Thirsty

John 19:28 (ESV) – After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

Have you ever been thirsty? As a cyclist, I have learned how essential it is to stay hydrated on long rides. More than once, I realized just as the group was rolling out that I forgot to put water bottles on my bike. With the choice between missing a fast, but dry, group ride or being fully hydrated and alone, I usually chose the former, but by mile thirty, strange things started to happen to my body. If the group was on a longer route, I was begging to stop at convenience store or mooch some fluids by the fifty mile point, because I knew I would not make it much further. We need water to live.  

One of Jesus’ last words on the Cross was dipso – “I thirst.”  He certainly had reason to be thirsty after the beatings, carrying his cross, hanging on it for hours, and turning down the sour wine offered to him earlier. Yet, more was happening. Jesus had told the woman at the well a few years before, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” (John 4:14, NIV) He told the Jewish faithful at the Feast of Tabernacles, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38, NIV) How could this Jesus who promised to be the source of eternal, living water for all who comes to him truly thirst? 

I believe Jesus’ words conveyed much more than the physical thirst he was experiencing. Notice the context John gave it: “Jesus, knowing all was now finished, said…” The Greek word for “all was finished” is the same as the last word he uttered on the Cross: tetelestai. (John 19:30) Its perfect tense drives the completion of a core objective. Jesus’ life mission was finished, but it cost him more than we can ever know. In some way beyond our ability to comprehend, paying the price for all of our sins – all the wrong things everyone who believes in him has done – cost him that living water he was, and now again is, so willing to provide. This is why John closes this segment with the words, “[He] gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30, ESV) He voluntarily chose to offer himself, but this included giving up that Spirit that was and is the source of living water. 

Yet, because Jesus was willing to pay that price, he won the greatest victory of all time, and we can all now be forgiven, have eternal life, and have the deepest thirst of our souls quenched by the living water of the Holy Spirit when we believe in him. Are you thirsty? Come to Jesus and be satisfied.

What is Truth?

John 18:37 - Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”



When the Jewish leaders finally resolved to execute Jesus, they had to hand him to the Roman governor of their region at the time, Pontius Pilate. Reading his story we find in the New Testament, in the non-Christian Jewish writers Philo and Josephus, in the Roman histories of Tacitus, and in the coins and engravings that bear his name, we get the sense he was an ambitious and opportunistic leader. His strategy in making a decision was nearly always, “What will give me the best outcome?” However, it seems his personal trial of Jesus really confused and disturbed him. What Jesus said forced to him ask a deep question, “What is truth?” Implicitly, Pilate was asking, “Is there an objective truth? Can I know it? If so, how will that affect the way I live?” That can be a frightening question to ask, but it can also give us a very encouraging answer if we are truly willing to ask it.



Many in our generation live the same way as Pilate. They base their decisions on what they think will give themselves the most and the best. If there is no objective truth that stands above my own opinions and desires, I can create my own truth to support what I want, but if there is a truth, especially if it is Jesus’ claim to Pilate, “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37, NIV), that means the final definition of truth is outside of my own ideas and even those of all of the leaders and thinkers of human history. Now, it is no longer my right to decide what is true. Jesus gives us the ultimate definition in what he told his disciples the previous night: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)



Pilate obviously wrestled with accepting the truth of Jesus that Good Friday (see Matthew 27:19-24, Mark 15:-9-15, Luke 23:13-24, John 18:31-19:16). Yet, in spite of an obvious conviction of Jesus’ innocence (and likely his truth, as well), Pilate chose not to allow that truth to shape his decision. He decided what he thought would keep himself in power, but crucifying Jesus ultimately did not help him. Josephus tells us Pilate lost his governorship a few years later. Writing shortly after that, Philo indicates Pilate’s career ended in disgrace.


If we accept Jesus’ claims of truth, we may longer get to define truth for ourselves, but we do get to know and experience the eternal Truth himself.

The Outcome

 John 17:1 - When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.”

It is often hard to see anything good in the worst of times. A few hours before he was crucified, Jesus opened his prayer with these words: “Father, the hour has come.” He knew His time to die the incredibly painful death on the cross had come. This would be unimaginable suffering. Yet, Jesus’ next words seem out of place: “Glorify your Son.” Romans used crucifixion to humiliate convicted criminals. How could Jesus expect to be glorified? The glorification came in how he died and, more significantly, that he rose again. He would never have seen his greatest glory if he had not gone through the crucifixion.

In His hardest hour, Jesus focused on the good that would come out of it. Jesus’ words in the next verse show how he would glorify God the Father: by giving eternal life to those God gave him. Verse 3 gives us the greatest message in all of history: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

We would never have had the opportunity to have eternal life had Jesus not endured the pain required to have the death to be resurrected from. Even in that pain, his eyes were on the good that would come out of it, and that good is what it means for us. We each can have eternal life when we believe and come know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Good News for All the People

Luke 2:10-11 (NIV) – The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Angels and shepherds are some of the most familiar images of this time of year. What Christmas Nativity scene would be complete without either of them? Yet, the words the angel gave those shepherds applied to far more than just those watching their flocks by night on the hills outside of Bethlehem. After speaking to calm the shepherds’ shock and fear, the angel let them know the message they were about to hear was good news for all the people.

This meant the good news was for more than just the shepherds who saw and heard that angel. It was for more than just the faithful Israelites who knew that God had promised a Messiah hundreds of years before who would save the entire nation. This good news was to be for all the people, not just of that day, but also of all time. That means this means ¬is still good news for us today.

What is this good news? “A Savior has been born to you.” The wording of the angel’s words leave no doubt. The key element of good news is the birth of a Savior to us, because we each need to be saved. Like the kid at a poolside birthday party who was thrown into the deep end by a friend who did not realize he did not know how to swim, we need a lifeguard with the skills and qualifications to jump in and rescue us. The savior lifeguard had superior swimming skills, training in saving lives, and the certificate to prove it. The Savior we all need requires more skills than that.

We need a morally and ethically perfect Savior. There has only ever been one like that. I met a few people who claimed to be perfect, but it did not take long to discover how wrong they were. We have each made mistakes, and the price of these is our eternal lives (Romans 6:23). Without a Savior, we are separated from God forever. We also need one who was specially sent by God for the mission. That is why the angel called him Christ. This is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah. This is the Anointed One, set apart and filled with the Holy Spirit for God’s mission.

There is one more trait this Savior has to have: divinity. He must be fully God to overcome sin, death, and hell, but he must also be fully human to pay the price for the wrongs done by all the people – all of us. So, the angel called him Lord (Kurios), the word used in the Greek Septuagint Old Testament Bible for the one and only LORD God. Yet the angel said this Savior would be born as a human in the City of David. Only Jesus meets all these criteria.

Christmas is truly a season of good news. If you have not yet experienced the best news of all, I urge you to make Jesus your Savior, too. You will never be the same.

You Are Not What We See

Judges 6:12 - And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” (ESV) 

Gideon was anything but a mighty man of valor. He was grinding wheat hiding in the bowels of winepress instead of the easier, but exposed, threshing floor that was designed for it. His people were oppressed. He was scared, but the angel greeted him with two powerful Hebrew nouns, gibor and hayil, either of which on its own was used for the strongest of heroes.

Gideon did not look like a mighty person of valor. Gideon did not act like a mighty person of valor, but God saw more in him than anyone else could. God saw the real Gideon and called it out of him. Gideon went out to lead an incredible victory that brought freedom and deliverance to the people of Israel.

What was true for Gideon is true for you. You are more than you can see. You are more than any of us can see when the LORD is with you. As Gideon experienced, living out our new identity is not always easy, but the world changes when we choose to live as the mighty people of valor we were created to be.

Misreading Motives

Joshua 22:11-12 (ESV) – The people of Israel said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

Someone has wronged you. Someone has hurt you. What did you think when that happened? Most of us immediately assume that other person intended to cause us to suffer. While that may be the case sometimes, more often than not we misinterpret why others have done what they have.

As Israel made its way from slavery in Egypt to occupying the Promised Land that is the Nation of Israel today, they first came to the other side of the Jordan River, to what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Israelites subdued those empires and claimed that land as part of their future territory. The tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh asked Moses if this could be their land. (See Numbers 32.) Moses agreed if their men would fight to conquer the rest of the Promised Land before they settled there. The two-and-a-half tribes agreed. Many years later in Joshua 22, the Promised Land was conquered, the two-and-a-half tribes returned home across the Jordan River, settled in their homes, started farming their land, and built a large altar right by the river that the Israelites west of the Jordan could see.

Those tribes immediately assumed that the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan had built the altar as a place of worship in direct violation of God’s established law only to worship at the one place God approved (Deuteronomy 12). They were convinced the two-and-a-half tribes wanted to form their own nation with their own system of worship, and they were not about to allow that to happen. They got ready to go to war to make things right.

The problem was their assumptions of the Eastern Tribes’ motives were mistaken. They explained in Joshua 22:22-29 that they did not build the altar to be a place of worship or a symbol of division between the two parts of the Nation of Israel. Instead, their motive was the exact opposite. The altar was to be a witness – a reminder – that they were one nation and that worship was to happen at one place.

Had the two sides not taken time to determine the real motive behind the action, war would have followed with many unnecessary deaths. That probably would have led to the permanent division neither side wanted.

We each will have situations that will lead us to make assumptions about others’ motives. We may be tempted to assume the worst. That can lead to relational destruction and bitterness. Don’t pay that price if you don’t have to. Take time to hear their story before you judge others.

A Servant of All

Mark 9:35 – “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Over the last twelve years, the void the last Monday in July brings has become tough for my wife Keira and me. For twenty-three days, we load coverage of the world’s greatest bike race on the DVR and watch the exciting competition, unreal physical effort, and sometimes-crazy drama that accompanies the Tour de France. 2018’s race had some very touching stories, and this year’s winner is a surprising living embodiment of Jesus’ words. 

Professional bicycle racing looks like an individual sport, but winners truly depend on their teammates. Because, like bird formations, the rider in front of a group of cyclists does far more work than those in the peloton, riders who win grand tours like the Tour de France have several teammates called “domestiques” (the French word for domestic servants) who work as hard as they can so the team captain can go on and win the race.  

Geraint Thomas was born and raised in the County of Wales (part of the United Kingdom). He started bike racing at the age of ten, went pro at eighteen, and got 140th place of 141 riders in his first Tour de France in 2007. He became a domestique extraordinaire. He worked hard to help the first and second British riders in history to win the Tour de France (Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome). Geraint was set to work hard again in the 2018 Tour to help Chris Froome to win his fifth Tour de France and hopefully go on to be only the second rider in history to win all three grand tours in one year after winning Italy’s Giro d’ Italia in May. Yet, Geraint Thomas won two stages in the second week of the Tour that put him into first place, wearing the famed Yellow Jersey. Even after getting to that lead spot, when asked if Team Sky was now going to work for him, Geraint said, “No, it’s still about Chris. I’m here to help Chris Froome to win.” 

The third week featured three hard days of riding in the Pyrenees Mountains near Spain, but Chris Froome was not as strong as usual. Other teams’ riders threatened to take away the Yellow Jersey, but Geraint would not allow Team Sky to lose. When Chris was not able to keep up with the leaders in Stage 17, it was clear Geraint, who had always ridden to serve others, now had his chance to shine. Four days later, he rode into Paris in yellow and took his place at the top of the podium, as the winner of cycling’s greatest race.  

Geraint Thomas never expected to win Le Tour in his life, but his selfless brutally hard work was key to Team Sky winning seven of the last eight Tours de France. How do you work? Do you serve diligently and selflessly? Do you put in your best effort when someone else will benefit? Remember, even Jesus Himself “did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:41)