Issue 1578 – Seven Sayings 11 – October 19, 2024
This morning, we move on to the word “suffering” in our study of the “Seven Sayings.”
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” John 19:28 ESV
What a profoundly human reaction this thirst is. With all the trauma and bloodletting, of course, Jesus would be suffering from incredible thirst. If it seems so obvious that it hardly merits a thought … or does it?
Jesus cries out in thirst after crying out to ask why the Lord forsakes him. Physical thirst is very real in life, but there is also a spiritual thirst.
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:2-3
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Psalm 42:1
The Lord experiences double agony. The deep thirst of a body dying of dehydration (although suffocation would kill him first) combined with a spirit that has been broken or at least on the very precipice of breaking.
Just as physical thirst reveals an actual physical need …the need for water to survive, Jesus’ Spiritual thirst points us to a genuine spiritual need … to be reconciled to God. In His cry, Jesus points to real universal needs.
His thirst looks forward to being satisfied with living water. The Scriptures also point us backward toward the event of those last days in prophecy.
His Thirst Psalm 69:21
His betrayal Psalm 41:9
Deserted by His friends Psalm 31:11
The false accusations Psalm 35:11
Silent before his accusers Isaiah 53:9
Counted amongst the transgressors Isaiah 53:12
His crucifixion Psalm 109:25
The mocking crowds Psalm 22:7-8
His clothes gambled for Psalm 22:18
Praying for His enemies Isaiah 53:12
Forsaken by God Psalm 22:1
He yields His spirit Psalm 31:5
No broken bones Psalm 34:20
Burial in another’s tomb Isaiah 53:9
and more…
His cries of “I thirst” and “My God, why have you forsaken me?” are lines from Scripture the assembled crowds would have known well. Those words should have driven the crowd back to the Scriptures to see the truth of what they were witnessing.
Two days later, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus would show two disciples how the Scriptures (at that point, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings or what we would come to call the Old Testament) point irrefutably to Him. No one else could so clearly fulfill the prophecies made about Him.
In His cry, we can see Jesus’ empathy for us. He is fully human (as well as fully god). In His lifetime, Jesus experienced the same things we might: hunger, thirst, the need for sleep, pain, joy, sorrow, temptation, and more.
When we approach Jesus, we approach the one who understands exactly what we need and why we need it. He was indeed without sin but was tempted with everything common to humankind.
Those who reject Him will suffer an everlasting unquenchable thirst; they will never be reconciled to Father. We see a hint of that when Jesus told the story of Lazarus and the rich man.
And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ Luke 16:24
When we approach Him with a spiritual longing and a desire for reconciliation with Our Father, He understands. Not just an intellectual assent but the real understanding of having been there too. Only He can fill our thirst.
Until next time, rejoice that we have a Savior who understands everything we need.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
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Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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