iThirst - Part B

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Now, let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I read something that I committed to memory. I'll share with you now. James Johnsia, author, writes this. He said, God will never burglarize the human will.

He may want to come in and help. But he will never cross the picket line of our unwillingness. Isn't that good? Yeah. In other words, Here's God allowing human choices to be made.

At the same time, he's behind the scenes sovereignly operating and allowing those choices to be made, though ultimately driving the car where it needs to go. But he will never burglarize the human will. He'll never cross the picket line. of our unwillingness.

So we have human responsibility, we have divine sovereignty.

Now, that the scripture might be fulfilled, we're told in verse 28. He said, I thirst. I mentioned that scripture was Psalm 69. Don't have to turn there now, but look at it later. It's a messianic psalm.

It describes the suffering of the coming Messiah, like Psalm 22 did. And in verse 21, It describes this scene. It says this, and I quote: They gave me gall for my food. And to quench my thirst they offered me sour wine. To satisfy my thirst, or vinegar, but it's sour wine.

Some translations put it differently. The sour wine was well, it was just cheap wine. It's what the Roman soldiers drank. The legionnaires would have a pitcher of sour wine. It's it's like the the worst of the wines.

I don't know, I don't know much about it, but it'd be like Boone's Farm. All right.

Some of you like going, I know what that is.

So I'm a little worried about this.

So, this is like the cheap wine that the Roman soldiers, in carrying out their duties of execution, would have at that place. And they offered it to Jesus to drink at the time. It also said that they administered That to him with hyssop. John records that. Hyssop.

Hyssoph was a weed, had a long shaft or reed, and it had a spongy end. It really grew like a weed around Jerusalem, among the crevices of the rocks, so they would just pull out a piece and use it.

So they're just pulling out the hyssop, but... The Jewish mind And the Jewish reader, in hearing hyssop, would go all the way back. To Exodus twelve and hearing hyssop. Because Hysif is what God told the children of Israel to dip in the Passover blood, the blood of the Lamb, and wipe on the lintels and the doorpost of their home so that the death angel would pass over. Every Jewish Ear would think Passover, blood.

Lamb. Salvation. How fitting the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, being crucified on what festival? Passover was happening at the very moment. This is going on.

So every single thing is being fulfilled and accomplished according to plan, even Psalm 69 and even the nuance and the typology of the Hissab being used for this event. That the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst. I want you to step back again from the scene and consider something. This is something I think every single Christian needs to consider. Have you ever considered what Jesus' relationship was?

to the scriptures. That is what he said about the scriptures, how he would refer to the scriptures. Yeah. And the reason every Christian should examine that. is because I fear That Jesus' view of the scripture, and in his case it was the Old Testament at that time.

The Jesus view of the scripture Is far different from many who claim to follow Jesus. You know that 64 times or 64 places in the New Testament Jesus referred to Old Testament scripture? And always as the word of God, and always as something that was inerrant and perfect and would never be broken. For instance, he quotes Deuteronomy 8: saying, Man shall not live by bread alone, but By every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That's what he said.

He affirmed that. In John chapter 10, Jesus said about the scripture, and the scriptures cannot be broken. I wonder if you believe that. He said concerning the scriptures in The Gospel of Mark and the scriptures must be fulfilled. On five occasions, Jesus Christ asked the Jewish leaders Questions like this.

Have you not read? Haven't you read what Moses wrote? Haven't you read what David said? As if holding them accountable for reading and believing the scriptures? Yeah.

But The passage of all passages. That came from the mouth of Jesus were these words. Till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle, that is the smallest Hebrew letter in the alphabet or the stroke of the pen will pass from the law. Tell everything is fulfilled.

So, you have a lot of people that say, yeah, I don't know if I really believe the Bible as the Word of God, inerrant, and all that stuff. But I love Jesus. Really? If you can't trust Jesus in what he said about the Bible, how are you going to trust him in anything else? Because the one you claim to follow is one who said the word of God cannot be broken.

And incidentally, the Jesus you claim to follow in Matthew 19 said that God created man in the Garden of Eden. In Matthew 24, it said there was a worldwide flood that happened. In Luke chapter 11, claimed that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. I know it's a fishy story for a lot of people, but for Jesus, it was scripture. He said that Sodom was an actual place that literally got destroyed, and manna fell from heaven.

All of those miraculous things Jesus said happened. That's the Jesus. that we follow. That's his relationship to the scripture. And we're reminded of that here as Jesus hung on the cross and knew all things were accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled.

said I thirst.

Well, let's look at that, what he said. Two words. I thirst. One word in Greek. Dipso.

Dipsa, one single word. It's the shortest of the statements that Jesus made on the cross.

Now when we hear those words The veil is pushed back. And we understand something about the cross. First of all, it shows us The cross's intensity. It reminds us that victims of crucifixion went through a physiological phenomenon of dehydration, intense dehydration. That The tissues of the body became emptied of their fluids, and those tissues sent messages to the brain over and over again.

I'm dehydrated. I thirst. I'm going to read the words of Frederick Farrar, who wrote the classic work on the life of Christ, describing what happens at crucifixion. The unnatural position, that is, of the crucified victim, the unnatural position made every movement painful. The lacerated veins, the crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish.

The wounds inflamed by exposure gradually gangrene, that is, when the victim took several days. To die, Jesus took ours. The arteries, especially at the head and the stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood. And while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging. Thirst.

Farrar and other medical experts. Tell us that crucifixion was by first planting the spikes, the tapered spikes. In the wrist. Where the radius and ulna bones come together to form a hook so that the victim can hang without shredding through the tendons in the flesh. And then the spikes were administered to the feet.

And so Throughout the crucifixion, the victim would be pulling up. and pushing up on those spikes After a while the muscles became paralyzed. The pectoral muscles of the chest, the intercostal muscles between the ribs. There was a paralysis, so it was. Easy to take in a breath, almost impossible to exhale, and the only way to exhale was to pull up painfully or to push up painfully on the spikes to let a breath out.

So, this shows us that now, at this period, almost the end of the crucifixion. Jesus can't make many words come out, so he gives one word. Dipso. I thirst. It speaks of the intensity of the cross.

It also tells us of the humanity of Jesus. How ironic! How ironic that the giver of life. It's experiencing death. That the quencher of human thirst.

The one who said, Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. I am the living water. That one. is thirsty. The Creator of the world has parched lips.

Yeah. It speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ. I've discovered something about us evangelical Christians. We're really good at defending the deity of Christ. We have been traditionally, typically.

But we're a little sketchy when it comes to talking about the humanity of Jesus. You're listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before we return to Skip's teaching, in his powerful book, Beyond the Summer of Love, Pastor Skip Heitzig helps you understand God's plan and his rules for relationships that flourish and reflect his own love. And when you give a gift of $25 or more this month to support the Worldwide Ministry of Connectvoskip-Heitzig, we'll send you Beyond the Summer of Love. This resource is for anyone interested in having a successful relationship.

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Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. Did you know that the first assault on Christian doctrine, the first heresy introduced into the church, was not an attack on the deity of Christ. It was an attack on the humanity of Christ. It was called Gnosticism. And so because of that whole debate, The theologians introduce us to a new term.

About Jesus. Here's the term. Phaeanthropos. Jesus Christ is the theanthropic Son of God. Comes from two Greek words: theos, God, Anthropos, man.

Jesus is both. God Theos, and man, Anthropos.

So his nature is a theanthropic nature. Meaning, Jesus has undiminished deity. while having unprotected humanity. Fully God. Fully man.

Dying on a cross. And in his humanity saying, I thirst.

Now do I get that? Do I totally understand that? I don't. I got to confess that to you.

So I'm like, oh yeah, man, I got this down. I got my mind wrapped around this whole nature of God. I do not. That's why Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.

It's like, man, that's. That's like it'll blow my mental fuse. That's why Isaiah In speaking of Jesus coming. puts both natures together in one verse. For unto us A child.

is born. That's humanity. Unto us a son is given. That's deity. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Both natures are included in the prophetic single verse. Here is Jesus dying on the cross. Thirsty. As a man. Jesus got tired.

He slept in the boat. He got fatigued. He had to sit down at the well. In John 4. He's thirsting, he got hungry, he shed tears at the Lazarus funeral.

So, put it this way: what Jesus knew on the cross proves his deity, he knew all things. About ready to be accomplished. He knew that. That's deity. But what he said demonstrates his humanity.

Thirst. It also this. Pulling back the veil shows us not only the intensity of the cross, the humanity of Christ, but the humility of Christ. The humility of Christ. Paul said.

Jesus humbled himself to the point of death. Even the death on the cross. Jesus became at this point Our sacrifice. Our substitute. He humbled himself.

What does it mean he humbled himself? And how does this show his humility? This way. Jesus was offered sour wine not once, but twice. If you put this together with what Matthew chapter 27 tells us, we're told that at the very beginning of the crucifixion, they offered him sour wine mixed with gall.

And he refused it. Remember that? He refused it because gall was an analgesic. It was a painkiller. It produced a narcotic effect in the body, deadening the pain.

And most criminals were given. A narcotic. In other words, the soldiers got him stoned. Why not? They're dying.

It's like putting a patient on morphine before they die. Jesus refused it. He refused it. Why? Because he wanted to make sure that his senses would be undiminished so that he could feel.

the full wrath of God upon sin in his own body. And he didn't take it. But now all things are accomplished, all things are over, so he takes the sour wine to quench his thirst without the narcotic involved. That shows His humility. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed this prayer: Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not your will, but my will, but your will be done. The cup he was speaking of there was the cup of suffering. Jesus wouldn't let any human cup Diminish that cup of suffering.

So he pushed it away. He refused it at first. And now he takes it without the narcotic. That's what Jesus knew, that's what Jesus said. With Close with what Jesus did.

Now a vessel of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on hyssop. put it to his mouth, So when Jesus received the sour wine, he said, It is finished, and bowing his head. He gave up his spirit. That verse we'll concentrate on next time. Jesus has Fully Drunk the cup.

Of suffering.

Now he drinks the cup. To quench his thirst, he becomes the sacrifice, he becomes the substitute. What did Jesus endure? on that day.

Well, he endured darkness. For three hours. He endured separation from his father. He cried, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Momentarily, he was separated from the father in close fellowship.

Darkness? Separation and burning raging thirst. Hmm, what does that sound like? Darkness, separation, burning, raging thirst. It sounds like hell.

That's what Jesus endured for you and I. Jesus endured what every lost soul will endure for eternity apart from Christ. He took hell. That you might have heaven. He took thirst.

that your thirst might be quenched. He took separation from the Father that you would never have to be separated from him. He took death that you might have life. The writer of Hebrews Says, Jesus Christ, by the grace of God. Tasted Death for every man.

He tasted death so you wouldn't have to taste death. That's what the substitute is all about. That's what the sacrifice is all about. There's one scripture that I think Puts it all together better than any other text in the Bible. It's 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.

Let me just. Speak it to you. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That we might become the righteousness of God. in him.

Once again, God made him. Who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Let me translate that to you my way. At the cross, God treated Jesus as if he had committed every single sin by every single person who ever lived. Or I'll put it to you another way.

God at the cross treated Jesus like you and I deserve to be treated.

So that he could treat us like Jesus Christ deserves to be treated. God made him who knew no sin to be sin. for us. That's what he did. That's what he did.

I thirst. That's God's app for your thirst. You could write I thirst. Over your life, because you do thirst, and so do I. It describes our pursuit.

It describes our life. It's the banner statement of who we are. I thirst. We have a deep spiritual thirst. Every human being has it.

Mm-hmm. Jesus said to the woman at the well of Samaria, if you drink of this water, you'll thirst again. You could write that over every status symbol, over everything you own, over every pursuit in your life, over every degree you're trying to get. Drink of this water. You'll thirst again.

Jesus on the cross, I thirst, is his app for your thirst. He took the thirst so that you could be quenched of your thirst, spiritually, you turn away. One final thing to think of as we close. It's fascinating. When you think that just a few months before this event that we're reading about, in the same city of Jerusalem, a couple hundred yards away in the temple, It was the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Jewish nation was celebrating God's provision. of their forefathers in the desert. Every day during an eight-day feast, Thousands of people gathered in the temple. The high priest would take a pitcher of water down to the pool of Siloam, put water in it, walk up to the temple. With a whole crowd of people, pour the water.

at the base of the altar and people would shout and they would Cry praises to God, all symbolic that God brought refreshing water out of the rock in the wilderness, providing for their. Great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents. And it was a water libation ceremony every day in the temple. On the last day of that feast, What John calls the great day. The eighth day of the feast.

The priest took that picture down to the pool and walked up to the altar twice. Shouts of praise went up, but on the very last time, It was a time of silence. As the people would meditate on God's goodness in the past by quenching the thirst of their forefathers, but also anticipating the coming of Messiah who would eternally quench their thirst. and as they were meditating and contemplating in silence, The Bible says in John 7, Jesus stood up. and cried out If anyone is thirsty, Let him come to me and drink.

And all the heads went, To find out who just said that. We're meditating. This is like church. We're supposed to be quiet. And he cried that out.

And the people looked at him and he made that promise. He said, For out of his innermost being will flow rivers, torrents of living water. You know what the last invitation in the Bible is? The last invitation. Whoever is thirsty Let him come.

And drink. of the water of life. Our substitute died and was thirsty.

so that you and I would never have to be. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $25 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skiff Heitzig, we'll send you Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World by Pastor Skiff Heitzig, to help you build biblically healthy relationships or repair ones that have been damaged by sin. To request your copy of Beyond the Summer of Love, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888.

Or visit connectwithskip.com/slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com/slash store. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect the Skip-Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection! Make a connection never before.

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