John 19:28-29

Jesus hung there on the cross. The blood, moisture, and life oozing out of his body. He knew the end was near. Then he said, "I thirst." His Roman torturers cruelly offered him vinegar to drink instead of water. And thus Jesus fulfilled Psalm 69 which says, "for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

This incident is typical of the way Jesus was treated Jesus was a king so they gave him a crown of thorns. Instead of adorning his brow they injured it. Jesus deserved to be lifted up and glorified, so they placed him on a cross in disgrace. It only follows; Jesus deserved to be given clear cool water from a golden goblet, instead they offered him sour wine from a sponge.

But isn't that the way the world always responds to our needs. Jesus needed water. He was dehydrated almost to the point of death. And the world met his need by offering him a liquid that would make him even more thirsty.

The world often meets our needs by offering us vinegar. Every day people cry, "I Thirst!" What they need is the water of life. But instead the world offers poor substitutes. Instead of the love of God the world offers shallow relationships. People need compassion, and the world offers us a 900 number where someone will show us compassion; for a price. People need a relationship with their heavenly Father, and the world offers astrologers and psychics.

My daughter Mary is 18 months old. She is very intelligent and has a large vocabulary for her age. And that is an unbiased opinion. Mary also has a large appetite, which she got from her father. She knows where her food comes from. So when she gets hungry she goes to the refrigerator. And she starts using that large vocabulary of hers. She starts crying softly, but then louder and louder cheese, bread, hot dog, apple sauce. What if one day Mary was crying, "apple juice, apple juice" and I went to the cabinet and poured her a cup of vinegar to drink.

That's cruel! But that is what the world treats to us every day. It offers us poor substitutes for what we really need. And it makes me mad when I say, "I thirst, for love, for forgiveness, for acceptance." And all the world can give me is some sour substance that only vaguely resembles what I need.

Jesus knows our needs and our frustrations. He experienced them in their utmost depth on the cross. We know pain, but he knew it in a way that most people rarely experience. He knew disgrace, but few have known the kind of degradation he went through. He was the victim of hatred on a level that few of us have ever experienced.

And he knew thirst. When he thirsted for a friend, his best friend kissed him. When he thirsted for companionship his favorite companions fled and even denied they ever knew him. When he thirsted for compassion, he was given only cruelty. And when he thirsted for water, he was offered vinegar.

It is no accident that the sponge containing the vinegar was at the end of a hyssop stalk. Hyssop was the herb used to sprinkle the blood on the door post during Passover. Christ died as the Passover sacrifice given to meet our need for reconciliation. When we were dying of spiritual hunger he gave us his own body and blood as bread and drink for our souls. When we were thirsty, Christ experienced thirst so that we could be offered living water.

Christ was ridiculed, spat upon, offered vinegar, and killed for us. That is a fact. But some facts carry such force that they demand a response. It may be merely a fact that your house is burning down. However it is a fact that demands a response.

Christ died for you, what ya gonna do about? When we leave here that fact will stay the same. And it will still demand a response.

When you leave here the world will be the same. People will be crying "I thirst." And the world will be offering them everything but what they need. They will say to you, "I need love, compassion, justice, mercy, - apple juice, apple juice." Will you offer them vinegar, or will you help them seek out living water?