9/25/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Blessed are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness because they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5.6)

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things had been finished so that the prophecy may be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst.’” (John 19.28)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

We have all experienced being parched. Some of us to the point of heat exhaustion. That is a time when our body is so overheated there is not ought fluids in our body to moderate the temperature. At that point, our organs begin to shut down. It is the mind’s way of conserving energy. Unfortunately, our bodies don’t work very well when the systems that sustain them are a “No go!” The illness and the cure are in contradistinction. The result can be fatal. As I concluded a biblical fiction novel today during my morning workout, the next to the last scene was the crucifixion of Jesus. I will not take the time to repaint the horror of that moment. I have done so in other writings, there have been television productions and movies such as “The Passion of Christ” to give some visual media information to help fill in the blanks with a sense of reality. If what they project is one tenth of the truth, then who would dare desire to look upon the full truth. Yes, “Jesus is the truth which sets us free.” What we are freed of is not horrible tragedy but the final consequence of a horrible tragedy left to itself. Death is not the most horrible tragedy ever presented to humanity. I do not make light of it. We have seen terrible tragedies and horrific manifestations of it. If we are left to those events as the “last scene,” then we are a step closer to the most horrible tragedy of all.

What would that tragedy be? It is, of course, the kind of death that never ceases. I think there are those who refuse to consider the existence of God because they fear the realization that “this world is not all there is.” To imagine a heaven one must imagine a hell and vice versa. To consider either one of them is to confess that there is “life after physical death in this world.” To contemplate a life after death for which there is no hope, no satisfaction, no authentic living and endless “hungering and thirsting” is something I would hazard a guess very, very few people would choose. To consider a panacea heaven might be just as bad. Why? Ever had a sugar high or a chocolate rush because of overindulgence? There is truth to the saying “Too much of a good thing is bad for you.” Heaven as the dwelling place of God and God’s people is that “just right” life. It is the place where “hungering and thirsting for righteousness” is sated. It is not limited to heaven, mind you. Those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness for righteousness’ sake” will be satisfied. This is the epic conclusion of the gospel. While death is tragic and can be horrifying, for the believer it is but moment between hungering and thirsting and never hungering and thirsting again. No, the lack does not indicate the absence of “food and drink.” It indicates the abundance like David’s psalmic banquet table established in the wilderness surrounded by his enemies. He dines as a victor not with a last meal but with a meal fit for a king who has overcome the adversity of the enemy. This might be a definition of “righteousness.” It is that place where hungering and thirsting cease not because we no longer have a need for sustenance which is not there. Instead, it is where sustenance is consistent and without end.

Imagine, if you will, the final words of Jesus on the cross as they are summed up with “It is finished.” Some will read “It is done.” or “It is completed.” Hear in those words the satisfaction of a man who no longer hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Hear that He no longer hungers and thirsts as it pertains to Himself but to us. From the cross, the words preceding Jesus “conclusion” to the problem of hungering and thirsting in a world that can never satisfy are “I thirst.” He experiences the systems check of His life as He hangs nailed to a cross. One system after another there is, from the human perspective as we would see it, a “No go for launch.” Systems were shutting down. Red lights filled the monitor. Nervous system- down. Vision system- down. Sensory system- down. Failure, failure, failure. But, Jesus sees it all from the perspective of “this world is not My home.” With each shut down there is a “Go for launch.” Green light after green light fills the board. There is a finishing of His business of doing God’s will in all its physical, mental, emotional and spiritual connections. The brain’s last “gasp” for salvation is “one more drink of water.” That hope for water. That promise which Jesus declared to the woman at the well, saying, “If only you knew who was asking for water, you would be asking Him instead for water that springs up to eternal life! If you did this, you would never thirst again.” And the drink which Jesus was given from a sponge dipped in wine vinegar, grapes gone sour, was sufficient for the brain to declare finally and gratefully, “We have a GO for launch!” He breathed His last and declared with that dying breath- all righteousness on earth has been fulfilled. It is finished. It is done. It is complete. And in that moment, the body ceased and the spirit did not dwell in it. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness because they will find satisfaction and be filled to overflowing.” He did so for us! Now, we who share in that same hungeroing and thirsting for others will take the gospel good news to another level of people. We will do so until it is time for us to say “It is finished. It is done. It is complete. I will no longer hunger and thirst because all has been provided by the God I love.”

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.