The platted crown of thorns, the purple robe, the reed with which they smote him, and the spittle with which they disfigured him, all these marked the contempt in which they held the King of the Jews. I cannot give you more than a mere taste of this rich subject, but I have been most struck with two ways of regarding our Lord's last words. The last word but one, "It is finished." Oh! Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands. Some of you will not be baptized because you think people will say, "He is a professor; how holy he ought to be." As he commends his spirit into the Father's hand, so does he bring all believers nigh to God, and henceforth we are in the hand of the Father, who is greater than all, and none shall pluck us thence. So he was thirsting then. May the Holy Ghost work in you the complete pattern of Christ crucified, and to him shall be praise for ever and ever. 1. John 19:16 . How near akin the thirsty Saviour is to us; let us love him more and more. How they led him forth we do not know. He is exiled from their friendship, too. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani," what an awful shriek! In the Lord of Hosts, who shows his power in the sufferings of Christ and of his Church. It was a confirmation of the Scripture testimony with regard to man's natural enmity to God. "Weep for yourselves," says Christ, "rather than for me." The lictors executed their cruel office upon his shoulders with their rods and scourges, until the stripes had reached the full number. 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. Hast thou laid thy hand upon his head, confessed thy sin, and trusted in him? The voice of sympathy prevailed over the voice of scorn. The Church must suffer, that the gospel may be spread by her means. That impenitent thief went from the cross of his great agony and it was agony indeed to die on a cross he went to that place, to the flames of hell; and you, too, may go from the bed of sickness, and from the abode of poverty, to perdition, quite as readily as from the home of ease and the house of plenty. Simon was an African; he came from Cyrene. Though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it gave him lasting honor. First, they teach and confirm many of the doctrines of our holy faith. 29. In that cry there is reconciliation to God. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. I am glad the world expects much from us, and watches us narrowly. He was innocent, and yet he thirsted; shall we marvel if guilty ones are now and then chastened? Nor does the grief end here, for have not the best works we have ever done, and the best feelings we ever felt, and the best prayers we have ever offered, been tart and sour with sin? Spurgeon left this earth for his heavenly hope in 1892. 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." Let us exult as we see our Substitute going through with his work even to the bitter end, and then with a "Consummatum est" returning to his Father, God. As you look at the cross upon his shoulders does it represent your sin? 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. Coming fresh from the country, not knowing what was going on, he joined with the mob, and they made him carry the cross. How harshly grate the cruel syllables, "Crucify him! A strong emphasis in Spurgeon's preaching was God's grace and sovereignty over man's helpless state. Thou wast still straightened till the last pang was felt and the last word spoken to complete to full redemption, and hence thy cry, "I thirst." 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." He pitied the sufferer, but he thought so little of him that he joined in the voice of scorn. Perhaps they are your children, the objects of your fondest love, with no interest in Christ, without God and without hope in the world! Remember that, and expect to suffer. Amen. Oh! Some of us, indeed, confess that, if we had read this narrative of suffering in a romance, we should have wept copiously, but the story of Christ's sufferings does not cause the excitement and emotion one would expect. "Wist ye not," said he, while yet a boy, "that I must be about my Father's business?" By contrast, the Christian faith is built on the . Oh, shame that men should find so much applause for Princes and none for the King of kings. Every word, therefore, you see teaches us some grand fundamental doctrine of our blessed faith. Have you repented of sin? Certain philosophers have said that they love the pursuit of truth even better than the knowledge of truth. 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. You do suffer. In your chamber let the gasp of your Lord as he said, "I thirst," go through your ears, and as you hear it let it touch your heart and cause you to gird up yourself and say, "Doth he say, 'I thirst'? That little rising ground, which perhaps was called Golgotha, the place of a skull, from its somewhat resembling the crown of a man's skull, was the common place of execution. He sipped of the vinegar, and he was refreshed, and no sooner has he thrown off the thirst than he shouted like a conqueror, "It is finished," and quitted the field, covered with renown. 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. Behold, my King is not without his crown alas, a crown of thorns set with ruby drops of blood! Now, I am not sure that we ought to blame ourselves for this. What but for the juice of the vine that he might be refreshed? A new edition of Spurgeon's classic devotional using the ESV. Now recollect, if Jesus had not thirsted, every one of us would have thirsted for ever afar off from God, with an impassable gulf between us and heaven. 'Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. The last expiring word in which he commended his spirit to his Father, is the note of acceptance for himself and for us all. His great love makes him thirst to have us much nearer than we are; he will never be satisfied till all his redeemed are beyond gunshot of thee enemy. Your Prince is surrounded by a multitude of friends; hark how they joyously welcome him! Justice must fly the field lest it be severe to so deserving a being; as for punishment, it must not be whispered to his ears polite. "I thirst" meant that his heart was thirsting to save men. Others think that Simon carried the whole of the cross. 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." This was the act too of man at his best, when he is moved to pity; for it seems clear that he who lifted up the wet sponge to the Redeemer's lips, did it in compassion. Methinks Death thought it a splendid triumph when he saw the Master impaled and bleeding in the dominions of destruction; little did he know that the grave was to be rifled, and himself destroyed, by that crucified Son of man. "We, whose proneness to forget Thy dear love, on Olivet Bathed thy brow with bloody sweat; "We whose sins, with awful power, Like a cloud did o'er thee lower, In that God-excluding hour; "We, who still, in thought and dead, Often hold the bitter reed To thee, in thy time of need.". For a biblical, reformed, and historic collection of commentaries, the Geneva Series is unsurpassed. Dear fountain of delight unknown! Jesus was deserted of God; and if he, who was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? I have already told you that such was our Lord's mystical desire; let it be ours also. II. Well, then, what means this cry, "I thirst," but this, that we should thirst too? Jesus said, "I thirst," and this is the complaint of a man. To-day I invite your attention to another Prince, marching in another fashion through his metropolis. Christians, will you refuse to be cross-bearers for Christ? 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. (John 19:11) Jesus answered, . The cup of which thou art made to drink, though it be very bitter, bears the mark of his lips about its brim. 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. And what makes him love us so? Did he not tell his disciples, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished?" But what shall be your cry when you shall say, "Good God! Alas, man is the slave and the dupe of Satan, and a black-hearted traitor to his God. Perhaps, dear sister, you carry about with you a gnawing disease which eats at your heart, but Jesus took our sicknesses, and his cup was more bitter than yours. 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!". One word: transformation. You have seen Jesus led away by his enemies; so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Mine is adorned with garments crimsoned with his own blood. Let each of us say "Tis all my business here below To cry, Behold the Lamb!" John 1:30-31. Commentators like Thomas Manton and John Calvin are represented in this series. O Lord Jesus, we love thee and we worship thee! "He that taketh not up his cross and followeth not after me," says Christ, "is not worthy of me." Thirst is no royal grief, but an evil of universal manhood; Jesus is brother to the poorest and most humble of our race. "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. " And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. There can be no shadow of doubt but that our Lord was really crucified, and no one substituted for him. is the fourth cry, and it illustrates the penalty endured by our Substitute when he bore our sins, and so was forsaken of his God. John 19:3. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" You may sit under a sermon, and feel a great deal, but your feeling is worthless unless it leads you to weep for yourselves and for your children. How has it been with you? I invite you to meditate upon the true humanity of our Lord very reverently, and very lovingly. 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. He is not allowed to worship with them. As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. 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. I think that Roman soldier meant well, at least well for a rough warrior with his little light and knowledge. Exposition of the Gospel according to John by Hendriksen, William, 1900-1982 (1953) 526 pages 19 ratings 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! Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. You have been ill, and you have been parched with fever as he was, and then you too have gasped out "I thirst." So numerous has the family of man now become, that there is a death every second; and when we know how very smell a proportion of the human race have even nominally received the cross and there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved oh! It is not fit that he should live." When they had mocked him they pulled off the purple garment he had worn, this rough operation would cause much pain. To-day I invite your attention to another Prince, marching in another fashion through his metropolis. 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