We continue on our study today as we examine and reflect on "The Fifth Word" of our Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. As I said last time our Lord shared seven words, or saying as he hung on the cross of Calvary. First he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Then he promised the repentant thief, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Next He committed the care of His mother, Mary, to his closest friend John. Last week we heard that powerful cry from the cross "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" This morning we hear the words, "I am thirsty."

I have often said that there need be nothing complicated about our faith. I believe that when we search a biblical text for meaning, we should never overlook the obvious. Too many people these days, and always have I suppose, feel a need to conjure up some complex philosophical interpretation for a passage of scripture when there is an obvious meaning right in front of them. This fifth word from the cross is such a passage. It has attracted much attention over the years. What did Jesus really mean when he said, “I thirst?”

We should not forget what had happened to Jesus on this historic day called Good Friday. He was beaten and whipped thirty-nine times by the Roman soldiers. He was forced to carry a wooden cross up a long, winding road to a hill called Golgotha, outside the city of Jerusalem. They did not stop for coffee breaks. It was a tough, grueling experience. He had probably had nothing to drink since 6:00 in the morning. He was placed on the cross 9:00, and it was now 3:00 in the afternoon. A grueling trek, a hot desert climate, and nothing drink. And yet people wonder why he cried, "I thirst."

I understand that there are stages of thirst, beginning with discomfort. Everyone has probably felt this stage at some time or another, and they get something to drink. If no drink has been taken, in time, the tongue begins to stick to the roof of the mouth, and eventually sort of shrivels into a knot. If one is without water long enough, the kidneys will shut down, and death cannot be far away. In fact, one of the horrors of crucifixion is this dreadful thirst, and no doubt our Lord’s thirst was well advanced. So he cried out, "I am thirsty." And he was. He was indeed thirsty. Let us not to overlook the obvious.

But let's not overlook something else. When Jesus cried, "I thirst" he revealed his human nature, and that he was in need. In response a soldier shows a spark of kindness by offering Jesus something to drink. What about this soldier. Doesn’t he seem out of place? All accounts tell us that soldiers has beaten him, they had made fun of him, placed him on a cruel cross, then divided his clothes among them. Yet one of them offers him a drink in response to his cry of “I thirst.” Did you notice that Jesus didn’t ask for anything to drink? He simply made reference to the fact that he was thirsty. This soldier could have said, “So what. You are supposed to be thirsty. That is part of what hanging on a cross is all about.” As I think about this, it leaves me to wonder how much abuse this kindly soldier took from his peers, or even from his superiors. Would he have been considered as subversive; disloyal? Yet he dared to show an act of kindness to a suffering man. It might not have ever entered his mind that he was ministering to the King of kings, but it didn’t matter anyway. All he saw was a man in need, and he took a chance on whatever repercussions that might result from his kindness. A good lesson for us, don’t you think? O we are sometimes so choosy as to whom we will help. This soldiers shows us that kindness cannot be limited to our choice, but must be shown to any, and everyone.

Jesus was human, and his thirst was an example of his human needs. Yet he could not have promised us a place in the eternal kingdom of God if he were only human. Let me explain with the words of Dr. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, to help us capture the great paradox found in the words, "I am thirsty." he writes, "Who was this that said, `I Thirst?' It was he who balanced the clouds and filled the channels of the mighty deep. "He said, `I thirst,' and yet in him was a well of water springing up to eternal life! "Yes, he who guided every river in its course and watered all the fields with grateful showers--he it was, the King of kings and Lord of lords, before whom hell trembles and the earth is filled with dismay, he whom heaven adores and all eternity worships--he it was who said, `I thirst!' Matchless condescension--from the infinity of God to the weakness of a thirsting, dying man! And this was for you." (Tom Carter, Spurgeon at His Best, Baker Book House, 1988, page 306). "For in him all things were created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him...." This from Colossians 1:16

How well Jesus must have know the words from Psalm 42:2, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." Besides the awful physical thirst Jesus was experiencing, he had a heartfelt thirst to do the will of the Father. In Philippians 2:5 we learn how Jesus emptied himself of his divinity in order to completely identify with us. Yet in John 7:37 Jesus declares: "If any one thirsts, let him come to me and drink." Jesus knows that in the soul of every human being there is a sense of need. The soul of every single person desires to be filled, and there is no joy in the human soul until he fills it. We are not here to manipulate life to serve our own ends. We are here to serve the living God. That must be our number one priority in life. Everything else is a poor substitute which will eventually leave us hungering and thirsting. The world might satisfy us for a while, but it can never satisfy for the long haul. We thirst for meaning. We thirst for purpose. We thirst for the presence of the holy. Jesus is the only one who can satisfy this deep hunger and thirst within the human spirit. It is only he who can give us the freedom we need, freedom from sin, and freedom to live for him. Unless we thirst for Christ, and accept the living water he freely offers, we will always be thirsty. More than that, we will always be enslaved to our own evil devices.

We shouldn’t overlook the obvious, but there is something else that becomes abundantly clear in this saying, “I thirst,” and that is a rich symbolism that goes beyond the obvious thirst Jesus experienced; beyond the physical cry. When Jesus was accosted by his assailant in the Garden, Peter drew his sword and struck the High Priest’s slave, cutting off his ear. Can you imagine? Peter; impulsive, foolhardy Peter, wanting to take on all of those Roman soldiers who were no doubt armed to the teeth. . .wanting to single-handedly take them on, just to protect the Lord. O Peter, how little have you learned. Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back. Do you think I will not drink the cup of suffering which my Father has given me?” (John 81:11) Don’t you understand yet that it was for this I came to earth? This is the plan. . .the plan of salvation for all who believe, that I should drink this cup. . .drink every drop of it to the very bottom of the cup.

When Jesus cried “I am thirsty” I believe he was at the very lowest point of his condescension, of his lowering himself to the human level. Yet at the same time he was being lifted up. Psalm 22 is a prophetic Psalm that accurately describes the Lord’s crucifixion, even though it was written many hundreds of years before. The last sentence of that great Psalm says it all. Listen! “The Lord has saved his people!” The Lord has saved his people! The Lord has triumphed. He won the battle. He won the victory. His thirst was foretold. . .it was part of the plan. “My throat is dry as dust, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth,” it says in that same Psalm. But no sooner had he said these words that victory was at hand. Is that not love?
Oh, how He loves you and me
Oh, how He loves you and me!
He gave His life
What more could He do?
Oh, how He loves you
Oh, how He loves me
Oh, how He loves you and me!

Jesus to Calv'ry did go
His love for sinners to show.
What He did there
Brought hope from despair.
Oh, how He loves you
Oh, how He loves me
Oh, how He loves you and me! Kaiser, Kurt © 1975 Word Music (ASCAP) (a div. of Word, Inc.)

There is more symbolism. We have read that hyssop was used to lift the wine to Jesus’ parched mouth. Hyssop was used once before; on the night of the first Passover, the night the Israelites were rescued from slavery in Egypt. These were the pre-rescue instructions. “Take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the bowl containing the animal’s blood (the animal being a lamb) and wipe it on the doorposts. . .” (Exodus 12:22). This was done so that the Angel of death would “Passover” their house, and thus they would be rescued from slavery and set free. Jesus is the Lamb of God, whose blood was shed and the one door by which we may enter. He is the one who rescued us from the slavery of sin, into the freedom of forgiveness. He thirsted for us, and relief for him came on the form of a bitter drink on a stick of hyssop. And now we are free!

Abraham Lincoln once went down to the slave block to buy back a slave girl. As the slave girl looked at the tall, homely-looking white man bidding on her, she figured he was just another white man who was going to buy her and then abuse her. Lincoln won the bid, and as he was walking away with his property, he said, "Young lady, you are free." She said, "What does that mean?" He said, "It means you are free." "Does that mean," she said, "that I can say whatever I want to say?" Lincoln said, "Yes, my dear, you can say whatever you want to say." "Does that mean that I can be whatever I want to be?" she asked. Lincoln said, "Yes, you can be whatever you want to be." She said, "Does that mean I can go wherever I want to go?" He said, "Yes, you can go wherever you want to go." And the girl, with tears streaming down her face, said, "Then I will go with you."

Jesus once said to the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." He is the only one who can liberate us from drinking out of the cup of the world which can only enslave us and can never quench our thirst. Only he has the living water. His cup is filled to the brim with water of new life that tastes of joy and eternal life. Won’t you go with him today?