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Mark Wheeler
John 19:28
Seven Last (pre-crucifixion) Words of Christ: “THIRSTY”
03/31/2019
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
Through the Written Word,
And the spoken word,
May we know Your Living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“Father forgive them for they do not KNOW what they are doing.”
“TRULY I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
“[Jesus] said to [His mother], “Woman, HERE is your son,” and to the disciple, “HERE is your mother.”
“My God, my God, why have You FORSAKEN me?”
Maybe if they didn’t KNOW, they should be offered grace. That’s what God does; do we do that?
The TRUTH is always bigger than the agony we might currently feel, and Jesus promises paradise in this life and immeasurably beyond this life.
Jesus points us TOWARD one another so that, with open arms and hearts, we might learn to love one another.
Jesus quotes Psalm 22’s question about God’s WHEREabouts in times of trauma, and He expects us to supply Psalm 22’s answer that God is always right here with us!
Today’s “word” is THIRSTY.
For this series, because Lent is a season of personal reflection and devotion, we are starting each message with a couple questions to set the stage, questions for you to ponder, and maybe to answer at the close of the message:
- Think of a time when you’ve participated in a ritual with water or juice or wine – like Baptism or foot-washing or Communion – what was that like? What did it mean to you?
- Do you think it was difficult for Jesus to say, “I am THIRSTY”? When is it hard for you to admit you need help with something?
Today’s reading comes from John 19:28. Jesus is already on the cross, having endured the pains of betrayal, a late-night arrest, an all-night, illegal trial, a predicted denial, and a conviction resulting in being whipped with a scourge and forced to carry His cross (until Simon of Cyrene stepped in to help) to the place of crucifixion where He was nailed and hung to die.
Hear the Word of our Lord …. —-
28 “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am THIRSTY.’”
I’m not a big drinker of water – 8 glasses a day? Really? – but in the summer after a long lawn-mow, not much feels better than a tall glass of lemonade. In the fall, maybe a good yard raking deserves a warm cup of apple cider. In the dead of winter, who doesn’t cozy up to a cup of hot chocolate. Right? Next week I will enjoy a delicious cup of jet-black coffee with a plate of sourdough hot cakes at Clifford Weyiouanna’s kitchen table.
When we are THIRSTY, it’s often our body’s way of reminding us that we need something, that we lack something. Without enough water we get headaches, or dizzy spells, or worse. We need a cup, or an IV of liquid to satisfy our longing. My absolutely thirstiest moment in life was when I thought I had a stomach flu and was treating it by hydrating with soda, Orange Nehi. I could not drink enough soda to satisfy my thirst. First note: sugary sodas should not be our first remedy to quench a thirst. What I learned on day three of my growing-need-for-another-Nehi was that I did not have a stomach flu, I had Type I Diabetes Mellitus, and the sugary liquid was just making it worse, so that my body evacuated the soda out faster than I could replace it – thus increasing my feeling of THIRST!
Sometimes it’s our spirit that craves some kind of refreshment. Maybe it’s a friendly face or an encouraging word or a hug. The 1980s TV sitcom Cheers demonstrated meeting both those needs in a fun way. “Norm” came for a beer, but he really came for the friendly fellowship, the company, he came because “everybody knew his name…” (For me those places tend to be Taco John’s, Little Nevada, or DQ, for food, a drink, and friendly company. Church-family is my go-to group to just hang with.)
Jesus uses some of His very last words to say, “I am THIRSTY.”
I wonder if the people gathered at the cross were surprised to hear Jesus cry out that He was THIRSTY…. I wonder if they were surprised how that sentence ended. I mean, surely Jesus felt a ton of things, lots of needs, while He hung on that cross. John tells us that this was His cry to fulfill what the Scriptures foretold – Psalm 22 speaks of His tongue sticking to the roof of His mouth and Psalm 69 talks about someone using vinegar to satisfy His THIRST – but I wonder if John even recognized this at the time.
I wonder if they expected to hear something more profound. What else does Jesus say in John’s Gospel? “I am the Bread of Life…. I am the Light of the world…. I am the Good Shepherd…. I am the True Vine…. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life….” I am … THIRSTY?
When He started with “I am …” did everyone lean in? Were they hoping for a meaningful metaphor? A new revelation? One more saying that would shed light on who Jesus is? But, I am … THIRSTY?
Maybe they felt relieved. Finally, here was an “I am” statement they all easily understood. Everyone knows what it’s like to be THIRSTY.
Put yourself in their place for a minute. You love this Man, admire Him, revere Him, and He’s dying nailed on a cross, and He’s THIRSTY! Who has a jug of water? How can we reach His parched lips?
Maybe we’re feeling ashamed. Here’s this Man whom we have followed for three years, and now He’s been abandoned by His closest friends, mocked by His weakest antagonists, and tormented by His fiercest opponents. But He doesn’t cry out for mercy, He just pleads for something to whet His whistle!
And what happens next? Someone lifts a sponge soaked in vinegar for Jesus to suck on! He cried for liquid – that’s what He got!
That the Scripture might be fulfilled! Was He THIRSTY for an unjust world to find justice? For a world parched with wrong to be filled with righteousness? Was His THIRST for a place where no one suffered at the hands of another, where no child went to bed hungry; where, as the Old Testament Prophet Amos prayed, an ever-flowing stream, like water, righteousness to flood our lands?
In John 4 Jesus met a woman at a well and He promised her “living water” that satisfies our THIRST for God. Was He thinking about the waters of Baptism, wherein we are inundated with God’s salvation and love? Maybe people thought about the foot-washing ceremony that welcomed strangers into our homes. Was He recalling His 40-days in the wilderness, when in His hunger and THIRST Satan tempted Him to abandon His calling. Maybe, while drying out on the cross Jesus remembered His own Baptism when He heard His Father say, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love”!
That’s a lot of speculation. I don’t know everything that was going through Jesus’ mind, or through the minds of those gathered together on that hill. But, because the Scriptures were fulfilled, we do know that God’s purpose was being played out. And we know that Jesus found satisfaction – not in the vinegar, but in His relationship to His heavenly Father.
We live in a world that is filled to the brim with THIRST! All around us, in school, at work, next door, down the hall, in the very seat each of us is sitting – we see THIRST – for water, for connection, for God’s love and mercy and justice and grace.
How do we offer God to those we know who are THIRSTY?
How do we quench our own THIRST?
If you’re THIRSTY and dry, look up to the sky – it’s beginning to rain!
As we move into our time of prayer, let’s begin by sharing our thoughts about
- Think of a time when you’ve participated in a ritual with water or juice or wine – like Baptism or foot-washing or Communion – what was that like? What did it mean to you?
- Do you think it was difficult for Jesus to say, “I am THIRSTY”? When is it hard for you to admit you need help with something?
28 “Knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am THIRSTY.’”
Resources:
Illustrated Children’s Ministry, LLC; 2019.
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