阅读经文 

在十架上受了许多小时的苦之后，耶稣说祂渴了。祂头上戴着荆棘冠冕，手和脚又被钉子剌穿，想像一下祂受的痛苦是何等剧烈；每当祂尝试移动一下身体，祂便会感到剧烈的痉挛和震痛，并且喘不过气来。

耶稣为什么要受这样的苦？第一，祂受苦是因为祂藉着代替我们受死来拯救我们。第二，祂来是要应验圣经所说的 ——“为要使经上的话应验。”（参诗 22:1、7-8、14-18）

有一个韩国僧侣，他在金属围栏内住了十年，只吃松针和米磨成的粉，传说他八年来从来没有躺下睡觉，都是坐着睡的。

很多人都敬仰他的自律精神。然而，他临终时却这样说：“我一生中欺骗了很多人，我的罪恶可以填满天空，还要溢出须弥山。现今我带着千丝万缕的悔意眼睁睁堕下地狱。”这僧侣已经明白，他不能救赎自己的罪，而可悲的是，他并不认识耶稣。

唯有耶稣才能够赐我们永远的生命。祂来代替我们受苦和受死、亲身担当了对我们所犯之罪的刑罚，因为只有祂才能承受得起。祂忍受干渴，好让我们得到活水；因祂的鞭伤和痛苦我们得医治、又得以与爱我们的神和好。

祂是一位何等奇妙的救主啊！

After hours of suffering on the cross, Jesus said he was thirsty. Imagine the extreme pain he felt with the crown of thorns on his head and the nails through his hands and feet. He would have had terrible cramping, agonizing jolts of pain when he tried to move, and shortness of breath.

Why did Jesus suffer this way? First, he suffered because he had come to save us by dying in our place. Second, he came to fulfill what was written—"so that the Scripture would be fulfilled." (See, for example, Psalm 22:1, 7-8, 14-18.)

A Korean monk lived inside metal fences for 10 years and ate only pine-needle powder and rice flour. It is also said that for eight years he never lay down but slept while sitting.

Many people respected his self-discipline, but on his deathbed he said: "Since I have deceived so many in my lifetime, my iniquities have filled the sky and overflowed Mount Meru. Now I fall into hell alive, and there are tens of thousands of strands of regret." The monk had learned that he could not atone for his own sins, and, sadly, he did not know Jesus.

Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal life. He came to suffer and die in our place, taking on himself all the punishment for our sins, because only he could bear it. He endured thirst so that we can have living water. By his wounds and suffering we are healed and reconciled with God, who loves us.

What a Savior!