the Fourth Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
April 13—Morning—John 19:28
"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I Christ."—John 19:28.
After this, that is, I conceive, (though I do not presume to mark the very order in which the Lord Jesus uttered his loud cries upon the cross,) after his complaint of desertion: for whether this was the fourth or fifth of the seven last words of the Redeemer, I dare not determine: yet the words themselves were highly important, and significant of great things, in reference to Jesus and his people. Jesus thus cried, that the scriptures might be fulfilled, it is said; for it had been prophesied of him, that gall was given him to eat—and, when thirsty, vinegar to drink, Psalms 69:21. And the soldiers, unconscious of what they did in fulfilling this very prophecy, gave him sponge dipped in vinegar. But, my soul, was it the thirst of the body thy Jesus complained of? I think not. He had before declared, at his last supper, that he would drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until the day he drank it new in the kingdom of his Father. What could be then the thirst of Jesus, but the thirst of his soul, for the accomplishment of redemption for his people, and the accomplishment of redemption in his people. He thirsted with an holy vehement thirst for the everlasting salvation of his ransomed, and seemed to anticipate the hour by this expression, when he should see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. But did not Jesus also, in this hour, as bearing the curse and wrath of God for sin, thirst in soul with that kind of thirst which, in hell, those who bear the everlasting torments of condemnation feel, when they are under an everlasting thirst which admits of no relief! That representation the Lord Jesus gives of this state, in the parable of the rich man’s thirst, serves to afford a lively but alarming view of such superlative misery. Oh that those who now add drunkenness to thirst, would seriously lay this to heart. Did God Suffer his dear Son, to whom sin was but transferred, and not committed by him—did he suffer him to cry out under this thirst? and what may we suppose will be the everlasting cry of such as not only merit his wrath for sin, but merit yet more his everlasting wrath for refusing redemption by Jesus, who thirsted on the cross to redeem sinners: from endless thirsting in despair and misery? My soul, did Jesus thirst for thee? Were his dying lips parched, and his soul deeply athirst, for thy salvation? And shall not this thirst of thy Redeemer kindle an holy thirst in thee for him, and his love and his great salvation? Wilt thou not now this morning anew, look up by faith to the cross and to the throne, and catch the flame of love from his holy, loving, longing, and languishing eyes, until all thy powers go forth in vehement desires, like him of old, crying out—"As the hart thirsteth for the water brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for thy love is better than wine."
April 13—Evening—Acts 2:31
"His soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption."—Acts 2:31.
Two sweet, but distinct thoughts, arise out of this scripture: one, concerns the soul of Christ; the other, respects his body; and both are most blessed to the believer in the review. My soul! thou hast attended to the parched state of thy Redeemer, as represented on the cross, and made it the subject of thy morning meditation; do thou now behold what this scripture states, under all his humiliating circumstances, that neither hell nor the grave can have dominion over him. His soul shall not be long in a way of separation from the body, in the invisible state; for very shortly it shall arise from hades, the hell here mentioned. And his body is too holy, harmless, and undefiled, to admit of putrefaction; yea, it must he presented before the Lord for a sweet-smelling savour. Precious thought to the believer! Jesus needed not to lie long under the dominion of death: he had fully paid the debt of sin by death; and therefore there needed no detention to make farther restitution for the sins of his people, when thus fully cancelled. And as the infinite holiness and purity of his nature could not become subject to the power of corruption, he needed not to lie longer in the grave than might clearly and fully ascertain to his people in all ages, the reality of his death, for the better confirmation of the resurrection that followed. Hence Jesus could not be left, as the great representative of his people, in a situation so comfortless, when the work was completed which the Father gave him to do. And as his holy nature could not admit the possibility of corruption; so the covenant of redemption exempted him from it. Add to these, it was needful that, both in soul and body, He who had died for our sins, should rise again for our justification, and not only triumph in our nature over death, hell, and the grave, but return to the right hand of power, "there to appear in the presence of God for us," Hail! thou holy and triumphant Lord! I bow the knee before thee! In thy holiness thy people are considered holy: and as thy spotless soul could not be detained in hell, neither thy flesh see corruption, so all thy redeemed shall be accounted holy before thee, and through thy righteousness, be considered righteous before God and thy Father for ever. Amen.
