If not, may that picture of Christ fainting in the streets lead you to do so this morning. Let each of us say "Tis all my business here below To cry, Behold the Lamb!" John 1:30-31. The soldiery mocked and insulted him in every way that cruelty and scorn could devise. They put his own clothes upon him, because they were the perquisites of the executioner, as modern hangmen take the garments of those whom they execute, so did the four soldiers claim a right to his raiment. O Lord Jesus, we love thee and we worship thee! Barrabas may go free; the thief and the murderer may be spared; but for Christ there is no word, but "Away with such a fellow from the earth! (John 19:11) Jesus answered, . Romanists of all ages have wrought upon the feelings of the people in this manner, and to a degree the attempt is commendable, but if it shall all end in tears of pity, no good is done. He knew once how to turn water into wine, and in matchless love he has often turned our sour drink-offerings into something sweet to himself, though in themselves, methinks, they have been the juice of sour grapes, sharp enough to set his teeth on edge. All this is a blessed clog upon us, and a means of keeping us more near the Lord. ", When a brother makes confession of his transgressions, when on his knees before God he humbles himself with many tears, I am sure the Lord thinks far more of the tears of repentance than he would do of the mere drops of human sympathy. Complain not, then. John 19:28 J.R. Thomson This is both the shortest of all the dying utterances of Jesus, and it is the one which is most closely related to himself. It was the common place of death. 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. He thirsted for water doubtless, but his soul was thirsty in a higher sense; indeed, he seems only to have spoken that the Scriptures might be fulfilled as to the offering him vinegar. Glorious stoop of our exalted Head! He did not spare his Son the stripes. Remember, dear friends, that what Christ suffered for us, these unregenerate ones must suffer for themselves, except they put their trust in Christ. If you will look, there is the mark of his blood-red shoulder upon that heavy cross. He saith, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." He calls for that: will you not give it to him? away with him." It is a blow at the fable of purgatory which strikes it to the heart. Today! Beeke, Joel R. & Thompson, Nick. Do not let us forget the infinite distance between the Lord of glory on his throne and the Crucified dried up with thirst. Believing this, let us tenderly feel how very near akin to us our Lord Jesus has become. Our religion is our glory; the Cross of Christ is our honor, and, while not ostentatiously parading it, as the Pharisees do, we ought never to be so cowardly as to conceal it. One would wish to be as a spouse, who, when she had already been feasting in the banqueting-house, and had found his fruit sweet to her taste, so that she was overjoyed, yet cried out, "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love." John 1 19-51 Spurgeon's Bible Commentary John 1:19-51 John 1:19. He was innocent, and yet he thirsted; shall we marvel if guilty ones are now and then chastened? Christ was always thirsty to save men, and to be loved of men; and we see a type of his life-long desire when, being weary, he sat thus on the well and said to the woman of Samaria, "Give me to drink." The spear broke up the very fountains of life; no human body could survive such a wound. Conservative, but not too much depth. Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is not likely that we shall be able to worship with their worship. It began with the mouth of appetite, when it was sinfully gratified, and it ends when a kindred appetite is graciously denied. and the answer shall come back, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." "I thirst" meant that his heart was thirsting to save men. There are many other ways in which these words might be read, and they would be found to be all full of instruction. What, then, dear friends, should be the sorrows excited by a view of Christ's sufferings? 'Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." A carnal appetite of the body, the satisfaction of the desire for food, first brought us down under the first Adam, and now the pang of thirst, the denial of what the body craved for, restores us to our place. More solemn still is the reflection that according to our Lord's own teaching, thirst will also be the eternal result of sin, for he says concerning the rich glutton, "In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment," and his prayer, which was denied him, was, "Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." Ah, that I cannot tell, except his own great love. Oh I raise the question, and be not satisfied unless you can answer it most positively in the affirmative. Are you so frozen at heart that not a cup of cold water can be melted for Jesus? July 2nd, 1882 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892) "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:26 . Among other things methinks he meant this "If I, the innocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will be done when the sinner himself the dry tree whose sins are his own, and not merely imputed to him, shall fall into the hands of an angry God." Those once highly favored people of God who cursed themselves with, "His blood be upon us and upon our children," ought to make us mourn when we think of their present degradation. The excitement of a great struggle makes men forget thirst and faintness; it is only when all is over that they come back to themselves and note the spending of their strength. In fact, the tendency is to exalt man above God and give him the highest place. 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. We will now take the text in a third way, and may the Spirit of God instruct us once again. It is almost done, thou Christ of God; thou hast almost saved thy people; there remaineth but one thing more, that thou shouldst actually die, and hence thy strong desire to come to the end and complete thy labour. Cover it with a cloak? It was most fitting that every word of our Lord upon the cross should be gathered up and preserved. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" is the first. Neither in torture of body nor in sadness of heart are we deserted by our Lord; his line is parallel with ours. Certainly it is so with you; you do but carry the light end of the cross; Christ bore the heavier end. O to be enlarged in soul so as to take deeper draughts of his sweet love, for our heart cannot have enough. We do not thirst after the old manner wherein we were bitterly afflicted, for he hath said, "He that drinketh of this water shall never thirst:" but now we covet a new thirst. There can be no shadow of doubt but that our Lord was really crucified, and no one substituted for him. The extreme tension produced a burning feverishness. May God deliver you! They are created in the minds of men. It is not sorrow over Rome, but Jerusalem. Yonder young Prince is ruddy with the bloom of early youth and health; my Master's visage is more marred than that of any man. Let patience have her perfect work. (1-4) Pilate hopes to satisfy the mob by having Jesus whipped and mocked. It was, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!" The reed was no mere rush from the brook, it was of a stouter kind, of which easterns often make walkingstaves, the blows were cruel as well as insulting; and the crown was not of straw but thorn, hence it produced pain as well as pictured scorn. Did not the high-priest bring the scape-goat, and put both his hands upon its head, confessing the sins of the people, that thus those sins might be laid upon the goat? He must love his chosen whom he has once begun to love, for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Did I not describe last Sabbath the knotted scourges which fell upon the Saviours back? That is very possible; Christ may have carried the heavier end, against the transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. "He that taketh not up his cross and followeth not after me," says Christ, "is not worthy of me." To-day I invite your attention to another Prince, marching in another fashion through his metropolis. III. He pitied the sufferer, but he thought so little of him that he joined in the voice of scorn. I have sometimes met with persons who have suffered much; they have lost money, they have worked hard all their lives, or they have laid for years upon a bed of sickness, and they therefore suppose that because they have suffered so much in this life, they shall thus escape the punishment of sin hereafter. I invite you to meditate upon the true humanity of our Lord very reverently, and very lovingly. Calvary was like our Old Bailey; it was the usual place of execution for the district. _Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. Brother, thirst I pray you to have your workpeople saved. Such a greeting had the Lord of glory, but alas, it was not the shout of welcome, but the yell of "Away with him! There were two other cross-bearers in the throng; they were malefactors; their crosses were just as heavy as the Lord's, and yet, at least, one of them had no sympathy with him, and his bearing the cross only led to his death, and not to his salvation. In that cry there is reconciliation to God. II. We can never forget the painful scenes of which we have been witness, when we have watched the dissolving of the human frame. You must consider Jesus, and not yourself; turn your eye to Christ, the great substitute for sinners, but never dream of trusting in yourselves. O my hearers, beware of praising Jesus and denying his atoning sacrifice. Beloved, let us thirst for the souls of our fellow-men. Henceforth, also, let us cultivate the spirit of resignation, for we may well rejoice to carry a cross which his shoulders have borne before us. They place the cross upon Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country. The Lord bless you, for Jesus' own sake. How they led him forth we do not know. Are you lukewarm? 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." Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. The most careless eye discerns it. "I thirst," is his human body tormented by grievous pain. I invite your attention to CHRIST AS LED FORTH. He saw its streets flowing like bloody rivers; he saw the temple naming up to heaven; he marked the walls loaded with Jewish captives crucified by command of Titus; he saw the city razed to the ground and sown with salt, and he said, "Weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children, for the day shall come when ye shall say to the rocks, Hide us, and to the mountains, Fall upon us." Trust in the Son of God and you shall never die. Then I will thirst with him and not complain, I will suffer with him and not murmur." He who stood in our stead has finished all his work, and now his spirit comes back to the Father, and he brings us with him. Have we not often given him vinegar to drink? I think that Roman soldier meant well, at least well for a rough warrior with his little light and knowledge. See how man at his best mingles admiration of the Saviour's person with scorn of his claims; writing books to hold him up as an example and at the same moment rejecting his deity; admitting that he was a wonderful man, but denying his most sacred mission; extolling his ethical teaching and then trampling on his blood: thus giving him drink, but that drink vinegar. The Redeemer's cry of "I thirst" is a solemn lesson of patience to his afflicted. Hast thou laid thy hand upon his head, confessed thy sin, and trusted in him? Now we see Jesus brought before the priests and rulers, who pronounce him guilty; God himself imputes our sins to him; he was made sin for us; and, as the substitute for our guilt, bearing our sin upon his shoulders for that cross was a sort of representation in wood of our guilt and doom we see the great Scape-goat led away by the appointed officers of justice. IV. He cried, ere he bowed the head which he had held erect amid all his conflict, as one who never yielded, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." We should love the cross, and count it very dear, because it works out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The lictors executed their cruel office upon his shoulders with their rods and scourges, until the stripes had reached the full number. When our Lord cried, "Eloi, Eloi," and afterwards said, "I thirst," the persons around the cross said, "Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him," mocking him; and, according to Mark, he who gave the vinegar uttered much the same words. Christ comes forth from Pilate's hall with the cumbrous wood upon his shoulder, but through weariness he travels slowly, and his enemies urgent for his death, and half afraid, from his emaciated appearance, that he may die before he reaches the place of execution, allow another to carry his burden. Of the many benefits we have in learning from Paul, a few stand out:1. 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. Let me add, that when we look at the sufferings of Christ, we ought to sorrow deeply for the souls of all unregenerate men and women. I suppose that the "I thirst" was uttered softly, so that perhaps only one and another who stood near the cross heard it at all; in contrast with the louder cry of "Lama sabachthani" and the triumphant shout of "It is finished": but that soft, expiring sigh, "I thirst," has ended for us the thirst which else, insatiably fierce, had preyed upon us throughout eternity. We all know that a different dress will often raise a doubt about the identity of an individual; but lo! He is indeed "Immanuel, God with us" everywhere. Grant me only thus much of likeness: we have here a Prince with his bride, bearing his banner, and wearing his royal robes, traversing the streets of his own city, surrounded by a throng who shout aloud, and a multitude who gaze with interest profound. Let us now gaze for awhile upon CHRIST CARRYING HIS CROSS. What joy, what satisfaotion this will give if we can sing, "My soul looks back to see The burden thou didst bear, When hastening to the accursed tree, And knows her guilt was there!". And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. For several Sabbath mornings my mind has been directed into subjects which I might fitly call the deep things of God. Have you prayed for your fellow men? The whole universe shall hiss you; angels shall be ashamed of you; your own friends, yes, your sainted mother, shall say "Amen" to your condemnation; and those who loved you best shall sit as assessors with Christ to judge you and condemn you! To-day I invite your attention to another Prince, marching in another fashion through his metropolis. What learn we here as we see Christ led forth? I have already told you that such was our Lord's mystical desire; let it be ours also. I will not say it is because we are unfaithful to our Master that the world is more kind to us, but I half suspect it is, and it is very possible that if we were more thoroughly Christians the world would more heartily detest us, and if we would cleave more closely to Christ we might expect to receive more slander, more abuse, less tolerance, and less favor from men. Well might the Master say, "Weep not for me, but for yourselves." My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein." April 14th, 1878 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892). the people saw him in the street, not arrayed in the purple robe, but wearing his garment without seam, woven from the top throughout, the common smock-frock, in fact, of the countrymen of Palestine, and they said at once, "Yes, 'tis he, the man who healed the sick, and raised the dead; the mighty teacher who was wont to sit upon the mountain-top, or stand in the temple courts and preach with authority, and not as the Scribes." For the thousands of eyes which shall gaze upon the youthful Prince, I offer the gaze of men and angels. It seems to me very wonderful that this "I thirst" should be, as it were, the clearance of it all. The utterance of "I thirst" brought out A TYPE OF MAN'S TREATMENT OF HIS LORD. Oh! We used to melt when we heard about his sufferings, but we did not turn from our sins. January 1, 1970 A Plain Answer to an Important Enquiry "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John vi. "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Volume 19, Sermons 1089-1149 (1873) Hide. Here we behold his human soul in anguish, his inmost heart overwhelmed by the withdrawing of Jehovah's face, and made to cry out as if in perplexity and amazement. Will your thoroughfares be thronged? Lectures to My Students - Charles Haddon Spurgeon 1889 Lessons from the Apostle Paul's Prayers - Charles Spurgeon 2018-02-19 Why study and pray the prayers of the Apostle Paul? With "I thirst" the evil is destroyed and receives its expiation. Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands. The ceremonial of the Jewish religion denies him any participation in its pomps; the priests condemn him never again to tread the hallowed floors, never again to look upon the consecrated altars in the place of his people's worship. In the Lord of Hosts, who shows his power in the sufferings of Christ and of his Church. I do not think we should seek after needless persecution. See, brethren, where sin begins, and mark that there it ends. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" here we see the Mediator interceding: Jesus standing before the Father pleading for the guilty. A few times the sun will go up and down the hill; a few more moons will wax and wane, and then we shall receive the glory. It is so with each one of you? 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 tender mercies of the wicked are cruel, they cannot spare him the agonies of dying on the cross, they will therefore remit the labor of carrying it. Our Lord Jesus came forth, willing to be exposed to their scorn. I will give you one of his thirsty prayers "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." Hark how their loud voices demand that he should be hastened to execution! As you look at the cross upon his shoulders does it represent your sin? Will ye raise a clamor of tumultuous shouting? Therefore while he thirsts give him to drink this day. If not, bestir yourselves at once. Jesus thirsted, then let us thirst in this dry and thirsty land where no water is. You may die so, you may die now. He also knew well the terrible joy that comes only through suffering as he lived quite afflicted (both by illness and slander). Oh! It was one of Death's castles; here he stored his gloomiest trophies; he was the grim lord of that stronghold. You have seen Jesus led away by his enemies; so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Dear friends, we must remember that, although no one died on the cross with Christ, for atonement must be executed by a solitary Savior, yet another person did carry the cross for Christ; for this world, while redeemed by price by Christ, and by Christ alone, is to be redeemed by divine power manifested in the sufferings and labors of the saints as well as those of Christ. Remember how Paul said, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. And what makes him love us so? So he was thirsting then. This very plainly sets forth the true and proper humanity of Christ, who to the end recognised his human relationship to Mary, of whom he was born. His most fruitful years of ministry were at the New Park Street and later the Metropolitan Tabernacle pulpit in London. Now, I am not sure that we ought to blame ourselves for this. Think of the millions in this dark world! 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