The Christ: "I Thirst."

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Today, on Good Friday, we remember, honor, and reflect on the God who entered the world of human suffering on our behalf.

 “I thirst.”

Only John’s Gospel records these words. They were uttered by Jesus, we’re told, not as a guttural physical response, but with intention: “Knowing that all was now finished,” Jesus said, “I thirst” in order to fulfill the Scriptures (John 19:28). And yet, we ought not think these words are manufactured or insincere either.

Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had, on the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, “stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’.” (John 7:37). “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

And now, on the cross, He who said these words was Himself thirsty. Why are we told this? Why is the fact that Jesus thirsted important?

The world changed on All Saints Day in 1755. In Lisbon, Portugal, a ten-minute earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, killed an estimated 60,000 people, many crushed by collapsing churches where they had gathered to celebrate that Christian holy day.

According to moral philosopher Susan Neiman, for many Western intellectuals this incident of natural evil proved that God could no longer be trusted. The French philosopher Voltaire offered scathing words in a poem:

“Are you then sure,” he wrote, “the power which would create
The universe and fix the laws of fate,
Could not have found for man a proper place,
But earthquakes must destroy the human race?”

And so in the modern era, trust moved from God to man. And it seemed to work: the next few centuries were marked by technological advances, scientific progress, and scholarly criticism of the Bible.

However, the peak of modernism was the 20th century, which revealed that trust in man was badly misplaced: the mechanized slaughter of millions in two world wars, Communism, Auschwitz, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. So where do we turn now if we can’t trust God or man?

The cross directly addresses this world of moral and natural evil: As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed (Is 53:5).

The cross proves that God is not aloof from human suffering as Voltaire had imagined, nor will human evil have the final say. Our God once thirsted, like we do. He bled, as we do, in this existence of fallen people and a fallen world. In Christ, God entered the world of human suffering, suffered Himself, defeated suffering and now has the scars to prove it.

Nearly two centuries after Voltaire, theologian Edward Shillito, offered a poem with a very different take on the suffering we experience. Here are two stanzas of that poem:

“If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars. . .

“The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.”

Today on Good Friday, we remember, we worship and proclaim this God, Jesus of the scars. To Him be all glory and praise forever and ever. Amen.

And before I leave you today, I want to invite you to come to BreakPoint.org for a free pdf that the Colson Center team has prepared on the seven last sayings of Christ from the cross. It’s a beautiful booklet, with reflections from our team and sacred art to help you reflect this Easter season on what Jesus suffered and said for our benefit. Again, it’s at BreakPoint.org.

No Grave Would Be Able To Hold Him!

Hospital Break.

I was recently having my fairly regular bloodletting at Sheffield's Northern General and I got into conversation with a sharp-as-tacks, elderly lady.

I mentioned the many years that I had spent in Ukip and my great disappointment after the heights of May 2014.

She referred to what she had hoped for from that party - and then muttered, "Yes, a broken reed."

Quite! And how that grieves me!

Birdie.

Sorry. But I Am MORE Than a Quantum Fluctuation!

Hawking on Humanity:

“We are the product of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe. God really does play dice”.
Lecture at California Institute of Technology, 16 April 2013, reported in Los Angeles Times 17 April 2013.

Terrorists And An Important Question.

Stephen Hawking To Be Buried In A Cathedral? - UNacceptablel

In Death and Burial.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY IT IS according to BBC New 21 March 2018.  The ashes of Stephen Hawking who died on March 14 2018. will be buried near the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.  According to the BBC: The Dean of Westminster, Dr John Hall, said: "It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists. Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the Abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882.” He added: “We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe.”
Link: BBC

ED. COM. Interesting burial sequence: Isaac Newton believed in God as Creator, Charles Darwin was an agnostic, and Stephen Hawking lies as an atheist. Darwin and Hawking may both be buried in the famous Abbey, but it is more a continuing comment on Institutional Churches who pride themselves on adulating many whom the Creator God labels as fools. Both groups ignore the only clear answers on the great questions of life found revealed in the written word of God, about the Living Word of God, who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, both Creator and Saviour. Hawking’s earthly ashes may have a grand place on this earth, but the eternal soul of all who did not repent have only the friendless thick darkness of everlasting Hell. Creation Research.

The funeral was also held in a church. Why?

God Wants None To Perish.

David Lammy: For Just This ONCE - I Feel Sorry For This Anti-Democrat.

Labour heavyweight threatened with deselection over anti-Semitism rally

Former Labour minister David Lammy is being threatened with deselection by his local party after attending a rally against anti-Semitism.

standard.co.uk

Gibraltar.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/938936/brexit-news-gibraltar-britain-uk-spain-eu-fabian-picardo

Jesus DIED On The Cross - He Did NOT Just 'Feel a Bit Faint!'

CRUCIFIXION of Christ? Did Jesus just go into a coma on the cross and merely appear to rise from the dead?

•  23/03/2016 
•  Diane Eager
 
•  Bible / Sceptics / Theology

Share1

The original question was: I am a medical doctor and a Christian.  I am sure you would get more people in church if you taught Jesus didn’t actually die, he was just comatose and revived after three days.  People would find it easier to believe and the churches would be full.  Why don’t you teach this?

Answer by Diane Eager

During his earthly life Jesus himself made it quite clear to the disciples that he would be killed, i.e. put to death, by the Jewish and Roman authorities. For example, in Luke 18: 31-34 we he gives this prophecy: “And taking the twelve, he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spat upon.  And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.’”

The fulfilment of this prophecy is clearly described in all four gospels. Let’s look at their description of Jesus’ death and the events that surrounded it.

All four Gospels describe Jesus’ death on the cross. If you put their descriptions together, Jesus last few moments were: Jesus commended his spirit to his Heavenly Father, he bowed his head, gave up his spirit and breathed his last.  (Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46, John 19:30)

It couldn’t be made any clearer that Jesus actually died on the cross.  When you have breathed your last breath, and your spirit has left your body, you are dead, not unconscious.

Now let’s look at the bigger picture.

After being condemned to death, Jesus was taken by a squad of Roman soldiers and crucified, along with two others. Jesus died more quickly than the others, and quicker than most crucified victims.  He was already in a bad state, having been flogged and beaten.  Crucifixion was a normal means of execution in those days, so we can assume the Roman soldiers knew what they were doing, and knew when their victims were dead.  After all, their job was not done until Jesus and the others were dead.  The supervising Centurion noticed a significant change, when Jesus “breathed his last,” as did many of the watching crowd, who, assuming it was all over, left the site immediately after. (Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47-48)

When the soldiers were ordered to take the crucified men down, they confirmed that Jesus was dead by piercing his side with a spear. Assuming the soldier who thrust the spear was right handed and thrust the spear from in front of Jesus’ body on the cross, the spear would have pierced Jesus’ left side, probably piercing his heart.  If he wasn’t already dead, this would certainly have killed him off.  However, we are told that “blood and water” flowed out of the wound, not just blood.  When blood clots, as it does after death, the aggregated mass of blood cells separates from the surrounding fluid.  Therefore the “blood and water” would have been clotted blood, serum (the blood fluid) and fluid from the pleural and pericardial cavities (fluid filled spaces around the lungs and heart).  The soldiers clearly took this as a sign that Jesus was already dead.

Jesus’ burial is also described in detail. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Jesus’ body, wrapped in grave clothes, and placed it in a tomb.  There is no doubt those who took the body and placed it in the tomb knew Jesus was dead.  In those days most people were more familiar with death than we are, and they attended to the preparation and burial of dead bodies themselves.

Jesus’ body was wrapped in grave clothes, both for decency and to facilitate moving the body. Wrapping the body would have included tying the legs together and securing the arms to the sides.  It is very hard to move a dead body without doing this.  The grave clothes also included an additional cloth over the face, which would have held the lower jaw in place and was secured by tying it around the neck.  This process would prevent any live person from breathing or moving.

Jesus was then placed in a tomb, a cavity hewn from a rock wall which was ‘officially’ closed by a large stone being rolled over the opening and seals set on it. Roman soldiers were set to guard the entrance to the tomb, with orders to let not anyone come and remove the body.  (Matthew 27:62-66)

The whole procedure of taking down the body, wrapping and placing it in the tomb was witnessed by the women who had witnessed the crucifixion, and there would have been other witnesses as well who had not left straight away, such as the Apostle John who describes these events in detail. (John 19:31-42)

The discovery of the empty tomb is also clearly described. As the women approached the tomb an angel came down from Heaven and moved the stone away from the tomb entrance.  This was such a terrifying event the Roman soldiers fainted, and no doubt ran away as soon as they regained consciousness.  (Matthew 28:1-4)  Moving the stone was not to let Jesus out, but to let the witnesses in.  The angel told the women Jesus was not in the tomb – He had already risen.

If none of this happened, either Jesus is a false prophet, or the Gospel writers made it up, and the Gospels are not God’s word.

Like the writer of the question I am also trained in medicine, and I think it is preposterous to claim that Jesus merely revived himself from a comatose state, freed himself of the grave clothes, and then with his severely injured hands, feet and side, moved the stone and overcame a guard of Roman soldiers. The grave clothes were found neatly folded in the empty tomb, so what happened to Jesus?  Did he leave the grave clothes in the tomb and walk naked on his wounded feet through the garden unnoticed by anyone, all the time being able to breathe in spite of the hole in his side?

The other excuses for the empty tomb are almost as silly. If the disciples tried to steal the body they had to contend with the Roman soldiers, who may have been frightened rigid by an angel from Heaven, but would have no trouble dealing with a few fishermen and various other ordinary people.  Others have claimed the women went to the wrong tomb and then led the disciples “up the garden path”.  However, we are told that the women accompanied the burial party to the tomb and witnessed the burial.  They were not relying in directions from anyone else.  They had already been there.  (Luke 23:50)

After Jesus was taken up to Heaven the Apostles clearly associated the crucifixion with Jesus death. For example, in his Pentecost speech Peter describes what happened to Jesus: “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23)  Later on Peter very bluntly told the people “you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 3:15).  The Apostle Paul is equally clear about Jesus having died on the cross, when he described Jesus humility and triumph to the Philippians: “And being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”  (Philippians 2:8)

If anyone claims Jesus didn’t die we need to consider the serious implications for us. If Jesus ascended into heaven without having died and been raised from the dead, then none of us are saved from our sins, and we have no hope of eternal life.

Scripture is very clear that sin brought real physical death into the world. The Apostle Paul explains: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).  This means the penalty of physical death needed to be paid by a real physical death.  We all deserve to die because we have all sinned, (Romans 3:23) but Jesus did not need to die.  He committed no sin, but he freely gave his life for us, as Paul explains: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  Therefore, we can joyously join Paul in proclaiming: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (I Corinthians 15:22)

Finally, we should give the last word in the argument to Jesus Christ. When he appeared to John on the Island of Patmos he gave this assurance: “Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one.  I died and behold I am alive forever more, and I hold the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18)

So, would churches be full if we taught Jesus didn’t die?

Even if they were, it would be pointless, as everyone would be condemned to Hell with no hope of salvation. If Christ did not die and rise from the dead (not just recover from being severely wounded) then any preaching in such a church is in vain, and the people’s faith is futile because they are still in their sins.  (1 Corinthians 15:12-15)

Why don’t we teach that Jesus didn’t die?

Our priority at Creation Research is not full churches, nice as that may be. We want Christ’s kingdom to be full.  The way into Christ’s Kingdom is admitting you are sinner, believing that Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sin, and accepting the free gift of eternal life that Christ offers to all who put their faith in Him.  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is our guarantee that we can look forward to eternal life with Him in Heaven.

I Give Thanks To My Lord For His Mighty Sacrifice.

Velasquez.

Accurate Description Of Tom Waits?

His distinctive voice was described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding as though "it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car".
Well. That sounds pretty accurate to me!

Birdie.

Prayer Corner.

Please pray for Martin and his family. He is desperately ill.

When I Need Help ...

I Am Rather PROUD Of Our Church!

Sheffield Church build Mexican family a home in just two days The team of volunteers with the completed house. STEPHANIE BATEMAN.

 A team of 13 people from Spa View Community Church in Sheffield aged 3 to 69 went on a 10 day mission trip to Mexico in February this year. They went out to support a charity called YWAM (Youth with a Mission) who run a project called Homes of Hope, which helps to alleviate poverty in some of the neediest communities in Mexico.

The team built a house in just 2 days as well as worked in 3 different orphanages, where they carried out maintenance work, played games, did crafts and gave out football shirts donated from Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. The family we built a home for was a single Mum of two children who works as a field worker and earns just £40 a week and lived in nothing more than a poorly constructed garden shed. Her new home cost just £6,500 to build and the church were able to raise £10,000 over the year to build the house and were able to give the rest of the money to the other local projects.

Team Leader Chris Jeavons (7th from the left, left holding the baby) said ‘It’s not very often you get the chance to change someone’s world in just two days but providing this family with a home has done just that. I’m so proud of the team and how hard they worked over the whole trip, I know that not only have they changed people lives but have had their own lives changed by this experience. Our time on earth is valuable and how we spend really does count. Whilst working in the orphanages to be able to see the absolute joy on the children’s faces when they received their shirts donated by Sheffield United and Wednesday was simply priceless.’ Chris will be leading another team out there in 2019 where they aim to build 2 houses next time round, for more information on how to get involved visit www.spaviewcommunitychurch.co.uk ;

Read more at: https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/sheffield-church-build-mexican-family-a-home-in-just-two-days-1-9084326

Project Fear - If You Only Watch One Video Clip This Year ...

http://www.jonathanarnott.co.uk/2018/03/project-fear-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np-XokgSC2I

WOW!

University Today.

For The First Time In My Life, I Am Now Thinking Of Going To Dog Shows.

Animal rights activists Peta now say dog shows including Crufts are 'ANTI-FEMINIST' for using the word 'bitch' 

Birmingham's Crufts finale descended into chaos when an animal right protestor stormed the arena, now campaign group Peta say dog shows are 'anti-feminist'. Mail.

Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Grip The Raven and Edgar Allen Poe.

Everything you need to know about Grip

If you know anything about the life and times of Charles Dickens (born 7th February 1812), you may be aware that the author had an unusual pet, a raven. The raven is pretty famous and appears in one of Dickens’ novels. It may be that you associate ravens more with Poe, but the two are connected. Here are some facts about Dickens and Grip, his pet raven.

Grip had an impressive vocabulary inspiring Dickens to write him into a novel as a 
character. Those familiar with the author’s works will know that that novel is 
Barnaby Rudge.When Dickens wrote Barnaby Rudge, he sent a copy to his 
contemporary and associate, Edgar Allen Poe to review. Poe responded that he 
liked it, but thought the raven needed a larger and more central role. He was 
especially drawn to a line about the raven tapping at the door. Several years later, 
Poe published “The Raven.”

The original Grip did stick around however as Dickens had him stuffed 
and mounted in his office. The raven would eventually be sold with 
the author’s personal effects upon his death.

Today, Grip sits in the Free Library of Philadelphia

Birdie.

90%+ Are Hell-Bound

Only 6 Percent of Brits Are Practicing Christians Who Read the Bible, Attend Church
Regularly: Poll.
Allowing for those in churches who are not born again and balancing it out by 
brokering in those believers who do not attend church - it seems highly probable
that well over 90% of the UK are heading towards a lost eternity.
Do you try to spread the Good News to the lost?

Gethsemane.

Restraint Is Rarely Taught In Schools.

Second Referendum? - Why Bother?

‘Voted to Leave!’ Second Brexit referendum would NOT change result claims leading pollster.

REMAINER demands for a second EU referendum should be ignored because there is “little evidence” that the result would change as few have changed their minds, a leading pollster has predicted. Sir John Curtice, who correctly predicted the Conservatives would lose their majority in the 2017 general election, said there is "far from sufficient evidence" that a second referendum would reverse the result of the original vote.

Analysis of polling since the 2016 ballot shows "increased pessimism" about the likely outcome of the withdrawal talks - but little shift in voter intentions, according to the University of Strathclyde academic.

By THOMAS HUNT, Express.

Our Wise God.

When Murderers Were Executed In The UK - This would Have Been Close To The ANNUAL Homicide Figure!

London suffers 11th murder in just 13 days as 50-year-old man is found stabbed to death. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5553619/London-suffers-11th-murder-just-13-days-50-year-old-man-stabbed-death.html

If We Can Just Make Brexit Happen - The World Is Our Oyster.

Could Labour's Racism Aid The Lib Dems?

Labour's Racism May Help The Lib Dems.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5555857/Labour-MELTDOWN-anti-Semitism.html
Or - could the perception that Labour is racist actually aid the Tories?

Palm Sunday To Good Friday.

What happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday?

Christian Today staff writer Tue 27 Mar 2018 13:55 BST

One of the things anyone notices about the Gospels is that they each tell the story of Jesus' Passion in their own way, and that it's very difficult to square the chronologies (Ian Paul on his blog has a good discussion of this).

There are various things that do appear to have happened, though, in whatever order they might have been.

WikipediaAn aerial view of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.

1. The Sanhedrin (the Jewish Council) met and agreed to betray Jesus (Matthew 27: 3-5).

2. Jesus was anointed at Bethany (Matthew 26: 6-13, Mark 14: 3-9). What seems to be a version of this story appears in Luke's Gospel in chapter 7, 36-50; in John, it happens before the Triumphal Entry (12:1-11) and Mary is named as the woman.

3. Jesus curses the fig tree, which withers and dies. It's a symbolic parable of judgment (Matthew 21: 18-22, Mark 11: 12-14, 21).

4. Jesus cleanses the Temple (Matthew 21: 12-16, Mark 11: 15-19, Luke 19: 45-47). In John 2: 13-16 this happens at the beginning of Jesus' ministry; some commentators think it may have happened twice, others that it's the same story put in a different context.

5. Jesus debates with the Pharisees and Sadducees and teaches the crowds. Matthew has the parable of the wedding banquet and the parable of the tenants, for instance, the teaching about paying taxes to Caesar (22-23) and a section on the 'signs of the end of the age'. Mark and Luke have the story of the widow's mite (Luke 21: 1-4). John has a long section of teaching directed at the disciples (14-17).

6. Judas agrees to betray Jesus (Matthew 26: 14-16, Luke 22: 1-6); the Wednesday of Holy Week is sometimes called Spy Wednesday for this reason.

7. Jesus predicts his death (John 12: 20-36).

8. He shares a Last Supper with his disciples (Matthew 26: 17-30, Mark 14: 12-26, Luke 22, John 13.

9. He and his disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 36-46, Mark 14: 32-52, Luke 22: 39-46, John 18: 1-11). In Luke's and John's Gospels the garden is not named. It's there that Jesus is arrested.

All of these things appear in the different Gospels between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. We should be aware, though, that they didn't have the same ideas about chronology as us: they were writing history, but of a particular type. So they would have thought it perfectly reasonable to shift things around a bit to make it fit the meaning of the story. What seems likely, though, is that Jesus was in the public eye and that there were confrontations with authority. On a purely human level, he must have known that the end was coming. For anyone else, that would paralyse them with fear. But Jesus continued his ministry, preaching, teaching and challenging, when he could have left the city and been safe at any time.

During this week we look forward to Good Friday, quite rightly. But the shadow of the cross was already darkening over Jesus – and he did not falter for a moment.