Friday, March 29, 2013

I am thirsty - one of the seven last words of Jesus



I am Thirsty

28 Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. ~ John 19:28-29

Christ even in the midst of agony and suffering, was aware of fulfilling and finishing the work God sent Him to do.  Never, did we hear Christ give an utterance of complaint, yet one could think here He complains by stating “I am thirsty”, not so.  Here Christ deliberately seeks to be obedient.  His declaration of “I am thirsty” speaks to a greater truth.  The truth is Christ’s thirsting was a thirsting after the glorifying of God and the accomplishment of the work of our redemption.

Christ statement of “I am thirsty” reminds us of the man who was in hell and looked up and asked could Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue; for he was being tormented in the flame (Luke 16:23-25).  This man’s torment was all humanities fate, an eternal thirsty that could never be quenched from the bitterness of sin’s drink.  Yet, had Christ not called out, “I am thirsty” and taken the bitterness upon his tongue, we could not taste of the eternal water that quenches our thirst.

Finally, when Christ took the bitter drink from the hyssop, it was a foreshadowing of the cleansing of our lives.  David in Psalm 51:7 asked God to cleanse him with hyssop and he would be whiter than snow.  Christ takes the sour wine offered on the hyssop branch so that you and I no longer have to have the bitterness of sin upon our lives, upon our tongues.  We can speak and know we are cleansed and that words that were once bitter now can be life giving words.  Isaiah said, I am a man of unclean lips, then God cleanses His mouth and make him able to go forth and speak the truth (Isaiah 6:5-6).  Today, know that Christ’s sacrifice gave you the ability to not only live for Him, but also to speak live giving Words, so that your thirsting will be filled from the fountain of the living water.

John 4:14 ~ But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”