This evening, we hear Jesus speak His fifth word from His
cross, that of thirst:
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’”
The sheep ask Jesus when it was that they saw Him thirsty.
It was on the cross. The goats ask when it was that they saw Him thirsty. It
was on the cross. Not only is this one of the great verses for revealing Jesus’
humanity, but it also shows us Who is really thirsty here.
Now we can wax eloquent on what it means for us to be
thirsty and then, by implication, show that our thirsting is not like Jesus’
thirsting but that He wants us to be thirsty for holiness in this world. He
wants us to be so thirsty that we start enacting God’s righteousness on the
world’s inhabitants and punishment for those who do not obey. Our own Christian
Jihad.
Because thirsting for righteousness means making sure it
happens on earth as it is in heaven, no matter who is hurt or what the cost is.
Yes, we poor sinners believe that because we hear of God’s righteousness we
immediately become His vessel to do God’s will. Thus, our crusade is to make
sure righteousness abounds or else.
What we pass right by is what being thirsty means in the
first place, that is, it means to suffer. Thirsting is not a giving of power or
an elevation to a position of lordship. It is a humility borne under pain. Thirsting
is such a burden that if you thirst for a measly three days, you will die. Not
conquer a people, not win souls for the kingdom, but die.
Samson was a great Israelite hero. We all know his story,
hopefully. Yet it was during a time when the Philistines ruled over them that
it happened one day the Philistines were sick of Samson being a hero and
demanded his capture. Israel
After this betrayal, he calls on the Lord saying, “You have granted this great salvation by
the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands
of the uncircumcised?” (Jdg 15:18) Of course the Lord provided him with
water.
Towards the end of Israel’s reign, as both Assyria and
Babylon began to think Israel a prime place for a parking lot, both of them
created propaganda against the current kings, cutting off their water and
saying things like “On what are you
trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? Is not Hezekiah misleading
you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells
you, ‘The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria’…do
not believe him… for no god of any
nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the
hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!” (2
Chron. 32:10-15)
Now, place these words in the mouth of Jesus on the cross as
He suffers thirst. Has God granted such great salvation to all people and yet
Jesus alone shall die of thirst? Will God fail to deliver His Servant from
hunger and thirst on the cross, condemning the whole world?
If the Lord can make springs in the desert so that even the
wild beasts can drink (Ps. 104:10-11), why can He not provide for His only Son?
Here is an inside look into the thoughts of Jesus. He knows His people’s
history. He knows His prophesy. He knows that God claims to be able to give
drink to those who thirst, yet He is withholding from Jesus.
In the reading from Isaiah tonight, it is the servants who
get to eat and revel, but the Lord’s chosen, the One to take on His people’s
rebelliousness, is to be thirsty. In the reading from Revelation we hear that
the one who conquers thirst; Who conquers in God’s Name, will never be thirsty
again and He will be called Son.
In order to draw all men to Himself, Jesus suffers even
thirst on the cross that we may hear the blessed Gospel and find no dry well,
but a fount of living water, purified seven times. Water that gives life
eternal, instead of thirst a few hours later. Water that regenerates and renews
in baptismal grace, water that heals and forgives in communing with the Lord,
and water that is freely given where our Lord had none.
The switch has been made. The scapegoat has been offered.
God’s people will not suffer for their sins. Christ has accomplished and fulfilled
that. God’s people will live life in a corrupted world, but they will never
know real thirst, just as they will never know real death. The whirlpool of
life giving water from the pierced side of Jesus has swallowed up suffering,
thirst, and death forever.
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