Surrendering Life
Series: THE TRIUMPHANT LIFE
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 19th April 2019
Passage: John 19:1-42
00:00:00 --> 00:00:13 1974, five people died, 65 were injured in two IRA bombings, two pubs in Guildford in England.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:20 And when that happened, the public was outraged, innocent people died, the British police,
00:00:20 --> 00:00:25 they were desperate to arrest someone for it. And it wasn't long before they, in fact,
00:00:25 --> 00:00:31 quite quickly, they arrested quite a small time Belfast criminal by the name of Jerry Conlon.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:39 And he was one of four people arrested for those crimes. They became known as the Guildford Four.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:46 The police also arrested amongst the four was not just Jerry, but Jerry's dad, Giuseppe,
00:00:47 --> 00:00:53 for conspiring in the bombing. And with all their investigations that took place,
00:00:53 --> 00:01:01 it turns out the police actually had no evidence at all to suggest that Giuseppe, or in fact,
00:01:01 --> 00:01:10 the Guildford Four were guilty for the bombings. In fact, they received evidence to show exact
00:01:10 --> 00:01:16 opposite, and especially for Giuseppe, that he was clearly innocent. He was nowhere near it at the
00:01:16 --> 00:01:22 time and had nothing to do with it. In spite of that, Giuseppe Conlon was sentenced to 12 years
00:01:22 --> 00:01:28 in prison. Even though the authorities knew he was innocent, his son, Jerry, was sentenced to life
00:01:28 --> 00:01:33 imprisonment. There's a movie called In the Name of the Father that you can get about this.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:42 Jerry Conlon was released after 15 years and went on to write a book about his innocence and his
00:01:42 --> 00:01:49 eventual vindication. Giuseppe Conlon, however, his dad died in prison, an innocent man.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:56 It's another one of those stories that you hear in history. Innocent people being condemned for crimes
00:01:56 --> 00:02:01 that they didn't commit. It's a miscarriage of justice. And as we come to Good Friday,
00:02:02 --> 00:02:07 and as we hear the story read to us, we go, here's just another one of those stories,
00:02:07 --> 00:02:13 the innocence of Jesus. He's just another innocent guy, the wrong time, the wrong place,
00:02:13 --> 00:02:20 said some things that got him into a lot of trouble, and he just died. Jesus was utterly
00:02:20 --> 00:02:30 innocent in his suffering. He's not just innocent, as Pilate himself revealed, not just innocent for
00:02:30 --> 00:02:39 the charge of blasphemy, but he's in fact innocent of all sin. One of his closest disciples said this
00:02:39 --> 00:02:48 about Jesus, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Now what's remarkable
00:02:48 --> 00:02:53 about that statement? On one hand, you might be saying he's a mate, he's trying to, you know,
00:02:53 --> 00:02:59 he's saying good things about him. But you and I both know that the closer you get to an individual
00:02:59 --> 00:03:09 relationally, the more you see their flaws, the more you see their failings, the more you live with
00:03:09 --> 00:03:14 someone and spend time with someone, their faults come to the surface. The people that we elevate as
00:03:14 --> 00:03:20 heroes in our lives, you get close to them and you realize they're like everyone else. They put their
00:03:20 --> 00:03:30 trousers on one leg at a time. They're no different. But not with Jesus. The closer you get to him,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:38 the more you see his innocence. He was sinless. Those closest to him could find no fault with him.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:49 Pilate couldn't find fault with him. In fact, Jesus is one of two people in history who in their own time
00:03:49 --> 00:03:56 people wondered not just who they were, but what they were because of their quality of life.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:05 Buddha was the other one. And so the most important question of the past 2000 years,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:18 which is just as important now in the 21st century, is why did Jesus die? Why did he come and why did he die?
00:04:19 --> 00:04:28 There still is controversy around which humans are responsible for the death of Jesus. That goes on.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 But the reality is that's a marginal issue.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:42 The central issue around Jesus' death is not the cause of it, but the meaning of it.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:52 Importantly, the Bible tells us, in fact, that Jesus chose to die. His heavenly father ordained it and he embraced it.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:59 We see that in the text before us today. Jesus was in total control. He says to Pilate,
00:04:59 --> 00:05:07 you have no power over me unless it was given to you. And you see on the cross, Jesus was in total control.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:15 He breathed his last and he surrendered his life to death. He literally gave it up.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:26 One of the most stunning statements Jesus ever made about his own death and resurrection is just a few chapters earlier in John's gospel.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 John chapter 10, verse 17 and 18. He says,
00:05:29 --> 00:05:38 I lay down my life that I might take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 He's in total control.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:53 Human beings might have had multitude of reasons for wanting Jesus out of the way.
00:05:55 --> 00:06:05 But only a good God can design it for the good of the entire human race, including, as we've just sung, those who put him on the cross.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:19 God's full purpose for the entire world in the death of Jesus are really incomprehensible, but they are good.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:23 His death has been powerful in its ongoing impact.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:33 You see, Jesus was really a peasant nobody convicted, condemned as a pretender for the throne to Rome, throne of Rome.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:48 And yet, in the following three centuries from his execution, his death unleashed a power to suffer and to love, which in fact transformed the Roman Empire.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:56 And to this day is influencing and reshaping people and communities and nations and cultures right across the globe.
00:06:56 --> 00:07:04 East, West, rich, poor, intellectual young children have embraced and been transformed by this Jesus.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:09 And continue to be transformed by this Jesus.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:19 But Jesus' death was also unique because he was more than just a mere human.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 Not less, but more than.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:32 And this is the testimony of those who knew him and were inspired by him to explain who he was.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:37 For instance, at the very beginning of this biography on Jesus' life in John's gospel that we're looking at this morning,
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 John calls Jesus the word,
00:07:43 --> 00:07:47 which has massive implications in the Greek culture.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 Divine being.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 And it says,
00:07:53 --> 00:07:53 And it says,
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 At the very beginning of John's gospel,
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 In the beginning was the word,
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 and the word was with God,
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 and the word was God,
00:08:04 --> 00:08:05 and the word,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 this God,
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 became flesh and dwelt amongst us.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:14 So the crucial question,
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 all these years later,
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 is why did Jesus,
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 God himself,
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 not just come,
00:08:24 --> 00:08:25 but in coming,
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 chose to die?
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 Why did the eternal choose to die?
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 What is the purpose of it?
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 What's the meaning of it?
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 What did Jesus achieve by his death?
00:08:37 --> 00:08:44 What is it that Jesus is offering to each one of us on this Easter in 2019,
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 some 2000 years later?
00:08:46 --> 00:08:51 And so there's two things that I want to kind of focus on for the rest of our time together this morning.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:51 Firstly,
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 the nature of Jesus' offer to us.
00:08:55 --> 00:08:56 That's the first thing,
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 the nature of his offer to us.
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 And secondly,
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 how do we take up that offer?
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 So firstly,
00:09:03 --> 00:09:03 the nature.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:05 Verse 28,
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 John 19,
00:09:08 --> 00:09:09 if you've got your Bibles in front of you,
00:09:09 --> 00:09:10 verse 28,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:11 it says,
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 Later,
00:09:13 --> 00:09:17 knowing that everything had now been finished,
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 and so that scripture would be fulfilled,
00:09:21 --> 00:09:22 Jesus said,
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 I am thirsty.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:26 I am thirsty.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 Now our first reaction to that,
00:09:29 --> 00:09:30 you just read straight through that,
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 and you don't kind of focus on it a whole lot,
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 our first reaction to that is,
00:09:34 --> 00:09:34 well,
00:09:34 --> 00:09:35 of course he's thirsty.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:40 He's been crucified under the Middle Eastern sun.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 So of course he's thirsty.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 He's been losing lots of fluid.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:44 So of course he's thirsty.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:52 One of the things that people died from when being crucified was in fact dehydration.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 All the loss of fluids.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 And from what I understand,
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 dehydration is a horrible death.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:12 I've heard that to die of dehydration is like the pain involved of getting your hand and putting it on a hot stove.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 You know the pain you feel with a burn,
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 but on the inside.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 That's what dehydration is like,
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 to die from dehydration.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 It's burning up inside.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 It's like you've swallowed a fire.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:31 And so you go,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:32 cool,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 of course he's thirsty.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 But if you linger over these words a bit,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:41 you start to realize it's a little bit weird that it gets mentioned here.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:46 And so it's possible that Jesus is making a significant point.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:48 You see,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 let me just clarify something here.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 Jesus has suffered an awful lot up to this point.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:56 A lot.
00:10:56 --> 00:11:02 He's had soldiers smash him in the face and say,
00:11:02 --> 00:11:03 prophesy.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:10 He's been lashed to a post and whipped 39 times.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:14 His back would have looked like a piece of raw steak.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:21 He's had tent pegs driven through his hands and his feet.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:28 He's had this crown of thorns squeezed onto his head.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 And he accepted it.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 He endured all of that,
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 all of that pain,
00:11:36 --> 00:11:37 all of that suffering.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 He submitted to it.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 And we don't even up to this point,
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 even get up.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:45 Oh,
00:11:45 --> 00:11:45 that hurt.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:48 Oh man,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:48 that,
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 that really hurt.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 Not even a whimper.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:56 And now,
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 all of a sudden,
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 having endured all of that,
00:12:00 --> 00:12:00 he goes,
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 I'm thirsty.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:04 Why
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 complain about thirst?
00:12:10 --> 00:12:14 That's because something more than physical thirst is going on here.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:15 Certainly he was thirsty.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:21 But something much deeper is going on here that Jesus is attempting to highlight for us.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:23 Earlier in John's gospel,
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 which was just read out to us as well,
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 John chapter four,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:30 we read that Jesus encounters a woman at a well.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 She's a Samaritan woman,
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 mortal enemy of Jewish people in the first century.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 She's a woman,
00:12:37 --> 00:12:38 as the text tells us,
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 been looking for love and security in all the wrong places.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 And she's surprised that Jesus comes to her and says,
00:12:45 --> 00:12:45 give me a drink.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 In other words,
00:12:47 --> 00:12:48 Jesus says,
00:12:48 --> 00:12:48 I'm thirsty.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:49 Give me a drink.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:53 And then Jesus says to her,
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 everyone who drinks this water,
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 the water that you're about to draw out of the well with your bucket,
00:13:00 --> 00:13:01 will be thirsty again.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 But whoever drinks the water that I give them,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 will never thirst.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:09 Indeed,
00:13:09 --> 00:13:13 the water I give them will become in them a spring of water,
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 welling up to eternal life.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 You see,
00:13:17 --> 00:13:18 in the Bible,
00:13:19 --> 00:13:27 thirst is a metaphor for the spiritual emptiness that comes when God's not the center of your life.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 It's one thing to believe that God exists,
00:13:34 --> 00:13:41 but it's quite another thing for him to be the central reality of your life.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:45 Even this woman at the well believes in God.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 For instance,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 in Psalm 42,
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 we read this,
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 as the deer pants for streams of water,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 so my soul pants for you,
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 my God.
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 My soul thirsts for God,
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 for the living God.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 Where can I go and meet with God?
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 So it's not belief,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 mere intellectual assent in God that our soul needs,
00:14:13 --> 00:14:17 as much as it is in meeting God,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:17 knowing God,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 experiencing God.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 Without meeting,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:20 knowing,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 experiencing God,
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 without him being the central reality of our lives,
00:14:25 --> 00:14:29 the Bible says we die of thirst.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 We die,
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 spiritually.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 We can believe in God,
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 but have something else as the central reality of our lives.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:39 These other things,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 they might be success,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:41 approval,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:41 comfort,
00:14:42 --> 00:14:42 friendship,
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 family,
00:14:43 --> 00:14:43 sex,
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 romance,
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 influence,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:45 or money,
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 or a multitude of other things,
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 are actually,
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 are the actual drink,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:51 if you like,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:57 that we are pouring into our souls to quench the thirst that we constantly feel on the inside.
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 Give me satisfaction,
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 give me approval,
00:15:00 --> 00:15:00 more of it,
00:15:01 --> 00:15:01 more of it,
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 more of it in the hope that we will never thirst again.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:14 And what Jesus is saying is that if you attempt to quench the thirst of your soul with anything else,
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 other than the love and the beauty and the comfort of God in Jesus Christ,
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 then you will thirst again,
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 and again,
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 and again,
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 and again,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:23 and again,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 and again,
00:15:25 --> 00:15:25 fuera.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 And when Jesus is talking to the woman,
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 as she's drawing the water at the well in John 4,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:36 he says,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 the water that I give them,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:44 the water that I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 You will never thirst again.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 And the Samaritan woman says,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 yes,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 give me some of that water.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 This stuff's better than Powerade.
00:15:59 --> 00:15:59 You know,
00:15:59 --> 00:15:59 like,
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 give it to me.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 I don't want to get thirsty ever again.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 I don't want to keep coming to draw from this water consistently.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 Give it to me.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:11 And then Jesus says,
00:16:12 --> 00:16:16 immediately in response to her wanting to take up this offer,
00:16:17 --> 00:16:17 says,
00:16:18 --> 00:16:18 go and get your husband.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:24 Well,
00:16:24 --> 00:16:24 actually,
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 Jesus,
00:16:25 --> 00:16:25 I,
00:16:26 --> 00:16:27 I don't have a husband.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 He says,
00:16:30 --> 00:16:30 you're right.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 When you say that you have no husband,
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 the fact is you have had five husbands,
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 and the man you're currently with is not your husband.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 And when you first read that,
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 she goes from being really keen to get this living water of Jesus,
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 and all of a sudden,
00:16:44 --> 00:16:44 Jesus,
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 go and get your husband.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:46 It's like,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 what are you doing here,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:49 Jesus?
00:16:50 --> 00:16:50 I mean,
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 this is an opportunity.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 Get her to bow and pray the prayer and ask you into her heart.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 What are you doing here?
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 This woman is talking about really important spiritual stuff.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 She wants to take up the offer of eternal life.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 He changes the subjects and brings up her brokenness,
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 her mess.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 Why change the subject,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 Jesus?
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 Why be so harsh here?
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 But in actual fact,
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 he isn't changing the subject.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 And he's in fact being incredibly tender to her.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:34 He's pointing out to her that all her messed up love life is simply a result of looking for men to give her what only God can give her.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:41 The reason her life is going so poorly is because when you look to someone,
00:17:41 --> 00:17:45 to something other than God for your life,
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 for your love,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 for your significance,
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 for your meaning,
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 for your hope,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 you will simply thirst again.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 You will simply thirst again because it will never satisfy.
00:17:54 --> 00:18:09 And anyone who continues to do it continues to look to everywhere else except God will thirst eternally.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:17 What she needed was God to be the living reality of her life.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 The center of her life.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:25 She needed to have the love of God at the center of her life so that she didn't need,
00:18:25 --> 00:18:25 in fact,
00:18:25 --> 00:18:29 to look to the love of men to give her what only God can give her.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:37 So Jesus was not so much confronting her as he was lovingly convicting her.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:44 She hasn't been living with God as a central reality of her life,
00:18:44 --> 00:18:48 even though she claims to be a believer.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 She has a belief in God.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 And Jesus is saying here,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 it's not enough.
00:18:56 --> 00:19:03 God was at the center of her life and Jesus helped her to see it.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 Helped her to see that other things,
00:19:07 --> 00:19:07 in fact,
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 were more important to her.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 Earlier in John's gospel,
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 when people got close to Jesus,
00:19:15 --> 00:19:19 what we see is they immediately fell to the ground in his presence.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:24 They discovered that they could not stand in the presence of perfection and greatness and holiness.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:31 When we think that we can do that on our own terms,
00:19:32 --> 00:19:36 it's simply because we have no idea of his splendor
00:19:36 --> 00:19:40 and we have no idea of our actual brokenness and sin.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:50 So how is it possible that you and I can meet and stand before God,
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 who is holy and perfect and glorious?
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 Well, this is the reason why Jesus was thirsty.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:05 His thirst is a picture of what's actually happening on the cross.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 On the cross,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:12 Jesus Christ is experiencing the ultimate thirst.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 He is experiencing, if you like,
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 the everlasting burnings.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:24 The prophet Nahum in the Old Testament puts it like this.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 Who can withstand his indignation?
00:20:28 --> 00:20:28 Talking about God.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:32 Who can endure his fierce anger?
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 His wrath is poured out like fire.
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 And on the cross,
00:20:41 --> 00:20:46 Jesus was getting what the whole human race deserved for its evil
00:20:46 --> 00:20:51 in putting everything else but God at the center of their lives.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 He was getting what we deserve for our sins.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 He was experiencing the divine justice.
00:20:55 --> 00:21:00 It was like a million suns burning down on him.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:06 He is thirsting so that we can have the living water.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:09 He is dying of spiritual thirst.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:12 He is experiencing the agony of eternity without God,
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 being separated from God,
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 the fountain of living water,
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 so that we can have the fountain of eternal life giving water.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:27 Jesus experienced the agony of separation from the love of his father,
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 the experience of the fire of his judgment and anger,
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 so that we can experience his presence,
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 his love,
00:21:35 --> 00:21:37 and the never-ending refreshment of water,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 of eternal life.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:48 He got what we deserve so that we can get what he deserves.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:53 He suffered so that we can have a river of life welling up in us,
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 which is his favor,
00:21:55 --> 00:21:55 his love,
00:21:56 --> 00:21:56 his approval,
00:21:57 --> 00:21:57 his acceptance.
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 And every single one of us needs that.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:04 Every single one of us has approval and acceptance issues.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 Dropped on our head as a baby,
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 not raised by the parents in the right kind of way.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 Every single one of us has got issues with that.
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 And Jesus offers it unconditionally.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 That is the nature of his offer to us.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 So secondly,
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 how do we take it up?
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 Last thing that Jesus says here,
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 so he says,
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 I'm thirsty.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 Next thing he says is,
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 it is finished.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 As he breathes his last in verse 30.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 Jesus is using a word there,
00:22:33 --> 00:22:38 that in the original language means totally paid.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 Totally paid.
00:22:41 --> 00:22:46 It's a word that you would write across an account in the first century.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 Like a stamp,
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 paid in full.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 Tetelestite,
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 paid in full.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:57 One of the wonderful and great paradoxes of history,
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 is that here,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 is the helpless,
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 powerless,
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 dependent Jesus on the cross.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 And his last word on the cross.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 I did it.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 I did it.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 I triumphed.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 I've accomplished it.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 And what he has accomplished,
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 is described for us a little bit later in the New Testament.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 Christ also suffered once for sins,
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 the righteous for the unrighteous,
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 to bring you to God.
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 See,
00:23:36 --> 00:23:39 there is this infinite chasm between us and God.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 Infinite chasm,
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 because we have not put him at the center of our lives.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48 And Jesus has done everything required.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51 Paid every debt that we owe to God.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:55 Dealt with every sin of shame and guilt and sin.
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 And he's accomplished it all.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 And he says on the cross,
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 I've done it.
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 It's finished.
00:24:02 --> 00:24:08 Nothing more needs to be done to bridge the gap between us and God.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:17 I mentioned Buddha early in this message.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:22 So contrast Jesus' last words with the last words of Buddha.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 Jesus,
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 it is finished.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 The last words of Buddha,
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 strive without ceasing.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:40 There is a lot of admirable things about Buddhism,
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 like the self-denial and the recognition that selfishness
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 is in fact a big problem of human humanity.
00:24:47 --> 00:24:51 But if you know anything about the eightfold path of Buddhism,
00:24:51 --> 00:24:55 then you would know that it is incredibly hard,
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 incredibly demanding,
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00 and you never know if you've ever arrived.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06 And that's why his last words was,
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 strive without ceasing.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:08 Never give up.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 Keep striving.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 Keep striving.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 If you want to achieve enlightenment,
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 you've got to keep striving.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 Keep striving.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 Keep striving.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 And Jesus' last words is,
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 I've done it all for you.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:20 I've done all the striving.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:24 I've done everything you need to bring you to salvation.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 Religion is where we give God a performance
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 and in the hope that God blesses us.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 And the core message of Christianity,
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 the core message of Easter,
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 the core great news,
00:25:35 --> 00:25:35 if you like,
00:25:35 --> 00:25:37 which is why it's called Good Friday,
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 by the way.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 The great news,
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41 the gospel news of Easter
00:25:41 --> 00:25:45 is that in Jesus Christ,
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 he's done everything.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:53 And we live to love and to serve him,
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 the one who has already given us the love
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 and the acceptance and the approval and the blessing.
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 Jesus says it's done.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:07 Any effort on our behalf to attempt to make his finished work better
00:26:07 --> 00:26:11 actually makes his finished work worse.
00:26:11 --> 00:26:15 takes away from it.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 Any effort at all,
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 any striving at all,
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 takes away from it.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25 So when Jesus says here,
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 it is finished,
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 what he actually means is,
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 it is finished.
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 We cannot receive his salvation
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 and act as if we can add to it
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 in some kind of way.
00:26:40 --> 00:26:42 And there are two kinds of people
00:26:42 --> 00:26:45 who attempt to add to his finished work.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 One kind of person
00:26:48 --> 00:26:50 is the beat myself up person.
00:26:51 --> 00:26:54 The other is the prove myself person.
00:26:54 --> 00:26:58 There are the self-beaters
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 and the self-provers.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 The self-beater
00:27:01 --> 00:27:03 is the one where every time
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 someone criticizes them,
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 they are devastated
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 and they beat themselves up.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 Every time you do something wrong,
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 you make a mistake,
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 you beat yourself up.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:13 In fact,
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 you did something 15 years ago
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 and you still can't get over it.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 You always feel bad about everything.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 You need to know
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 on this Good Friday
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 that Jesus was beaten up for you.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 Was it not good enough for you?
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 Do you think you can add to it
00:27:35 --> 00:27:35 in some way?
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 He paid for your sins.
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 Why are you still trying to pay for them?
00:27:40 --> 00:27:42 He atoned for your sins.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 Why are you still trying to atone for them?
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 It is finished.
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 Attempting to add anything
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 to what Jesus has done
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 simply subtracts from it.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 And so can I say
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 with sensitivity,
00:27:54 --> 00:27:56 blunt sensitivity,
00:27:57 --> 00:28:00 how dare you hate
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 and loathe yourself
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 if you are a Christian?
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 Don't you understand
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08 what Jesus has done for you?
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 Don't you understand
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 the approval he has on your life?
00:28:14 --> 00:28:18 The other person
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 is the self-prover.
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 You are the other end of the spectrum.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 You feel so much better about yourself.
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 You're often proud.
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 You're often a self-made person.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 You've had a bit of success in life
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 and you think it means something.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 You've got money,
00:28:32 --> 00:28:32 you've got success,
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 you've got possessions,
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 you've got a great middle-class lifestyle,
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 you obey the laws of the land,
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 you've got family,
00:28:38 --> 00:28:38 you've got career.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 in order to feel secure
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 and significant,
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 you feel like that
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 and you're just trying
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 to add to Jesus' work
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 to make yourself feel
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 a little bit more secure
00:28:49 --> 00:28:49 and accessible.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 You think that what you've done in life
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 contributes something.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 And the message of Christianity
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 is that we're all sinners
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 saved by grace
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 if you trust
00:29:00 --> 00:29:02 in the finished work of Jesus.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 We,
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 every single one of us,
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 are more evil
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 than we ever dare to believe
00:29:09 --> 00:29:11 and we are more loved
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 than we ever dared
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 to hope or imagine.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:17 The person who tries
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 to prove themselves
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 doesn't understand
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 that they can never,
00:29:20 --> 00:29:24 never can prove themselves
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 because they are more evil
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 than they ever imagined.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 And conversely,
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 the person constantly
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 trying to atone
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 for their flaws
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 by beating themselves up
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 never will
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 because they're already loved
00:29:37 --> 00:29:39 and affirmed more
00:29:39 --> 00:29:41 than their wildest dreams.
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 God humbles one person
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 and God affirms the other.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:47 It is finished on the cross.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 Jesus' death on the cross
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 doesn't make a contribution
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 to your salvation.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 It is your salvation.
00:29:56 --> 00:29:58 All of our overwork,
00:29:58 --> 00:30:00 all of our anxiety,
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 our constant striving,
00:30:02 --> 00:30:04 our lack of gratitude
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 and rejoicing
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 is because we don't know
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 that it is finished.
00:30:13 --> 00:30:16 The amazing truth of Easter
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 is summarised succinctly
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 by another New Testament ad.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 Let me just paraphrase that.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 Full acceptance,
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 grab it,
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 push it right down
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 in the depths of your heart.
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 Jesus' wonderful news
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28 for people like us
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 who know that we cannot
00:30:30 --> 00:30:32 measure up to the demands
00:30:32 --> 00:30:34 of our own consciences,
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 let alone the demands
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 of our own holiness.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 We don't even live
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 by our own standards,
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 let alone by anyone else's standards.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:45 So I call on you
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 on this Good Friday
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 to see the good news.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51 It is finished in Jesus.
00:30:53 --> 00:30:55 See your need being met in him
00:30:55 --> 00:30:57 and believe
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 and strive no more.
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 For God so loved the world
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 that he gave his only son
00:31:04 --> 00:31:07 that whoever believes in him
00:31:07 --> 00:31:09 will not perish
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 but have eternal life.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:14 We don'tind sacred love certifications
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 get through that power
00:31:15 --> 00:31:27 of ben Zeck
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 will not perish
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 but Corinthians
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 will not Beweg
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 for all of the everyday
00:31:29 --> 00:31:32 He will not be here
00:31:32 --> 00:31:32 Jesus for the whole spoiled
00:31:32 --> 00:31:35 rem
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 He will not be here
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 the agora
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 when he comes from
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 to the Didn't