Here are some communion thoughts I shared after Jason's sermon on Jesus as the Messiah out of John 4.
Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters, to the LORD, the hope of Israel, to the fountain of living water. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me & drink. For whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be your shepherd, & he will guide you to springs of living water, & God will wipe away every tear from your eyes. To the thirsty He will give water from the spring of the water of life. The Spirit & the bride say, "Come!" And let those who hear say, "Come!" Let those who are thirsty come. And let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life. Come.
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Isaiah 55; Jeremiah 17:13; John 7:37, 38; Revelation 7:17; 21:6; 22:17; Psalm 42.
Thirsty? What I love most about the woman in John 4 is that she was thirsty. She simply came to the well. She came to Jesus. She came with all her baggage. She was the last person on the planet that the King of the Jews was supposed to have a conversation with. Yet once again our Messiah has a message in the form of humility & a heart of compassion. He reaches out to this needy soul in tenderness & care & offers this woman what she could never have hoped for.
Throughout the story of God water has played a key role. Moses struck a rock & a thirsty nation drank & was satisfied. Noah built a boat as the rain waters washed away a sinful people. On & on throughout the stories of the Bible water plays a key role in the lives of it's main characters. Moses, Joseph, Gideon, Jonah, Elijah, Paul, etc. And water is used by God as a means of purification for his people.
Jesus stands today as he stood over 2000 years ago before this woman at the well as the source of living water. Are you thirsty? Are you tired & weary from your journey. Has the weight of temptation & sin brought you down. Has the complications of life worn you out. Do you have more troubles than you can count. Are you tired? Are you weary? Are you thirsty? The message of Jesus is COME. Com & I will give you rest. Come & drink from me, the fountain of living water. Come & be refreshed, renewed, restored. His body was broken & He was betrayed so that you & I could come & drink. Jesus dies on the cross so that we could come. Just as we are. Without any need to impress him or hide our shortcomings from him. He's more concerned with who we are going to be today than who we were yesterday. He cares more about our presence than He does our perfection. And His message today is come. Today if you are thirsty, come. Come. Just as you are. Come & drink deeply. All those who are thirsty. All those who are weak. Come.
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Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
John 19:28-34
It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was the Passover). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
Jesus was thirsty & we gave him nothing to drink. Yet His life was poured out like a drink offering for our sin. A spear was thrust into His side, & from the wound flowed blood & water. Even in His death on the cross He has given us the image of what salvation looks like. It comes through blood & water. The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. And we also know the power of purification that water has for those of us who believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus gave His life as an offering for you, that you might have living water.
