The trouble with going to church When you are retired minister, is that you can keep re-preaching the sermon that the minister as delivered. We keep going to the same church because we like the minister. He does his homework. And we often learn something that we didn’t know before, or haven’t thought of.
Today’s sermon was based on the passage from John chapter 7 where Jesus says “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink ... Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” And also the passage from John 19 where Jesus is on the cross and says, “I thirst”.
Today the minister talked about people being thirsty for God but trying to fulfill that thirst with other things. possessions, status, relationships, etc. So far, I was in complete agreement with him. But then, he took Jesus statement on the cross, “I thirst”, out of context. He was suggesting that Jesus thirst was somehow for us, perhaps for us to find the satisfaction of our thirst through having faith in Jesus. That’s where I disagree. In that passage Jesus statement about Thirst was so that a prophecy would be fulfilled from Psalm 69:21 “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” John the author of the gospel reports that Jesus says he thirsts in order to fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 69. It wasn’t symbolic of Jesus thirsting for our spiritual thirst to be satisfied.
If we take the accounts of the Bible as being something that actually happened, perhaps Jesus did say “I thirst”. And maybe he said it because he was actually thirsty. After all, He’d been beaten and scourged and spat on and lost a bunch of blood. I can well imagine he was actually physically thirsty. And I can imagine that those standing by, who had mocked him and were rejoicing in his suffering would have given him gall (vomit) and vinegar to drink to add insult to his injury. I can imagine these things to be true. But, the gospel writers commentary on why he did these things was just that. Commentary. The gospel writers were trying to make sense of and find meaning in what had happened to Jesus. Personally, I believe Jesus lived more than just an exemplary life. I believe he made enemies by telling the truth. And I believe he was tortured and died on the cross. I also believe he rose from the dead somehow after death, and made his resurrected presence known to people. So, it might be natural for the gospel writers to assume that everything happened according to a divine plan. IE. He was thirsty in order to fulfill prophecy. From my point of view, the gospel writer was reaching to find meaning in the events of the crucifixion. And the minister today was doing the same, reaching to fit Jesus’ thirst into his sermon theme.
Does Jesus thirst (or long for us) to find our spiritual fulfillment in God through Him. Yes, I’m sure He does. Was His thirsting on the cross symbolic of that longing? Only if we make it that way! We have to impose that meaning on it!
I’d be happier to say Jesus thirsting on the Cross just highlighted his humanity. It doesn’t diminish his divinity any, as far as I’m concerned. But it connects Him to us ever more strongly. Jesus experience of life in this world was just like ours. He thirsted physically. He thirsted spiritually. He felt pain and humiliation. He knew injustice intimately. And he gave up his spirit. Jesus gave up and died. The powers of this world defeated Him.
That was Good Friday. And in faith we know that when Easter dawned, Jesus rose from the grave, defeating sin and death. He completely overturned their victory. But, Easter hasn’t come yet. We still live in a Good Friday world amidst humiliation, derision, injustice and defeat.
Oh, I’m not completely down and out in the life I live. Most of us aren’t. We live with more comfort and ease than almost any generation before us. We have better health care. I don’t live hand to mouth. But, I am familiar with injustice. I can identify with those who suffer injustice. I can identify with Jesus. I’ve been humiliated before. I know what that’s like. I haven’t had anybody spit in my face literally, but they sure have figuratively. I know what betrayal feels like. All the things Jesus went through, I can identify with. And so, when he’s on the Cross and he cries out, “I thirst!” His cry resonates in me and it draws me closer to Him. Here’s a guy that knows what I’ve gone through. Here’s a guy that knows what I’m going through. I’m not alone. I have a Friend!
It’s not Easter yet, but I’ve peaked into the future, and I know that my friend defeats the things that have defeated the two of us before. He has found a way! He has opened the way! He has blazed the trail for me to follow! No longer am I defeated and trapped by evil, or sin, or death. I can follow my friend Jesus through to victory.
However I still live in a Good Friday world. Evil, injustice, sin and death swirl around me still and threaten to trip me up. But, because of my friend Jesus, I know the future. So I can lift my head up and press on towards the goal and follow my friend Jesus.
Do you know my friend Jesus? Is he your friend too? Let’s keep our heads up and follow!
