john 19 commentary spurgeon

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. And now, brethren, our blessed Lord has at this time a thirst for communion with each one of you who are his people, not because you can do him good, but because he can do you good. The extreme tension produced a burning feverishness. 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. ", 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. Whether a disciple then or not, we have every reason to believe that he became so afterwards; he was the father, we read, of Alexander and Rufus, two persons who appear to have been well known in the early Church; let us hope that salvation came to his house when he was compelled to bear the Savior's cross. Think of that! We see how the Holy Spirit wants us to pray. But further, my brethren; this, I think, is the great lesson from Christ's being slaughtered without the gate of the city let us go forth, therefore, without the camp, bearing his reproach. We ought all to have a longing for conversions. 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." 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 claim for the procession of my Lord an interest superior to the pageant you are now so anxiously expecting. Others think that Simon carried the whole of the cross. Oh I raise the question, and be not satisfied unless you can answer it most positively in the affirmative. Jesus was proved to be really man, because he suffered the pains which belong to manhood. Like the steps of a ladder or the links of a golden chain, there is a mutual dependence and interlinking of each of the cries, so that one leads to another and that to a third. Sister, thirst for the salvation of your class, thirst for the redemption of your family, thirst for the conversion of your husband. John 19:16 . 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. Commentary on John 19:31-37 (Read John 19:31-37) A trial was made whether Jesus was dead. Lloyd-Jones opens John 19:31-37 to answer that very question. Let there be nothing but your religion to object to, and then if that offends them let them be offended, it is a cross which you must carry joyfully. The cup of which thou art made to drink, though it be very bitter, bears the mark of his lips about its brim. In the multitude there was a sparse sprinkling of tender-hearted women, probably those who had been healed, or whose children had been blessed by him. How harshly grate the cruel syllables, "Crucify him! Commentators like Thomas Manton and John Calvin are represented in this series. The "I thirst" was the bearing of the last pang; what if I say it was the expression of the fact that his pangs had at last begun to cease, and their fury had spent itself, and left him able to note his lessor pains? The arrow which has lately pierced thee, my brother, was first stained with his blood. Believing this, let us tenderly feel how very near akin to us our Lord Jesus has become. O thou blessed Master, if we are indeed nailed up to the tree with thee, give us a thirst after thee with a thirst which only the cup of "the new covenant in thy blood" can ever satisfy. There are many other ways in which these words might be read, and they would be found to be all full of instruction. Yet his language teaches us not to worship her, for he calls her "woman," but to honor him in whom his direst agony thought of her needs and griefs, as he also thinks of all his people, for these are his mother and sister and brother. He also knew well the terrible joy that comes only through suffering as he lived quite afflicted (both by illness and slander). This thirst had been on him from the earliest of his earthly days. The nails were fastened in the most sensitive parts of the body, and the wounds were widened as the weight of his body dragged the nails through his blessed flesh, and tore his tender nerves. points to the anguish of his soul; "I thirst" expresses in part the torture of his body; and they were both needful, because it is written of the God of justice that he is "able to destroy both soul and body in hell," and the pangs that are due to law are of both kinds, touching both heart and flesh. Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. Amen. Jesus took the wrath; Jesus carried the sin; and now all that you endure is but for his sake, that you may be conformed unto his image, and may aid in gathering his people into his family. Alas, my brethren, I cannot say much on the score of man's cruelty to our Lord without touching myself and you. Brother, thirst I pray you to have your workpeople saved. May we not despise our loaded table while he is neglected? I do not know how far it was from Pilate's house to the Mount of Doom. The woes which broke the Savior's heart must crush theirs. 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! A strong emphasis in Spurgeon's preaching was God's grace and sovereignty over man's helpless state. 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. How truly man he is; he is, indeed, "bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh," for he bears our infirmities. I invite you to meditate upon the true humanity of our Lord very reverently, and very lovingly. When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. If we weep for the sufferings of Christ in the same way as we lament the sufferings of another man, our emotions will be only natural, and may work no good. May we not be half ashamed of our pleasures when he says, "I thirst"? Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. Such a greeting had the Lord of glory, but alas, it was not the shout of welcome, but the yell of "Away with him! "Wist ye not," said he, while yet a boy, "that I must be about my Father's business?" 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"[ a] 37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."[ b] Read full chapter Footnotes There have been times, and the days may come again, when faithfulness to Christ has entailed exclusion from what is called "society." These are awful words, but they are not mine; they are the very words of God in Scripture. 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. See, brethren, here is a picture of what we may expect from men if we are faithful to our Master. 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. We shall by the assistance of the Holy Spirit try to regard these words of our Saviour in a five-fold light. 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! Angels cannot suffer thirst. What knocks he for? " And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. Have you prayed for your fellow men? He ran and filled a sponge with vinegar: it was the best way he knew of putting a few drops of moisture to the lips of one who was suffering so much; but though he felt a degree of pity, it was such as one might show to a dog; he felt no reverence, but mocked as he relieved. And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ? 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. 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'? And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. And said, Hail, King of the Jews!_ 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. It was most fitting that every word of our Lord upon the cross should be gathered up and preserved. It is not sorrow over Rome, but Jerusalem. 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. 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." Certainly it is so with you; you do but carry the light end of the cross; Christ bore the heavier end. John 19:7-8. Our great hero, the destroyer of Death, bearded the lion in his den, slew the monster in his own castle, and dragged the dragon captive from his own den. With "I thirst" the evil is destroyed and receives its expiation. It is the opinion of some commentators that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. The procession of my Lord an interest superior to the Mount of Doom Jerusalem. 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