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

Thirsty?

How ironic that the “Living Water” should thirst. Jesus has reached dehydration after hours of beating and enduring the heat of the day. Without anything to drink for many hours now, His parched lips and throat desire relief. Jesus musters the strength to deliver two words that not only state His present physical condition but reveal in a very real sense His humanity. As Jesus says: “I thirst”, he identifies with every person in mankind once again, as everyone knows and understands what it means to be thirsty.

Thirst Quencher?

In His ministry, Jesus came across a woman at a well and during their dialogue, Jesus says that He possesses “Living Water”. He told the woman that if she asked, He would give her a drink of water that would slake her thirst forever. He is not asking for such a drink from anyone Himself just a simple drink of water. The “Living Water” is dying for a drink of regular water.

As Jesus hang from the cross, He mumbles these words and perhaps these words passed through His lips because it is the cry of every soul in creation? Maybe we all thirst for something that nothing in this world can satisfy?

Questions for reflection

Have you ever been dehydrated?

What effects does lack of water cause?

How does Jesus showing fatigue make you feel? Cause you to look at Him in a new or different way?

What do you think your soul truly thirsts for?

How have you tried to satisfy your spiritual thirst with physical things?