I Thirst

Jesus’ fifth word from the cross is his shortest, and probably his least-remembered. Why does Jesus say “I thirst”?

First, we need to simply catch up with the story. Jesus said “I thirst” “after this…knowing that all was now finished.” In other words, all that the Father had given Jesus to accomplish was now complete: every prophecy fulfilled, every act of ministry to individuals like the thief, and Mary, carried out. All that is left for Jesus to do now is to die. And it is at this point that Jesus makes his lone mention of physical discomfort at the cross: “I thirst.”

Jesus does not complain of thirst like you expect a crucifixion victim to. He speaks with regal dignity, like a king to his attendants: “I thirst.” It reminds me of a favorite Old Testament story, in 2 Samuel 23, when King David is fighting the Philistines. They have captured his hometown of Bethlehem. At some point in the battle, David remarks off-handedly: “How I’d love a drink from the well of Bethlehem right now.” He didn’t mean it literally. But three of David’s “mighty men” heard him, and their love for David their king is so great that they immediately attend to his wish. They sneak off from camp. They fight their way into Bethlehem. They make it to the well, and two fight off the bad guys while one fills up a canteen. Then they fight their way out, and make it all the way back to David’s camp. When they give David the water, he can’t bring himself to drink it. It is too precious, too sacred. So David pours the water out as an offering to God.

This is how you attend to the thirst of a king! Now 1,000 years later, David’s greater son hangs on the cross, and says ‘I thirst.’ But there are no mighty men this time: all his friends have forsaken him. No one attends the thirst of this king. Instead, the onlookers just mock Jesus some more—they raise a sponge of sour wine up to him on a stick. Another jab at the “phony king.” But Jesus receives the drink with grace anyway. The swallow wets his throat enough for his more famous words, “It is finished!”

Why does Jesus say “I thirst?” Certainly, he is terribly thirsty. But John says he has a deeper purpose: he said this “to fulfill the Scripture.” Most point to David’s words in Psalm 69:20–21: “Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” As with Psalm 22, David’s sufferings as God’s king in Psalm 69 foreshadow Jesus’ sufferings as God’s Ultimate King. But Jesus’ thirst on the cross points beyond just these specific verses.

Jesus has said “I thirst” already in John’s gospel. He was at a well in Samaria, asking a woman there for a drink. The woman had a checkered past; she had made some bad choices and was now an outcast in her community. After Jesus asked her for a drink from the well, he told her that he could give her living water to satisfy the thirst of her soul: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” (John 4:13–14) Later, Jesus would call all who “thirst” to come to him and drink; he said that he could not only quench our thirst, but make rivers of living water flow out of our hearts to give life to others (John 7:37–39).

Just as God created our bodies with a physical thirst for water, he created our souls with a spiritual thirst for him. We all have a longing that can only be satisfied in knowing him and his love. God himself is “a fountain of living waters:” an endless supply of life, joy, and satisfaction. He offers himself freely to us! But we are threatened by God, and don’t come to him to drink. We instead try to maintain our independence from him, while still trying to satisfy our soul-thirst with other things, like acceptance from peers, sex and relationships, money and material things, achievement and success. We tell ourselves: when I just get ______ I won’t be thirsty anymore! But only the God who made us can quench the thirst of our souls. Anything else is a broken vessel, leaving us discontented, dissatisfied, restless, and so thirsty. (Cf Jer 2:13; Isa 55:1–2; Rev 22:17)

Beyond just having an unfulfilled life on earth, there are more serious consequences to rejecting the living water of a relationship with God. “Thirst” is often a picture of God’s judgment, God’s curse (cf Deut 28:47–48). In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who lived his whole life trying to quench the thirst of his soul with money. When he died, he woke up in hell. And Jesus said this man is intensely aware of his awful thirst. He’s in torment in a flame, and begs Lazarus to come from heaven and dribble a drop of water from his finger onto his tongue. Hell is a place of eternal thirst. It is where we’re finally cut off from access to the living water of God that we rejected on earth.

This is why it is good news for us that Jesus said “I thirst” from the cross! Unlike us, Jesus always delighted in the deep well of God’s love. From before the world was made, Jesus had been drinking from the fountain of living water. Jesus had never tried to satisfy the thirst of his soul with an idol. But at the cross, as Jesus bears our sin, for our idolatry, for the first time he is cut off from the living waters of God’s presence. Jesus is treated like the Samaritan woman deserved to be treated for her sins; he enters the flame like the greedy rich man from the parable; he experiences the thirst of judgment like Psalm 69:3: “I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.”

When Jesus says “I thirst” from the cross, we realize for the first time what it cost him to offer living water to the Samaritan woman at the well. For her to get access to the fountain of living waters, Jesus had to be cut off from them. For her to be spared the eternal thirst of the rich man in hell, Jesus had to experience it for her. For her to drink and be satisfied in God, Jesus had to thirst in her place. But Jesus thirsted for her, and for us, with all the love in his heart! Now, he joyfully invites thirsty sinners like us to come and drink, and never thirst again: “If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink….and let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (John 7:37, Rev 22:17)

Have you responded to Jesus’ invitation? Have you received this free gift of soul-satisfying salvation from him? There is nothing left for us to do—Jesus said “I thirst,” because “all was finished.” Come to him with the empty hands of faith and receive his grace.

Maybe you have forgotten that only Jesus can satisfy, and you are trying again to quench your soul’s thirst with the broken cisterns of the world—“when I finally get ____ I’ll be satisfied!” Jesus thirsted for you at the cross to free you from this restless, discontented, thirsty life. Come to him and drink.

If Jesus has satisfied your thirst, then serve him as your king—like David’s mighty men!—with thankfulness and joy.

FOR NEXT INSTALLMENT, SEE:

Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church