I Thirst!

“Later, knowing that all was now completed,
and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it,
put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant,
and lifted it to Jesus’ lips”
(John 19:28-29)

Reflection:
There are three things that stand out in this great passage.

The first is the very real humanity of Jesus. The pain and suffering that He went through was very real. After the hours of hanging on the cross and the terrible exertions of trying to ease the pain and the sense of suffocation His throat would have been parched – and there was still one more thing to do and say.

The next is His aching spiritual thirst. His sense of abandonment by God would have struck Him to the very depths of His spirit – as the waters of Life flowed away from Him and the waters of death rose up inside of Him. He would have longed for the thirst-quenching return of the Holy Spirit whose presence He had enjoyed through His years of ministry.

Finally He still had to drink the cup of suffering down to the very dregs. This was the cup about which He had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now He thirsted for the last few sips so that everything might finally be completed.

“My Father,
if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away
unless I drink it, may your will be done”
(Matthew 26:42)

In body, spirit and will Jesus cried out for relief – not for the suffering to be taken away but that it might be completed. For right to the end He never lost sight of His purpose which was to glorify God by being obedient to and completing His will.

And when you and I twist and turn in an agony of spirit, yearning for the living waters of the Lord to come and wash us, cleanse us, revive us, liberate us and bring new and fulfilling life, remember that there is One who fully knows and understands our pain. At such moments, as we long to shed the old and embrace the new, He is very close to us.

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