Some Easter Season reflections

[Kit Sober]

From the CFF newsletter today

SOUNDING OUT:

I Thirst

John 19:28,29:

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

²⁹

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put

it

upon hyssop, and put

it

to his mouth.

Sometime after taking care of his mother, very near his death, Jesus Christ expressed his desire for a drink with the simple statement, "I thirst." John's Gospel records two descriptive phrases that set the background for his request: "knowing that all things were now accomplished," and "that the scripture might be fulfilled." Jesus drawing near to the close of his life was comforted "knowing that all things were now accomplished." He was ready to see the completion of his mission. Just one thing left. Jesus said, "I thirst." and the scriptures were fulfilled.

Psalms 22:15 describes Jesus' condition saying, "my tongue cleaveth to my jaws." With a thirst like that it was about time he requested a drink. Psalms 69:21 says, "...and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." He had already been offered and refused four drinks. Now finally he requested a drink. The context suggests that this request was made to his family and close friends standing nearby. One of them responded and utilized hyssop to offer this fifth drink to Jesus. Like most of us at the end of our toil, he desired some refreshing. He waited until the end to request it, as if this was the completion of his duty. Throughout his life he acted in fulfillment of scripture, now this one last element before he declares, "It is finished."

This was not the first time Jesus had been offered wine. Both Mark and Matthew observe that he was offered bitter wine just prior to being crucified (Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:23). Perhaps this was intended as an intoxicant for those about to suffer pain. Jesus refused to drink this first offering of wine.

The drink that Jesus requested and accepted was wine vinegar which didn't have any alcohol in it. It was a popular drink with soldiers of the Roman army, made by diluting sour wine vinegar with water. It was inexpensive, considered more thirst quenching than water alone, prevented scurvy, killed harmful bacteria in the water, and the vinegary taste made bad smelling water more palatable. The soldiers had brought it to sustain them during their crucifixion duty. They weren't getting drunk on it, just using it to quench their own thirst. This use of hyssop is a throwback to the first Passover when the children of Israel were to dip hyssop in the sacrificial blood and then use it to sprinkle the blood across the doorposts and lintels of their houses. According to Exodus 12:3 and 4, that first Passover was to be observed by individual families and close friends. Here at the sacrifice of the true and final Passover lamb, hyssop, family, and friends are again involved. They filled the sponge with the wine and then used the sponge to squeeze the wine onto the hyssop. The hyssop's thick, hairy leaves and branches being made into a bunch that held moisture very well.

Hyssop tied with a scarlet cord to a cedar handle was used in purification ceremonies of the Old Testament. (See Hebrews 9:19,20; Exodus 24:6.8; Numbers 19:6,17,18; Leviticus 14:1.7,48-52.) Hyssop had long been known for its value in healing and purifying. Besides Passover, hyssop was also used in the Old Testament in the cleansing of a healed leper and of a house delivered from plague and was to be used in the cleansing of anyone who had been in contact with a dead body. Psalms 51:7 says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean...." Hyssop was used by Moses in sprinkling blood on the book of the covenant before all the people. Only this fifth drink did Jesus request and accept. His request in fulfillment of scripture was necessary to strengthen himself and ease his throat so that he might cry out his final words from the cross "with a loud voice." He was preparing himself to bring it all to completion.

This reminded me of how much we have learned/gleaned from these days leading up to the Resurrection of our Lord. I was also reminded of that mark of nobility of the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. Such searching the scriptures certainly has kept me out of the soup of swallowing whole what anyone says (other than the Lord, of course :) )

Edited April 8, 2011 by Kit Sober

[Kit Sober]

From Max Lucado's "Up Words" today

______________________________

Thirsty on the Cross

by Max Lucado

Jesus’ final act on earth was intended to win your trust.

This is the final act of Jesus’ life. In the concluding measure of his earthly

composition, we hear the sounds of a thirsty man.

And through his thirst—through a sponge and a jar of cheap wine—he leaves a

final appeal.

“You can trust me.”

Jesus. Lips cracked and mouth of cotton. Throat so dry he couldn’t swallow, and

voice so hoarse he could scarcely speak. He is thirsty. To find the last time

moisture touched these lips you need to rewind a dozen hours to the meal in the

upper room. Since tasting that cup of wine, Jesus has been beaten, spat upon,

bruised, and cut. He has been a cross-carrier and sin-bearer, and no liquid has

salved his throat. He is thirsty.

Why doesn’t he do something about it? Couldn’t he? Did he not cause jugs of

water to be jugs of wine? Did he not make a wall out of the Jordan River and two

walls out of the Red Sea? Didn’t he, with one word, banish the rain and calm the

waves? Doesn’t Scripture say that he “turned the desert into pools” (PSALM

107:35 NIV) and “the hard rock into springs” (PSALM 114:8 NIV)?

Did God not say, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty” (ISAIAH. 44:3NKJV)?

If so, why does Jesus endure thirst?

While we are asking this question, add a few more. Why did he grow weary in

Samaria (John 4:6), disturbed in Nazareth (Mark 6:6), and angry in the Temple

(John 2:15)? Why was he sleepy in the boat on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:38),

sad at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35), and hungry in the wilderness (Matt.

4:2)?

Why? And why did he grow thirsty on the cross?

He didn’t have to suffer thirst. At least, not to the level he did. Six hours

earlier he’d been offered drink, but he refused it.

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the

Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but *he did not take it.*

And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each

would get. (Mark 15:22–24 NIV, *emphasis mine*)

Before the nail was pounded, a drink was offered. Mark says the wine was mixed

with myrrh. Matthew described it as wine mixed with gall. Both myrrh and gall

contain sedative properties that numb the senses. But Jesus refused them. He

refused to be stupefied by the drugs, opting instead to feel the full force of

his suffering.

Why? Why did he endure all these feelings? Because he knew you would feel them

too.

He knew you would be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew you’d be sleepy,

grief-stricken, and hungry. He knew you’d face pain. If not the pain of the

body, the pain of the soul … pain too sharp for any drug. He knew you’d face

thirst. If not a thirst for water, at least a thirst for truth, and the truth we

glean from the image of a thirsty Christ is—he understands.

And because he understands, we can come to him.

In my opinion it's so nice to be able to read and appreciate other people's view of the Lord. We know in part and understand in part and as we appreciate others' viewpoint we can see Him more clearly. I pray this Easter season is more precious for you.