This is His Bible and only God can reveal God. I want to share this portion of a verse from Jeremiah 1:12, “I am watching over My word to perform it.” The reason I like that is that we’re going to be touching a little bit on fulfilled prophesy in our lesson today, and you notice that we handed out the prophetic sheets and that’s only for your information, and it is not complete, but it gives you an idea of how perfect our Lord is and how God watches over His word to perform it. With that in mind, let’s commit our time to the Lord.
Our Father, we thank You so much for who You are. We thank You for the Holy Spirit that lives in our hearts and whose pleasure it is to unveil the Lord Jesus through the word of God. We wait now and ask You to show us our Lord Jesus again in a new and a fresh way. We commit our session unto You and protect Your people from anything that is merely flesh and blood and we pray that we will all learn from the Spirit and that we might worship You in Spirit and in truth. We give this lesson to You now in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.
This is our opportunity again to meditate on the Lord Jesus in the gospel of John. We’ve come to the two chapters, 18 & 19, which begin with the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane, and then the end of 19 is the burial of our Lord Jesus. When we come to 20 we’ll pick up the victorious resurrection, but now we’re in 18 & 19 and that’s holy ground, and it’s all about the crucifixion and passion of our Lord Jesus. It’s important how we approach certain scriptures. Before I actually get into the review let me just remind my heart and yours that we need to approach it correctly, not like the Greeks, 1 Corinthians 1:22, “Indeed, the Jews asked for signs and the Greeks searched for wisdom.” I hope you didn’t come here to find wisdom. We’re not trying to get fresh proof texts so that we can buttress our opinions, our doctrines. I’m not opposed to good doctrine, but it has to be an outworking of a union with the Lord Jesus. Our goal is not to teach doctrine or theology, but as we called attention so many times, to the theme of the gospel of John, to know the Lord, to trust the Lord and to enjoy the Lord. That’s why we gather.
Another illustration is the Athenians; we’re not to approach God’s word like they did, Acts 17:21, “All the Athenians and strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.” I hope you didn’t come here to hear something new because our goal is not trying to be clever or novel or to say things in a different way. I hope it’s new in the sense of fresh, that the Lord makes it alive. We are coming to you in the spirit, 2 Corinthians 2:17, “We are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, as from God we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” Paul writing to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 2:5, “We never came with flattering speech, as you know, or with a pretense for greed. God is with us. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others.” I think we’re all familiar with the way the Bereans came to the word of God, Acts 17:10, “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” We have a responsibility not just to listen to what I say but check it out in the Bible. If it’s not from the Bible, then scrap it. We need to be like the Bereans. We’re here for the same reason, to see the Lord.
One more verse and we’ll get to the review, John 6:45, “It’s written in the prophets, ‘They shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.’” That’s what Jesus said. So, if it doesn’t lead to Jesus, you’re not being taught from the Father. Everyone who is taught from God ends up coming to Jesus; it’s all about our Lord Jesus.
Let me briefly review where we left off in our gathering. We were looking at the history of Barrabas at the end of chapter 18, verse 39, “You have a custom that I release someone for you at Passover. Do you wish that I release for you the King of the Jews?’ And they cried out again, ‘Not this man but Barrabas.’” Now, Barrabas was a robber. We looked at the history of that man and the malice of the sinful people that would choose Barrabas over the Lord Jesus. Peter at Pentecost made this comment, Acts 3, “You disowned the holy and righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of Life, the One whom God raised from the dead.” When we closed, I suggested that there were at least three ways the history of Barrabas demonstrates/reveals our Lord Jesus. Let me mention those three and then we’ll move on.
First, as a substitute, because you know Jesus took the place of Barrabas. It just pictures the ministry of our Lord Jesus as the substitute Savior for sinful people. Barrabas is an illustration of that; he died in the place of the worst of the worst, and in that sense you’re Barrabas and I’m Barrabas; He died for us.
Closely connected with that is the message of the gospel. It was good news when Barrabas was in his jail cell and received the gospel, good news, “You’re free because someone has died in your place,” and that certainly is illustrated in the story of Barrabas.
And then there is a third way we pictured, and that is that it presents Jesus as the initiator. In other words, it never starts with us. We don’t begin by seeking the Lord. Barrabas wasn’t seeking the Lord; he did nothing. He didn’t repent, he didn’t request to be redeemed, he wasn’t praying; he was just sitting there incarcerated behind bars, condemned, and legitimately deserving to die. He was hopeless, and then the good news came to him. That’s how it always is. Jesus is our substitute, and He gives us hope, the gospel/good news, and He initiates and finds you and seeks you before you seek Him. Those are the three ways.
Actually, I would like to present a fourth way, and we’ll begin here, that Barrabas pictures our Lord Jesus. To see this, we’re just going for a moment revisit what we’ve been studying and illustrating over and over. I’ll read the verse, Acts 17:26&27, “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, that perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He’s not far from any one of us.” We spent a lot of time discussing that great verse how He appoints times and boundaries of our habitation. John 12:32, He said, “If I’m lifted up, I’ll draw all men to Myself.” No one can come to the Lord unless He draws, but He draws everybody. That verse in Acts tells us how He draws without violating our will. He lets us make our choices but He’s always drawing and giving us at every turn the best opportunity, and He does this so that we would see Him and find Him and grope for Him.
Everything He does determining our times and our boundaries is so that we’d seek Him. The path that you took in your life, you can look back and you made many decisions, and some not so good. I’ve made many decisions, and some not so good but the path that got you where you are right now was determined because He appointed your times and the boundaries of your habitation. He controlled who you met, where you lived, where you were born, who your parents were, who you neighbors are, what school you went to, and every detail of your life was providentially controlled by Him without forcing your will. You made your own decisions, and God, in order to draw you, only had circumstances to work with, and that’s what He did. He worked with circumstances to make it easy for you to receive and to embrace our Lord Jesus.
We illustrated that in the life of Judas. We illustrated that in the life of Pilate. We illustrated that in the life of Caiphas. We illustrated that in the life of Apostle Peter. In each case God let them make their choices, and some of them were dumb, and yet He made the circumstances inviting, so that they would choose the Lord.
God doesn’t give us the end story. It looks like Judas said “no”, even after God did everything in His power to make it possible to choose. It looks like Pilate said “no”. It looks like Caiphas said “no”. God doesn’t tell us and we’re wise not to judge hearts. We don’t know what God does secretly in somebody’s heart. But it does look like He gave us the record of Peter, and Peter said “yes”. He made some choices and Jesus gave him many warnings. He drew out the sword and cut a man’s ear off, and God let him do that. That was his choice, but then God had to make a way for him to get out of the garden so that he could get to the courtyard to deny Him. So, He healed his ear and called attention to the healing, and at that time they all scattered. He’s always orchestrating the times and the boundaries of the habitation. So, the look of the Lord Jesus at that perfect time, and the crowing of the rooster at that perfect time. He’s not touching his will; He’s touching the circumstances, making it possible and inviting, and Peter finally went out and wept bitterly, and he said “yes”.
I reviewed that because the same principle that the Lord appoints times and boundaries, we can’t just say it’s Judas and Pilate and Caiphas and Peter; it was also Barrabas. God was guiding him in his foolish choices to be in the right place at the right time to illustrate this wonderful will of God. It’s not a mistake that He gave an object lesson that just before Jesus went to the cross. He wanted on purpose to have somebody who is the worst of the worst that He could take their place. So, as God drew Judas and Pilate and Caiphas and Peter, He’ now drawing Barrabas. Jesus loved Barrabas. He didn’t only want Him physically to take his place; he wanted Barrabas to embrace Him spiritually, that He took his place. So, He determined his time. He was an insurrectionist, but the Lord timed that insurrection, and the Lord timed that perfect arrest, and the Lord timed the public knowledge of him, that everyone knew he was a scoundrel in prison, and all of that without touching the will of Barrabas. The fact that he was in prison when he received the good news, all of that was arranged by the Lord to picture what He was about to do on the cross.
Jesus, because of Barrabas, is pictured as a substitute. The gospel is pictured because of Barrabas. That God initiates, and He’s the One who comes by grace is illustrated, and now we’re not left to wonder that the Lord arranged his life to give him the best opportunity but also to put into place this wonderful illustration. We don’t know how Barrabas responded; God left that blank again. He could have felt that he was just lucky that the people chose him instead of Jesus and went on in his old sinful ways and became a murderer again. We don’t know. Or he could have fallen down on his knees and said, “I don’t deserve this; I want to find out who took my place. We don’t know the response, but God doesn’t violate the will but He dictates your times and your boundaries so that, for one reason only, you will seek Him. Your choices might show how stubborn you’ve been through the years. Your choices might have taken you on a long path but God’s determining your times and the boundaries of your habitation, has made that long path the shortest road to Him. Where you are now you have come the shortest route. If you were to choose right now your own life and you knew what God knew, no matter what has come in your life, you wouldn’t change a thing; you would choose exactly the path you came because it’s the path that brought you to Him. These are wonderful truths.
Let’s leave Barrabas and we’ll move to John 19. I told you earlier that John gives facts, clear facts. He doesn’t expound necessarily on all of those facts; he leaves many things out. God brings them in Matthew and Mark and Luke and other places. For example, when Jesus died on the cross Jesus spoke seven times from the cross, but John only records three of those seven statements. He leaves out that wonderful prayer to forgive those who were putting Him to death. He leaves out the promise to the dying thief who was going to join Him in Paradise. He leaves out what has been called “the orphan cry”. Matthew 27:46, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’” John leaves that out; that’s not in his gospel. So, his omissions become instructive. He omits other things, as well. He doesn’t talk about the mocking of those at the cross at the time. He doesn’t mention the darkness. He doesn’t mention the earthquake. He doesn’t mention the red veil of the temple. Having said that, he brings in things that others left out. For example, the spiritual significance of the facts, God uses the epistles to explain the facts. So, you’ll read the facts in the gospels, and then the epistles explain it, and it draws out those life changing principles and gives you the revelation of Christ.
Now, I’m going to try to stick to the facts of John, but as we go through the facts, I also am going to make the applications that are made in the epistles. In other words, I don’t want you to just have history lesson. You can get that on your own. I want to suggest some of the underlying principles and the great revelations of our Lord Jesus, so that we can appropriate it. Here’s a powerful example, John 19:18, “There they crucified Him.” That’s it; that’s what John tells you, that Jesus died on the cross. Here’s what he leaves out. Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it’s no longer I who live but
Christ who lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” There were two people on the cross, two bodies, not two people. There were the body of our Lord Jesus and the church; we’ve been crucified with Him. John doesn’t tell you that, but the epistles do. So, we’re going to look at the facts, and then go to the epistles and see what is implied by it.
Another example is John 19:17, “They took Jesus, therefore, and went bearing His own cross to the place called ‘the place of the skull’ which is called in Hebrew ‘Golgotha’.” He was crucified outside the city limits. Well, Hebrews 13 says, “Let us go out to Him outside the camp bearing His reproach.” There is spiritual significance for Him being crucified outside the city limits. So, the gospels and the epistles fill in what John leaves out.
I’d like to begin John 19, and we’re just focusing on certain events that stand out, and I’d like to focus this morning on the three words that John mentions that Jesus spoke when He was hanging on the cross. Let me quote all three, and we’re not going to get to the third one, but at least we’ll have it before us. John 19:27, “Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother,’ and from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” And then John 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the scriptures said, ‘I am thirsty.’” And then finally John 19:30, “Therefore, when Jesus had finished the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished.’” We’ll not get to the third one but let me begin with verse 27, “And He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
Before we discuss these words, precious, precious words, let me just set it up for our hearts. Some Christians are reluctant to give Mary, the mother of Jesus, the place of honor that the Bible gives to her. On the one hand, many believe, and rightly so, that some exalt her beyond the honor that the Bible gives to her. Some view Mary as sinless and not needing a Savior. She, herself, confessed that she was a sinner, Luke 1:46, “Mary said, ‘My soul exalts in the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior.’” And in Luke 2:23 she brought an offering, “As it is written in the Law of the Lord, every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice as to what was said in the Law of Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons..” Some go far beyond honor, and they venerate or actually in some cases consider her worthy of worship, and they worship her. In response to this I think Protestants as a whole have gone overboard; they went beyond what the Bible teaches about Mary. The Bible gives her great honor, and to stand against it, I don’t think many Protestants give it enough consideration and they don’t appreciate the high place she has.
To exalt Mary beyond scripture is wrong; to neglect God’s revelation of Mary in scripture, that’s also wrong. As we consider these words of our Lord Jesus from the cross addressed to Mary, we need to see God’s revelation of this beautiful woman. Mary stands alone and has a unique place in the history of redemption. This is the one that Gabriel addressed and called her “highly favored”. That’s not consistent with being a lover of Christ if we neglect that Gabriel calls “highly favored”. Again, I think the view of some is more partisan than it is scriptural and seekers of truth. We want to see what the Bible says. I think many are prejudiced. Anyway, let’s approach it from God’s point of view. First, I want to look at it with the human eyes, in other word, the facts. We can discern with our eyes; this is what we see, and this is the words He spoke, and this is what we hear, and this is how it relates to Jewish culture at the time, and so on. Then, Lord assisting, we’ll look a little deeper at the spiritual significance of this wonderful word.
A little of the history, John 19:26, “When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son.’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother,’ and from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” It was according to Jewish culture the responsibility of the sons to care for their widowed mother. Since Jesus was the firstborn, or the elder brother, He assumed the responsibility to provide for His mother. Now, it’s a little unusual that the Lord Jesus committed her to the care of John rather than to his other brothers. Matthew 13:55, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” Those men are called his brothers. I know there are those who believe that Mary never had any other children besides Jesus, that He was not only the firstborn, but they say He’s the only born, and that she never had any others. Even though the Greek word “brother” is used, they say that word can be used for relatives or cousins, so it could possibly be the half brothers of Jesus by another marriage of Joseph, and so on. I’m going to avoid that whole controversy, whether they’re brothers or half-brothers, but I think I know why He went to John, and that is John 7:5, “Not even His brothers were believing in Him.” Whoever the brothers were, they were not Christian. They were not at that time believing. We know after the resurrection they came to believe. Acts mentions those who were in the Upper Room waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:14, “All of these with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” So, they became believers after the resurrection.
It’s natural for Jesus to look out after His mother, but on the level of earth, if you just look at the facts, in a sense it was unnatural, as well. It’s because these are not normal circumstances; this is not peace time. Jesus is on the cross and He’s been brutally beaten and He’s lost a lot of blood, and He’s in excruciating pain. I think when someone is so beat up, it takes a miracle of God for them to be thinking about somebody else. They’re going to be thinking about themselves and what they’re going through. I’m saying that it’s understandable that He’d look out for His mother in these circumstances, and they are described prophetically. Psalm 22:14, speaking about the cross, “I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it’s melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue cleaves to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me. A band of evil doers have encompassed me. They pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones.” Who can’t read that and marvel that at that time and in that condition, Jesus was focused on his mother and the sword that was going through her heart at that time? Luke 2:35, “A sword will pierce your own soul.” It had to be painful for His mother looking at Jesus, her son, on the cross. But it was painful for her son, also, looking down at his mother.
According to history, John 19:27, “He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother,’ and from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.’” Those are the Bible facts. I think there’s a deeper significance, a spiritual significance, and I’d like to touch on that here. This is not only the history man, Jesus. It’s the history of the God-man; it’s the history of redemption. What is being expressed in these words behind the scenes? In other words, what is the spiritual significance? I told you earlier that we should be clear on Mary’s place in the history of redemption. Where does the Lord put Mary in the Bible in the history of redemption? Of course, without the possibility of contradiction, she’s the most blessed woman in the history of women on the earth. She was given the privilege to be the mother of Messiah. Nobody can top that; that could only happen once and to one woman, and for that reason she stands out because she was chosen to be the mother of our Lord Jesus. As far as honor and privilege and blessing, she’s exalted transcending all other women. She was honored by God, by angels, by scripture, by prophets, and by Bible believers.
But there’s a second contribution that Mary makes to the history of redemption, and I think it’s referred to here when Jesus addressed his mother at the cross. There are many pictures in the Bible of the church. By the church you know I mean real believers, Christians. Marriage is a picture of the church in the Bible. The human body with all of its members is a picture of the church. A physical building with its foundation and its superstructure and Christ the Cornerstone are pictures of the church. The family in the Bible is also a picture of the church. The church is pictured by a flock, the shepherd and the sheep are a picture of the church. The vine and the branches and our union, the union of the branch with the vine pictures the church. There are others I didn’t mention: the priesthood, the holy nation, and an army. There are so many pictures of the church, but there’s only one first picture, and there’s only one last picture. I’m suggesting the first picture of the church is very important, and the last picture is very important because they’re both summaries of everything God says about the church.
The first picture of the church is Mary, the mother of Jesus. That’s the first picture of the church in the word of God. The last picture of the church is the New Jerusalem. I’m going to leave that, but you ought to study that. We’re going to focus on the first picture; Mary has been set aside by the Lord and the Holy Spirit to be the first picture of the church. I’ll give it to you in a sentence. It’s a paragraph. Every phrase in this sentence is backed up by scripture and is full of instruction. “By God’s initiation and invitation and Mary’s permission Christ was conceived in her and formed in her by the Holy Spirit of God; He’s the One that did that. Progressively Mary manifested Christ and in the fullness of time she gave Him to the world.” That’s Mary.
Let me tell you about the church. The church, by God’s initiation and invitation and by your permission, Christ will be conceived and formed in you by the Holy Spirit of God, and by a progressive revelation and manifestation, Christ will be seen to be in you and in the fullness of time you will give Him to the world. It’s a perfect illustration of the church, and Mary was chosen to be that illustration. That’s how I came to the Lord in 1958. God initiated it; I didn’t. I heard the gospel; He invited me. Christ was conceived in me. The Holy Spirit conceived and formed Him in me. I grew a little bit in the Lord, and people could see that, as I was like a pregnant woman getting more and more manifest. And in the fullness of time, He gave me the privilege to share Him with the world. That’s Mary! That’s the church! That’s how I got saved and I don’t want to go through it again, but if you are saved that’s how you got saved, too. That’s God’s illustration, the first illustration.
There’s another illustration of Mary picturing the church and it’s in Matthew 12:46, “While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him. Someone said to Him, ‘Behold, your mother and brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you.’ But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ Stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold, My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and my mother.’” What a wonderful statement! I give that background to suggest that Jesus wasn’t only providing for His mother in the flesh from the cross, but in a deeper, in a spiritually significant way He was entrusting the care of the whole church, not only His mother but what His mother pictured to the lovers of the Lord Jesus, to His disciples, to those that love the Lord.
When Jesus said in John 19:27, “’Disciple, behold your mother,’ from that hour that disciple took her into his own household.” John was taking on the rule of Jesus. Jesus was saying in effect, “Carrying forth of My mother is My privilege, but now I’m going to return to My Father God, and so I’m going to give you that privilege.” “John, the disciple that Jesus loved, John, lover of Jesus, will you be Christ in My place to your mother?” That’s what he was saying, “I want you to be Christ in My place to the church.” Our brother Aubrey came today and was sharing about hospitality. He had heard a message and how easy it is for us to just sit in our pews and not respond to a visitor or to welcome everybody. I think Jesus was saying from the cross, I think He was committing us to be Christ to one another, to take care of one another. I think from the cross He was looking at His lover of Jesus and saying, “Mary pictures the church. I want you to take care of her. Take her in and listen to her. She’s suffering, especially those who are suffering and going through stuff. Don’t just pass them by; draw near and pay attention.
When Jesus called her “woman”, he was not dishonoring her. He was referring to the first gospel promise in Genesis 3:15, that a woman and her seed would come and crush the head of the serpent, and He was just acknowledging that this is the mother of the Messiah. Woman was a very honorable word. Anyway, I think I’m understanding that from the cross Jesus committed His literal mother to the care of a loving disciple, and all that pictured He commits the care of the church to each one of us. We are to be Christ to one another, and we do that by surrendering to the Christ who lives, and He actually is the Christ for that.
Let me go to this second word, John 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing all things had already been accomplished to fulfill the scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’” I want to look at that scripture in a couple of ways. First, that cry from the cross is both human and divine. I say it’s human because on the level of earth He must have been having an excruciating thirst. His body had been beaten, and no doubt He was dehydrated. At this point He had been on the cross for about six hours. What we read in Psalm 22, a Messianic Psalm, beginning with, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”, verse 14:15, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, and my heart is like wax, and it’s melted within me, and my strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue cleaves to my jaws, and you lay me in the dust of death.” Another Messianic Psalm, Psalm 69:3, “I’m weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for God.” And then Psalm 69:21, “For my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
I knew a man when I was in Rhode Island, he had Crone’s disease and he had it for over fifty years and he had many, many attacks, and he suffered all the time. At one point he got so dehydrated that he went outside and turned on the faucet to the outside hose and laid down with his mouth open and put it on full blast. He was so thirsty, but what he was doing was washing out the electrolytes which were necessary for him to live. The more that he drank, the more he was posing himself closer to death. Finally, he was rushed to the hospital, and they were able to rescue him at that time. I’ll never forget that agonizing thirst that he had.
Jesus was thirsty on the cross. It’s literal. He said, “I thirst,” why? It was because He was thirsty. That’s one reason, but also, it’s divine; He’s taking the sinners’ place; He’s dying as their Savior. His physical suffering illustrates His spiritual suffering. When He cried out in Matthew 27:46, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” that’s the cry of a lost sinner, and now He’s saying what He’s doing; He’s taking their place. When He said in John 19:28, “I’m thirsty,” that’s also the cry of the lost sinner in hell, and He is taking their place.
Do you remember the cry in Luke 16 from the place of torment, and Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus, verse 23, “In Hades he lifted up his eyes being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom, he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; I’m in agony in this flame.’” You know this man had died, and his body is in the ground. He doesn’t have a tongue; He’s only a spirit, and he wants them to come and put a drop of water on his tongue. This is a spiritual thirst and agony that one experiences if he doesn’t know Jesus. So, as a man Jesus said, “I thirst because he’s thirsty.” As God He said, “I thirst,” because he was taking the place of all those for whom He was dying.
I want to look at this cry in another way. John 19:28, “Jesus knowing all things had already been accomplished to fulfill the scriptures said, ‘I am thirsty.’” Notice the words, please, that the “scriptures might be fulfilled”. I’m going to ask and then try to answer this question, “Why did Jesus cry out, ‘I thirst’?” Of course, as I said, it’s because He was thirsty and because He was taking the sinners’ place, but He didn’t cry out, ”I thirst,” because He was complaining of thirst. He wasn’t complaining of thirst; He never complained, as far as the record goes, about any of His suffering. We don’t hear a single word of complaint when they whipped Him, when they scourged Him, when they pulled out His beard, when they beat Him in the face, when they put a crown of thorns on His head and pounded that in with a reed, when they nailed His hands and feet, there was no complaint. He’s not complaining. The reason for His cry, “I thirst,” is not because His throat was dry and parched but the Bible says in verse 28, “After this, Jesus knowing all things had been accomplished to fulfill scripture said, “I thirst.” He said, “I thirst,” to fulfill scripture. So, what was the prophesy He was fulfilling? You aren’t going to find it on the sheet I handed out because if you look for that prophecy, it’s not in the Old Testament. There is no prophecy that Messiah is going to say, “I thirst.” There are many illustrations of Messiah thirsting but what was the prophecy?
Psalm 69:21, “For My thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” When He cried, “I thirst,” verse 29, “A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought into His mouth.” He cried, “I thirst,” to fulfill the prophesy that when He said that they would come and give Him vinegar to drink. That’s the prophecy. The prophecy was that they would come and give Him the vinegar. I have to smile when I read Mark 15:36, “When He said, ‘I thirst,’ someone ran and filled the sponge with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave Him a drink.” You wonder what went through the mind of that Roman guard or soldier when all of a sudden Jesus said, ‘I thirst,’ and it says that he got up and ran and got the sponge. He wasn’t saying, “Oh, I’ve got to hurry; I’ve got to fulfill scripture.” He had no clue on why he did that, but he did it to fulfill scriptures.
Why is that important? Psalm 19 is full of fulfilled scripture; it quotes from Exodus, it quotes from Psalms, it quotes from Isaiah, it quotes from Zacchariah, it quotes all these things, “that it might be fulfilled, that it might be fulfilled, that it might be fulfilled.” This prophecy of vinegar is important because according to the record it’s the final prophecy, the final one. There are prophecies that deal with after His death, with His burial and resurrection, and ascension at the right hand and His coming again in glory. There are prophecies about that, but as far as His suffering at death, that’s it; that’s the last prophecy to be fulfilled. That’s why verse 28 says, “Jesus knowing all things had already been fulfilled.” This is an awesome reality. Even though in His humanity He’s exhausted and dehydrated, He’s getting ready to die, mentally He’s sharp as a tack, and He is all there, and it’s like He’s surveying the scripture, and His mind went back to everything ever written about Him. He reviews the patriarchs, he reviews the prophets, He reviews the priest and the kings and the Psalm, all the shadow and types, Adam, the ark of Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, Moses, and the entire sacrificial system, the tabernacle and all its furniture, the temple. He went through all of the Old Testament scriptures and said, “There’s one more that needs to happen—this one.” Why is that important? It’s because this one is so vague that no one would ever guess if He didn’t fulfill. No one would say, “You can’t be Messiah; you forgot to fulfill this prophesy.” It’s vague; it’s deliberately vague.
Here’s what I think our Lord Jesus was saying, “I have ransacked all the shadows of which I am the substance, I know I have fulfilled everything, and this is the last prophecy. If you can find another one, I am not Messiah. This one proved it. Everything is fulfilled. Look through the scriptures and try to find one that wasn’t fulfilled. He said, “You can’t do it.” Knowing that all scripture must be fulfilled, finally He said, “I thirst,” that they would come and bring Him this vinegar to drink.
So, we’ve meditated on the first two verses, Mary and the church, and “I thirst”. As we close, let me share a personal application. In recent days, some of you know it and some of you don’t know it, but I have been made strikingly aware of my mortality. Death is in front of all of us, but this old heart of mine I think is close to retirement. I’m not predicting I’m going to die soon; I don’t know. My mother-in-law used to say, “I looked over my whole body, and I didn’t find an expiration date.” I don’t have an expiration date, but when I come to die, and if I’m aware, I want to die with the same passion our Lord Jesus had. I want to die thirsty, not for anything this world wants to give me. I don’t care about anything in this world, but that everything written about me would be fulfilled. I want to die thirsty and everything be accomplished. He gave me a promise of immortality; I want to die thirsting for that. He gave me a promise to behold Him face to face; I want to die thirsty for that. I’m going to be sitting at His right hand when there are treasures forevermore, and I’ll be reunited with family in heaven. He promised that, and I want to be thirsty for that. I want to be sinless finally, finally; I don’t want to sin anymore. This abiding corruption drives you crazy and I don’t want it anymore. There’s coming a day, and He promised, and I’m thirsty for that day and I’m longing for that day. And I’m longing for my family, and I’m longing for the church, I’m longing for my children and my children’s wives and husbands and for their grandchildren, and for the great-grandchildren, and Lillian has prayed for generations to come. I don’t know about all that, but I want to die thirsty.
Joshua 23:14, “I’m going the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and in all of your souls, that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed. All have been fulfilled for you, and not one of them has failed.” I want to die thirsty. Then, Lord willing, next session we’ll look at John 19:30, “And when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.” We’ll start there, Lord willing, next time. Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for your word, not what we think it might mean, but everything You’ve inspired it to mean. It’s that which we ask You to work into our hearts, even if it hasn’t been spoken, You can still speak to our spirits in our heart. We ask You to perform, to watch over Your word and perform it. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.