Good Friday, 1995	I Thirst	John 19: 28, 29

28After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." 29A 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.

There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus knew the scriptures so well that even as he was dying he was thinking about them, quoting from them, even fulfilling them. Indeed, if there had been someone who had actually been at the scene of the crucifixion taking down all the things that Jesus said, I'm sure that there would have been more than seven things. And, in fact, probably most of the things he would have said would have been recitations from the Psalms, and prayers, and maybe even songs of praise.

And there certainly would have been words of encouragement to those around him. We know that he encouraged at least one of the persons who was being crucified next to him. For he told him that this day he would be with him in Paradise. And we also know that he wanted to comfort his mother and his best friend, John, for he told them that from now on they belonged to each other as "mother and son." Yes, everything that Jesus said, recorded in the Bible or not, was said not for himself, but for others who were there.

So, you shouldn't really be surprised when I tell you that when Jesus said, "I am thirsty," that it wasn't just to get a drink in order to satisfy his thirst. Jesus wasn't begging for a drink. Rather, he was thinking of a scripture passage — Psalm 69:21, to be exact, where it says, ". . . and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Certainly, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." But it is also very probable that as soon as he received a drink of the vinegar, handed up to him on a sponge, that he quoted that scripture from Psalm 69: ". . . and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

I know some people who can sing a song for just about everything that happens in their life. We're surrounded by music in our world. If it isn't the radio, it is the television. If it isn't the television, it is a CD player. If it isn't a CD player, it is a cassette player, or a record player, or a live concert in the park, or the organ playing on Sunday morning, or the choir singing an anthem. We're surrounded by music. So, certainly, there is a song for just about every occasion.

But, in Jesus' day things were a little different. If there was music it was a live performance. And most music, or at least the widely known music, was indeed the music of worship in the synagogue. All of the Psalms were sung or chanted in a variety of ways. Even readings taken from the Torah could be chanted. So, we shouldn't be surprised that when Jesus was thirsty and saw that all he would get to satisfy his thirst was vinegar he quoted Psalm 69. And we shouldn't be at all surprised that when he felt lonely and miserable that he would have quoted Psalm 22. For Jesus' very self-identity was wrapped up in the word of God, for as John 1 says, Jesus Christ was the Word of God made flesh.

But, it is possible that Jesus Christ wasn't only thinking about the Psalms when he said, "I thirst." Certainly, it is very possible that he was thinking of some scripture passages in the book of Isaiah, especially in the 49th chapter where it says of the faithful: "They shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water they will be guided." Certainly, we can all understand how someone who was thirsty unto death might think of such a scripture as this, if they knew it.

So, what does this say to us? Doesn't it remind us of the importance of centering our own lives around scripture? When things happen to us, where do we get our strength from? Songs from the top 40? From the Psychic Friends network? From Popular Psychology? From the latest in self-help books? Or from the scriptures? When we get to the end of our rope, where do we get our help? From the guys and gals at work? From the guy behind the bar the neighborhood pub? From some radio or TV talk show? From the guys at the barber shop or the gals at the hairdresser's? Or from the scriptures? Indeed, where do we put our trust?

I remember being asked once by a Sunday School teacher to list the three scripture passages that would be most helpful to us if we knew we were about to die. That's something for each of us to think about. What scriptures would you think about if you were about to die?

There is the story that is told about a man by the name of Sir John Franklin. Sir John, it is said, lived an exciting life of adventure in the British Navy, which took him to many parts of the world. As a signal midshipman in the Battle of Trafalgar, he transmitted the memorable message from the flagship, "England expects every man to do his duty." He was a devout Christian and found great strength in reading the Bible. His men said they would rather have him hold a service than most ministers they had ever heard.

In 1845 he was put in command of two ships to look for a passage across the polar seas. The last communication from them came through their contact with a whaling ship in Baffin Bay.

Many expeditions were made in the next ten years to learn the fate of Sir John Franklin's ships. Pieces of equipment found on beaches told of shipwreck in the icy seas. One of the books found in a chest along one of those beaches was Sir John Franklin's Bible with the following verses from Psalm 139 underlined: "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." There was also a book of devotions with a page turned down at the verse from Isaiah 43: "Fear not . . . When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee"

It is clear that Sir John Franklin put his trust in the Lord and looked to the scriptures for comfort and for strength, following the very example of Christ upon the cross. And are we not, thus, encouraged by their example to do the same?

Certainly, we are wise when we put our trust in the Lord. I am reminded of a story told by a pastor about how the local parks commission in a large town had been ordered to cut down the trees along a certain street which was to be widened. As they were about to begin, the foreman and his men noticed a robin's next in one of the trees and the mother robin sitting on the nest. The foreman ordered the men to leave the tree until later.

Returning, they found the next occupied by little wide-mouthed robins. Again, they left the tree. When they returned at a later date they found the nest empty. The family of robins had grown and flown away. But something at the bottom of the nest caught the eye of one of the workmen — a soiled little white card. When he had separated it from the mud and sticks of the nest, he found that it was a small Sunday school card and on it the words, "We trust in the Lord our God."

Isn't that also the message of Christ who even as he was dying on the cross remembered and even acted out the importance of scripture and the power of God to save? We can assume just by reading about the death of our Lord that the scriptures were so much a part of him that he didn't even have to try to remember them. They were a second nature to him. In fact, they were him. For Christ was indeed the Word of God.

So, let us trust in the Lord our God. May God's words of faith be on our minds at all times.

In our world, however, there are so many voices, so many other words that compete with God's message. Sometimes we even fall into the fatal trap of thinking that new things are better than old things. How quickly we dismiss the traditions and teachings of the ancient church, forgetting that the Bible is the first and foremost of those traditions and teachings?

Jesus didn't forget his roots even as he hung on the cross. He knew the teachings and the words from of old. And so should we. They were a part of him, as they should be a part of us.

I would like to conclude with some words from a liturgy that dates back to 13th Century England. Think about these ancient words as I read them for they bear the same message of Christ on the cross — Christ who lived the scriptures to the very end — Christ who could not forget God, but remained faithful to his last breath. Hear these words:

God be in your head, and in your understanding.

God be in your eyes, and in your looking.

God be in your mouth, and in your speaking.

God be in your heart, and in your thinking.

God be at your end, and at your departing.

May such grace, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.