Pastor's Note

 John 19:28-30, 34-37

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit . . . 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Illustration:

There was this challenge given to us by a track coach back in my high school days. She told us, on a trip back from a track meet, to take six large pretzels and eat them in one minute, fully chewed. At the time, I remember thinking, “how easy!” It’s only six pretzels. We all tried and we could not finish those six pretzels in one minute - our mouth became so dried out.

I thirst - We think of lack of water, and it is. But it’s more. Thirst is a very powerful experience.  A dry and parched land can cause thirst and if you are unfortunate to be wandering through that land you will experience rapid dehydration; your palate will become sticky and dry-parched by the heat. 

Thirst is the craving you have for something you are missing. There is a vital component of your wellness that is absent. Thirst signifies that normal life cannot be sustained because of a truant necessity. “Thirsty” is an indication of great need!

Jesus’ mouth was dried up from the miserable circumstances of the cross. Jesus cried, “ I thirst,“ because the heat of gods justice had scorched him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. When Jesus cried out from the cross, “I thirst,” what did that mean for Him? What does that mean for us? Why does this matter? 

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

Verse 28 says that scripture MUST be fulfilled! That amounts to our first reason why Jesus said what He said: “I thirst.” God had planned and predicted this desert-like condition of his soul, his being.  Such examples of fulfilled prophecy are very important because NOT one Word from God will ever fail.  Not one carefully orchestrated plan of God will ever, ever fail. Our human soul longs to hear this . . . maybe even “thirsts” for such stable revelation. God says it. It will happen. Jesus fulfilled prophecy.

Let’s venture in further to this idea of “Thirst” - it’s an inner need. To be thirsty is to have a sensation of dryness in the mouth and throat related to a need or desire to drink. You need physical water. Thirst can also pertain to an insistent desire; a craving. But this is more than a craving - it is a necessity.

When Jesus breathes out the words, “I Thirst”, he is signifying that the very essence of life, those most pressing and necessary elements of life are missing.

For what do you thirst?

A grade school child yearns, even thirsts, to have a new friend. Friendship is one component of life that is essential. The absence of it causes a type of thirst.

Teenagers long for, thirst for, recognition; they thirst for achievement and independence. A businessman thirsts for a greater return on his investments. A store clerk desires to have a promotion. We all long for someone to really care about us.

We thirst for an environment where our thoughts are attended to, our wishes are considered, our dreams are not scoffed at but supported. We long to fit in, we thirst for pleasure, we fawn for moments of peace.

A mother, with a schedule full of childhood activities, thirsts for real quiet rest - even if it is only 15 minutes of calm repose. Parents have deep longings to see their children’s lives fulfilled, they thirst for a better conditions for them.

Judas probably provides a good living example of thirst. For 3 years Judas walked with the one who could quench his thirst - Jesus the water of life. But in stubborn unbelief, Judas convinced himself that something other than Jesus would fulfill him.

It was the silver clink of a Roman coin that settled deep within his conscience and ignited a drive so deep, that he would betray Jesus and throw away the only thing that could quench his thirsty soul.

Judas was convinced of the lie; he believed money could satisfy. Judas heard Jesus’ words. Judas did not live out Jesus’ words but lived for what he thought would satisfy his thirsty heart - wealth. When Judas received even a meager bit of silver, 30 pieces, he was not only let down by the glistening mineral, but felt such severe remorse that it drove him to take his own life.

What is your thirst?

When Jesus expresses, “I thirst” it was at the driest moment of physical grief with His soul rejected by God for the shame of my sins. He says, “I thirst” because of lack. Lack of moisture seeping through his veins, lack of water, loss of blood, extreme physical torture. He is experiencing the heat and neglect of Hell.

Hell is the place where the longings of the human heart never get fulfilled - Jesus said, “I thirst” - its physical wrapped up in the spiritual, entangled by the emotional. His complete self is thirsty because everything good has been stripped from his life.

Hell is the place of missing out; there the human heart can only long for containment and never feel satisfied. Jesus said, “I thirst!” His spirit was parched by lack of His Father’s presence, lack of human fulfillment, lack of peace - every emotional pound of shame was stacked against Him and weighing down on Him.

The sad words from His lips reveal the poison He swallowed so our hearts could be eternally relieved, eternally complete.

He’s dehydrated in body, soul, relationships because these would have been our festering drag of eternal perdition. He experiences this lack so that, one day, our hearts could be awakened to the Father’s love for us. He thirsts so that we can live in the lush paradise of heaven where never again will we hunger, never again will we thirst. There will be no lack or longing because Heaven will be the place where our deepest need, to be united with God, will be realized.

His thirst means we are quenched by the fullness and love of God.