Living Water From The Cross (Final Words Part V)

Sermon Title: Living Water from the Cross

Good News Statement: Jesus refills us with living water

Preached: Sunday, April 3, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): John 19:28-29 Today’s scripture reading comes from the Gospel of John chapter nineteen verses twenty-eight thru twenty-nine. Listen to the words of the Beloved Disciple, John…

²⁸ After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture); “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

Introduction:

A little boy, was in church on Easter Sunday with his mother, when he started feeling sick. “Mom,” he inquired, “can we leave now?” “No,” his mother replied, “the service isn’t over yet.”

“Well, I think I’m about to throw up,” the boy announced. “Then go out of the front door and around to the back of the church and throw up behind a bush,” said his mother. After about 60 seconds, the boy returned to his pew, alongside his mother. “Did you throw up?” she asked quietly. “Yes,” the boy answered, embarrassed. “How could you have gone all the way to the back of the church and returned so quickly?” she asked. “I didn’t have to go out of the church. They have a box next to the front door that says, For the Sick.”

In life we will encounter situations by which our actions speak louder than our words. The phrase, “actions speak louder than words,” is found in literature and is hundreds of years old. This interesting and meaningful statement was first published in 1692 in Gersham Bulkeley’s book Will and Doom. Prior to 1692, John Pym used this phrase to motivate the English Parliament during the English Civil War of 1628. After doing some further research, this phrase appeared before 1628. In a sermon by St. Anthony of Padua in the 1200s this phrase was delivered before his congregation: He proclaimed, “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak.”

Thinking about this phrase in combination with the words that Jesus spoke from the cross just minutes before death as he was in excruciating pain, I began asking myself, “Would I have enough courage to stand before Jesus at the foot of the cross and give him something to drink as he cried out, ‘I thirst’ (John 19:28-29)? Could my actions speak louder than my words?” Do you know of anyone who has said, “I thirst” but nothing has been given to them to quench their thirst? Jesus refills our cup with living water and he doesn’t even have to say a word. Could you do the same?

Opening Prayer:

            Let us pray…Dear Merciful Father, remind us today that sometimes in life when our words fall short, our actions take their place and bring love and comfort to your people when they cry out, “I am thirsty.” I pray that my words fall to the ground as your words settle in the hearts of all those before me. In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Body:

Our crucifixion perspective comes from Nicodemus, a High Priest, a non-follower of Jesus, and the one who helps prepare Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:38-42).

I was drawn to Jesus since the first time I laid eyes on him. Three years later I stood by as he was crucified. My name is Nicodemus, and the first time I heard Jesus speak was in Jerusalem. He preached with power and conviction, and his words were accompanied by the most remarkable deeds. It was as if his words came from above or something. The sick were healed, sinners came to God, and demons were cast out in his presence. He healed on the Sabbath, he did not follow our rituals and customs, and he had the irritating habit of pointing out our sins: the Sanhedrin as no sins. He almost seemed like a rebel: a rebel for new beginnings and not war. Yet perhaps for these very reasons I was drawn to him.

            I could not let my colleagues know of my interest in this radical preacher. When I finally met with him, I requested a meeting by night so that no one would see us together. It was at that meeting that he looked me in the eyes and said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must be born not only of water but of the Spirit as well.” What an utterly odd thing to say! I left him that night confused, feeling like I, a scholar and leader among our people, was a mere child in the eyes of this man. Once more I was deeply drawn to him.

            The night before Jesus was crucified, the Sanhedrin had been called together for a hastily arranged meeting. When I was informed about this meeting, I was confused. I thought to myself, “We don’t usually meet by night. Can’t this wait until morning? What is the hurry?” When I arrived to Caiaphas’s house, my heart sank when Jesus was brought in by the Temple guard. I’m ashamed to say that I was silent as the others called for his death. I wanted to speak up for him, but I was afraid. I knew I could lose everything if I spoke out against the High Priest and the others involved in this charade. Even now I’m embarrassed to tell you of my cowardice. That night he was sentenced to die, and I said nothing.

            The next morning, as they led him to be crucified, I wanted to run and hide. Yet I knew that by my silence, I had allowed this to happen. I decided that at least I could have the courage to show up and see what my silence had brought upon this innocent man. I wanted him to see in my eyes my sorrow and pain and the deep regret I felt in not speaking out for him. Why didn’t I speak up? What was holding me back?

            The women came to him just before he was crucified. They were given permission to offer him one last drink. The Romans did not know that the women, in compassion, had laced the cup of wine with poison meant to deaden the pain and to hasten his death. He tasted it, but noting its bitterness and understanding what they were doing, he refused to drink it. I turned away as he was nailed to the cross, and then I watched in silent agony as his cross was raised. The sound of the cross dropping into the stone hole, still echoes in my soul. I listened as my fellow priests hurled insults. Still I was silent. After some time the soldiers mocked him, offering him wine—a kind of toast to the crucified king, “Hail, the King of the Jews” they said—but they kept it just out of reach as he sought to drink. Why haven’t I said anything yet?

            Near the end of the ordeal, after he had hung there for six hours, he spoke again. He hadn’t said a word in hours. He said, “I thirst.” I could not stand it anymore. At this point, watching him die, I found some small amount of courage. I no longer cared what anyone else thought. I took a branch of hyssop, fastened a sponge to it, dipped it in wine, and lifted it to his lips. He drew from the sponge, and, shortly after, he breathed his last.

            I never did say anything to him. But hopefully my actions made up for my lack of speech. (Final Words From The Cross, Adam Hamilton, 83-85).

“I thirst.” This simple statement that Jesus made before he died almost seems out of place among the other dramatic statements he made from the cross. Yet this seemingly insignificant statement is recorded by John alone, and with John, almost every seemingly insignificant statement is a clue to the deeper meaning of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ words, “I thirst,” remind us of two things: 1) Jesus was human and 2) Jesus is the source of living water. To better understand the message of these two words, let us explore the three times Jesus is offered wine before and during the crucifixion.

The first time that Jesus was offered wine occurred before he was crucified. Mark 15:22-23 says, “Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.” Matthew agrees with Mark, but changes the last few words. Matthew states, “They offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it” (Matthew 27:34).

The wine mixed with myrrh or gall was given routinely by the soldiers to further torment the victims of crucifixion. Myrrh and gall were thought to make the victim terribly sick to the stomach, inducing vomit. Additionally, myrrh and gall were ways of speaking of poisons that were thought to expedite death or possibly to deaden the pain. Nevertheless, notice that Jesus, upon tasting the wine mixed with gall, refused to drink it. Jesus was intentionally choosing to suffer. Jesus took the uncomfortable way, the inconvenient way, the way most of us don’t want to go. He did not wish to take the easier way out. He chose this path. Even though he has the power to lay his life down and take it up again (John 10:18), he chose the path of pain and suffering: a path that many of us try to avoid. His decision to suffer, to not take the drink, fulfills what he told his disciples in Matthew 16:24: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Jesus chose to refuse the wine mixed with myrrh or gall to experience suffering.

We live in a day when most of us tend to prefer the easy way out. Do any of you like to take the easy way out of things? My grandfather used to say, “Work smarter, not harder.” And he lived up to this phrase by using an insanely amount of duct-tape! If we feel bad, we seek some sort of medication. If things aren’t going well, we want a quick fix. If it is too cold outside but we need groceries, we order online. If we are having something shipped and the expected arrival time extends beyond seven days, we resort to Amazon Prime. We like to take the comfortable way; we want to minimize pain and to avoid the way that’s uncomfortable or inconvenient. Jesus didn’t choose the comfortable way.

By choosing the uncomfortable way, enduring pain and suffering, Jesus showed all those present at the crucifixion that he was human. Jesus was fully human, as Paul notes in Philippians 2:7: “[He] emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form…” Before his death, Jesus thirsted as we thirst. Jesus died as we die. Jesus suffered as we suffer. Jesus experienced pain as we experience pain. Jesus wept as we weep. And Jesus felt forsaken as we feel forsaken at times. Jesus refused the first offer of wine to experience the uncomfortable way because he, too, was human like us.

The second offer of wine occurred sometime after Jesus was nailed to the cross. Luke records that the soldiers offered wine to Jesus in mockery, as though it were a toast. Luke writes, “The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’” (Luke 23:36-37). In this case it is unlikely that Jesus actually would have been able to drink this wine. It likely was lifted up like a toast, just out of Jesus’ reach, taunting him. The soldiers mocked him by placing the crown of thorns on his brow, the reed scepter in his hand, and placed a cloak around his back as they taunted him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” These soldiers were giving Jesus a coronation ceremony at the time of his death. This second refusal of wine proves to us that Jesus still had the strength to overcome temptations, like he did in the wilderness with the devil.

Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. During these forty days and forty nights, the Devil tempted Jesus three times according to Matthew 4:1-11. First, the Devil said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (4:3), and Jesus refused. Second, the Devil said, while placing Jesus at the pinnacle of the temple, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” (4:6), and Jesus refused. Lastly, the Devil said, presenting before Jesus the kingdoms of the world, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (4:8-9), and Jesus refused. Jesus overcame temptations at both the beginning and end of his ministry here on earth. By refusing to give into his human temptation of accepting the wine from the mocking soldiers, he proved to us that as a human earthly temptations are no match for the one who chooses to love and follow him. Jesus prolonged his life by refusing to give into temptations. When was the last time the Devil persuaded you to follow him and you didn’t refuse: you took the cup from the mocking soldiers?

The third offer of wine is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and John, though John’s account is somewhat different. John writes, “After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth” (John 19:28-29). Jesus spoke the words “I thirst” neither as a sign of weakness nor as a sign of giving into temptation, but as a means “that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Most scholars believe that Jesus was referring to Psalm 69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Could you imagine drinking vinegar—it’s not bad on salads, but just simply drinking it?

When Jesus said he was thirsty, he was not only referring to the scriptures of old, but he was referring to the words of himself. When Jesus was conversing with the Samaritan Woman at the well in John 4, he said to her, “If you knew who you were talking to, you would ask of me and I would give you living water and you would never thirst again” (John 4:10). Later on in John 7, Jesus says this to the multitudes in Jerusalem, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink” (John 7:37). Jesus also notes in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Jesus knew his life was ending and that the well of humanity was beginning to dry up because of all the hate and sin in the world.

        Jesus chose to drink the wine, the poison, so that you and I would eternally be given the fountain of living water; so that you and I would never again be thirsty but receive righteousness; so that you and I would be able to be born again by the Spirit; so that you and I would be able to assist him as he fulfills the words of Isaiah 41:17: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2).

Jesus cried out, “I thirst,” to show us his humanity and to remind us that he is experiencing life alongside us. He chose these words so that our cup will never be empty but over filled. He chose these words to give us eternal living water and to prove to us that we have the strength to overcome temptations in our life. We have the ability to quench the thirst of those around us by our Christian actions. We have the power to fill the cup of our neighbor. Who is thirsty in your life? Who is crying out, “I am thirsty”? Whose cup needs to be refilled? Whose soul longs to experience the living God?

Conclusion:

What Nicodemus did with the sponge and sour wine is testament of his faith. Although he never stood up or spoke up for Jesus, his actions before Jesus’ death proved to be significant. They proved that even though he had a title to live up to, his heart received a spiritual nudge that allowed Jesus to feel love at a time of death. Nicodemus refilled the cup of Christ by his willingness to stand up for his own beliefs and convictions. Nicodemus gave compassion to an innocent man who he really didn’t know. Nicodemus was born again by the Spirit because he felt saved by Christ. The words, “I thirst,” that came out of Jesus’ month, while hanging on the cross, are words of desperation, of help, and of wanting to feel loved. These words remind us that even Jesus was human, and that Jesus needs us to put our love into action for all those who cry out, “I am thirsty.” As a contemporary hymn proclaims, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” All deserve the living water of Christ. As St. Anthony of Padua preached to his congregation, “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak.” Are your actions speaking louder than your words?

 

Communion Transition:

We see one last interpretation of Jesus intentions of saying “I thirst” as he gathered with his disciples around the table in the Upper Room. At the Last Supper, Jesus took the cup and said, “This is my blood of the new covenant” (Matthew 26:28). Elsewhere Jesus is recorded as asking James and John, who wanted to sit at his right hand and his left hand, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” (Matthew 20:22). Jesus’ thirst was an indicator that he had finished off the cup that his Father had given him; he had completed his mission to suffer and die on behalf of the human race; and that he has provided us with a new covenant—a new cup filled with eternal love and forgiveness. Although Jesus finished off the cup of the Father, he extends to us, at the table, to have our own cup filled with salvation and repentance. Please join me in celebrating Holy Communion…

 

Benediction:

Today we still can offer Jesus a drink. We do this when we see those who are physically or spiritually thirsty and we risk the scorn of others or simply go out of our way to offer them a drink. Allow your actions to speak louder than your words. Who is thirsty for Christ in your life? Who needs to receive the living water of Christ? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go, transforming lives as you live well and wisely in God’s world. Amen. Amen. Amen.