Thoughts for another day

April 18, 2014.

Today's verse:  Jn. 19:28 & 19:30. I thirst.  It is finished: (KJV)

(Pls. read the above before you read further.  Thanks)

Today we observe Jesus’ death on the Cross and to many of us, it seems incredulous as how can one conceive the possibility of the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe coming down on earth and dying for us who’re stupid and frail and save us from the death that stared us in the face.  And so in this spirit, we take two Words spoken by Christ as He hung on the Cross, gasping in pain and despair as He knew His Father, Who was always with Him, had left Him.  Truly for Jesus it was a moment of great ache and loneliness.  One which probably shook Him up to think of the intense savagery meted out to Him at the hands of the Roman soldiers.

I thirst:  In fulfillment of Scripture, Jesus uttered this Word, rather solemn and meaningful.  It was both real and figurative.  Real because Jesus, I would imagine, had not had a drop of water since He was arrested and now stood thirsty on the Cross.  His mangled body was bleeding and shivered with the ceaseless pain rising in every sinew inside of Him.  I also feel at that moment, Jesus put us into the picture to express His thirst for all men to be saved.  As He lay on the Cross, He saw you, me and all of humanity in a glance and the great suffering we were to undergo on account of our sin. When His heart could hold it no longer, He spoke out His desire, His deep longing and His cry to each one of us showing how greatly He wants us to come to the Fount of Living Water and drink from it.  We must decide today, are we going to the Fount or are we content in the muck we’re in?

It is Finished:  Jesus’ ultimate joy was to finish the work His Father had entrusted to Him. As He hung on the Cross, He knew it was over.  Just as He was about to give up His Spirit, in meek surrender to His Father, He declared…It is done.  It was His signal cry to His Father declaring the completion of His mission on earth.  It was accepted; and then Jesus bent His head and died.  For us, because Jesus finished His work, we just have to believe and accept it and then join Him in the kingdom, after we pass away from our life here on earth.  God gives us the Grace to combat every lethargy and force that confronts us in our acceptance of Jesus’ work and as we lean on God, he removes all barriers so we’re able to partake in the redeeming work of Christ and be saved for eternal life. 

Think on these my friend and know that our God is certainly an awesome God, even to dying for us on the Cross.