March 29, 2020 Sermon - I Am Thirsty

I AM THIRSTY JOHN 19:28-29 THE LAST WORDS OF JESUS, PART 5 MARCH 29, 2020 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR A CROSSROADS / PERRYVILLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHES, MO FACEBOOK LIVE SERVICE # 2

INTRO. Do you know what it is to be thirsty? Really, really thirsty? When I was a kid, it seemed like it was always hot when I mowed the grass, no matter what the temperature was. By the time I was finished, I would be all sweaty and thirsty! My brother and I mowed the grass at the house, and my dad would farm us out to other folks to mow their yard as well. There were two little old ladies who were sisters and lived just a few houses down the street from us, on the same block. We would mow their yard, and sure enough, we would get thirsty. When we got done mowing there, one of the sisters would be waiting on the back porch with those glass bottles of ice cold soda. We had to drink it right there, because those were the days you had to return your bottles for a deposit, but we were glad to do that because we were thirsty! And here Jesus is on the Cross, and he is thirsty! He is the living water, and yet he thirsted on that day, just like he did in our text. He who created all the water there is and was able to walk on top of it. He’s God, and yet he is thirsty! Jesus was crucified at 9:00 in the morning, and he spent the first three hours on the cross in the sunlight. He likely hadn’t had anything to drink at that point for more than 12 hours. Then the darkness came for three hours, and at the end Jesus cried out his fourth saying from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Our Lord’s first three statements were centered on others - his enemies (Father, forgive them), the believing thief (today you will be with me in Paradise), and John and Mary (here is your son... here is your mother). His fourth statement, was about himself and others, because he was forsaken when others’ sins were laid on him, for their sake. He helped others first, and did the job he was sent to do on the cross. But his last three statements from the cross were solely focused on himself: his body - “I am thirsty” (John 19:28); his soul - “It is finished” (19:30; Isaiah 53:10); and his spirit - “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Body, soul and spirit - all were offered by the Lord Jesus Christ in obedience to the Father. The shortest of these statements that Jesus made from the cross is the one found in John 19:28, “I am thirst.” In the original text, it is one word with just four letters. It is the only statement in which our Lord referred to his body and his physical suffering. This simple word, however, tells us three important things about our Savior.

I. JESUS LOVES US. Jesus was divine, but he was also human. He walked upon this earth as a man and was very familiar with the difficulties of life. When he was a child, he no doubt skinned his knee a time or two. As a teenager, it is likely that he knew what it was like to not be part of the “in” crowd. Learning the carpenter’s trade in his father’s shop, he likely had a splinter or two, and he also could very well have smashed his thumb on occasion with a hammer. As a man, he knew what it was to grow tired, to be cold, to sweat, to be hungry, and, of course, he knew what it was like to be thirsty. During an airline flight, concern over the heavy turbulence mounted as people were thrown about in their seats and bags began to fall from the overheads, until the soothing voice of the pilot came over the intercom: “No need to worry, folks,” he said, “These bumps are made of air!” We may wish the bumps we face in life were made of air, but they are not. Life throws us around; adversities are real. Physical trials sting. Emotional troubles drop unresolved baggage into our laps. Spiritual difficulties let the air out of our souls. Jesus felt the bumps as he lived here among us. Because this is so, we know that he understands where we are and what we are going through in this life, and he loves us still. Hebrews 4:15 reminds us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin.” One of Denmark’s leading sculptors had a burning ambition to create the greatest statue of Jesus ever made. He began by shaping a clay model of a triumphant, royal figure. The head was thrown back and the arms were upraised in a gesture of great majesty. It was his conception of Christ the King: strong, dominant. “This is my masterpiece,” he said, on the day it was completed. But, during the night a heavy fog rolled into the area and sea-spray seeped through a partly opened window of the artist’s studio. The moisture affected the shape of the model so that when the artist returned in the morning, he was shocked to find a wounded figure. The droplets of moisture that had formed on the statue created the illusion of bleeding. The head had drooped. The facial expression had been transformed from triumph to compassion. And the arms had dropped into an attitude of welcome. The artist stared at the figure, agonizing over the time wasted and the need to begin all over again. But something came over him which changed his mood. He began to see that this image of Christ was the true one. Then he wrote at the base of the newly-shaped figure its official title: “Come unto Me!” Jesus sympathizes with all our struggles, he loves even in the difficult times of life. He was thirsty just like you and I become thirsty. 1. Jesus loves us

II. JESUS FULFILLS PROPHECY. When Jesus said, “I am thirsty,” he fulfilled some prophecies in the Old Testament. Here is the strongest evidence that Jesus can do what he has promised in your life and mine; he fulfilled what was foretold about his life. In the Old Testament, there are over 300 separate predictions which were literally fulfilled in Christ. Many of these prophecies are about things over which Jesus had no control. Examples include predictions of: where Jesus would be born (Micah 5:2); when he would be born (Daniel 9:25; Genesis 49:10); how he would be born (Isaiah 7:14); and how he would die (Psalm 22:16). These prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus show us how perfectly he met the requirements to be our Savior! And these prophecies in the Old Testament are so specific and detailed that it would be impossible for any human being to fulfill all of them. Professor Peter Stoner, in his book, Science Speaks, says that by using the science of probability in reference to only eight Old Testament prophecies, the probability that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled eight of the 300+ Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, is 100 quadrillion, or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 17th power)! Suppose we take that amount in silver dollars and lay them out all over Texas. Those silver dollars would cover all of the state about two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir them all around. Blindfold someone and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right silver dollar? The same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one person. What about 300+ prophecies? It cannot even be calculated! And even if we had a number that big to estimate the chances, God reached down and removed that one silver dollar when he raised his son from the dead on the third day! Just as surely as Jesus fulfilled what was prophesied about his life, Jesus can do what he promised in your life! 1. Jesus loves us - 2. Jesus fulfills prophecy

III. JESUS IS ENOUGH. Why do you think people chase after riches and power and fame! Why do we chase after pleasure and all the things that do not last? It is because, at the core of who we are, we are not satisfied; we are thirsty. And Jesus was thirsty because of the physical agony he was experiencing. He had just come through three hours of darkness during which he had the sins of the world poured out upon him. He had just finished paying the price for our sins through spiritual suffering. During those three hours, he was abandoned by the Father, and he was dried up, just as the Old Testament burnt offering was totally consumed. He endured God’s fiery wrath, so he thirsted both physically and spiritually. But there is no thirst in heaven. Why? Because God’s justice was quenched! The last invitation in the Bible comes in Revelation 22:17: “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one that hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” Are you thirsty for God? The question is not simply, “Are you thirsty?” because everyone is thirsty - for reality, for fulfillment, for satisfaction, for forgiveness, and the most important thirst of all is for God. The real question is, “How long are you going to thirst?” You can be lost and thirsty for all eternity, or you can trust Jesus as your Savior and never thirst again. 1. Jesus loves us - 2. Jesus fulfills prophecy - 3. Jesus is enough

CON. And now “he who is the water of life,... on the cross is dry and thirsty... Jesus is still thirsty for us to come to him, and he is the one who quenches our eternal thirst” (Dave Bast in Courtney Jacob, np). Since Jesus was thirsty, our thirst can be satisfied forever, as we hunger and thirst for righteousness. “In the United States, unlike most of the world, we have the excessive luxury of clean water delivered into most of (the) homes (across) the country. Few of us have to think twice about taking a glass to the kitchen sink, filling it up with water from the faucet, and drinking it... In fact, (we are) so spoiled... (by the) water systems here in the United States of America... that many purchase (filtering devices that) are unnecessary, only ( somewhat improving the taste of the water... A missionary priest in Bolivia had a native woman come) up to him one day after mass (and ask,) “‘I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but because you’ve just spent some time in the United States, I thought you might be able to clear (something up for me.) A friend of my sister’s claims that in the United States the people are so wealthy that they use clean water in the toilets. I’ve told her that this is impossible and one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard, but we finally agreed we’d ask you” (Horan, 70, 72). People around the world know the value of water. They know what it is to thirst. And Jesus understands that thirst, he has experienced that thirst, and he is the only one that can satisfy my thirst and your thirst. In these days of the Corona virus, we know what it is to be in need. We know what it is to thirst in a variety of ways. Friends, turn to Jesus to meet that thirst. He died to satisfy that thirst. Turn to him and be thirsty no more!