Jesus’ Last Words: I’m thirsty!
Author’s Note: This post was adapted from a sermon I originally preached on March 13, 2016.
The end was near now. Six hours had passed since Jesus forgave those who pounded the nails through his hands. It had been five hours since he guaranteed a place in paradise to a penitent thief. Four hours had ticked past by since he entrusted his mother into John’s hands, and three hours had crawled by since the whole land was plunged into a supernatural darkness. Jesus’ mission was nearly finished. Since Adam and Eve, he was the only human born without sin. He had instilled his teachings and mission into people who would lay the foundation for the Church. He faced temptation and won, qualifying him to be the penultimate sacrifice for our sin. And now, while a crucifixion would normally go on for days, Jesus was just minutes from surrendering his spirit and taking his final breath.
All of this is why Jesus’ fifth statement from the cross is so significant.
In John 19:28, sometime after Jesus had entrusted his mother to the care of his beloved disciple John, “when Jesus knew that everything was now accomplished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, ‘I’m thirsty!'”
At first glance, there is nothing terribly profound about such a mundane statement. We can easily attribute his thirst to any number of factors including going six hours without water, hanging on a cross in the full sun, or even blood loss from the severe beating he took. In fact, we probably would not give this remark a second thought except for three things. First, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful, and that suggests that there is something here for us. Second, the only other time the gospels record Jesus asking for a drink, he wound up leading an entire Samaritan village to faith. Third, John’s gospel was written well after the other three were concluded.
Put another way, after Mark, Matthew, and Luke had their turns at bat, John served as the clean-up hitter. In baseball, the clean-up hitter’s role is to bring home the previous batters who have merely gotten on base. John’s role as a gospel writer, then, was to provide any pertinent details the other three might have missed, and this was one of thost details.
The fact that John chose, of all things, to tell us that Jesus was thirsty in his final moments on the cross tells us that this was somehow important, and I think that there are two reasons why that is true.
My needs are important, too.
The first of these reasons comes from the rarity of this statement. While there is nothing significant about one of us saying that we are thirst, Jesus was the one who taught in the temple at age 12, turned water into wine at the behest of his mom, fed more than 5,000 in one sitting and more than 4,000 in another sitting, and healed countless people of myriad maladies up to and including death. Yet, this is one of the very few times in Scripture when Jesus mentions something that he needs.
The fact that Jesus would do this suggests that, at some point, my needs are important. That is, we all have needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter. We really do need them, and if we do not get them, it does not end well for us. Therefore, we must take care of ourselves.
Indeed, experience confirms this. Consider, for example, the directions given to passengers on an airliner. If the airplane cabin suddenly loses pressure, passengers are instructed to put on their own mask before helping anyone else, including their kids. Every parent recognizes how counterintuitive this directive is, but there is a very good reason. A child without that mask may go unconscious, but he will recover when the parent places the mask over his face. However, if a mother does not put on her own mask in the precious few seconds she is able, she will pass out, and her child, even with his mask, will be unable to help her. The fact of the matter is that you cannot really help anyone else if you do not take care of yourself.
That is not, however, to say that we should take care of “number one” and forget everyone else. Notice, Jesus said, “I’m thirsty.” He did not say, “I need a new Lamborghini, a bigger boat, or a fifth bathroom.” While there is nothing wrong with a few luxuries if you can afford them, we must be able to recognize the difference between needs and wants, and we must prioritize needs. Notice also that, by the time Jesus said this, he had already addressed the guards’ need for forgiveness, the thief’s need for salvation, and his mother’s need for a caretaker. In fact, he had already been hanging on a cross for six hours to address our need for a savior.
Perhaps, then, we should add a slight qualification to the initial assertion and recognize that my needs are important, too. Indeed, Jesus told us that the greatest commandment and our first priority must be to love God, and he said the second was similar: love your neighbor as yourself. That is, we must prioritize God and his will, and then we must find a way to balance our needs with the needs of those around us.
I should want what God wants.
This is an essential realization, but there is a second, even more important, reason why John made a point to include this statement. You see, throughout the gospel of John, thirst and drink is a common theme. For example, while attending a wedding at Cana in John 2, Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine when there was nothing left to drink. While passing through Samaria in John 4, he met a woman at a well and asked her for a drink. He then went on to tell her about the living water he would provide. This theme continues through the gospel to John 18:11 where, as Jesus’ disciples protested his arrest in Gethsemane, he wondered, “Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Of course, the cup to which Jesus was referring in John 18 was the crucifixion. This was was an essential component of God’s plan to redeem mankind, but do you remember how Jesus felt about that cup earlier in Gethsemane? In Matthew 26:39, he prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Three verses later, in Matthew 26:42, he prayed again, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” In his humanity, Jesus did not want to drink the cup of the crucifixion, but he was nevertheless resolved to do the Father’s will rather than his own.
In John 19:28, however, as Jesus hung on the cross just moments from giving up his spirit, he announced, “I’m thirsty.” This was not just a simple declaration of our Lord’s physical need. That is, he was not merely thirsty in the literal sense. Rather, this was a declaration of spiritual desire. At last, Jesus human desires were finally, fully aligned with the divine will he had decided long before to follow, and if Jesus wanted what the Father wanted, and I am supposed to be like Jesus, then at some point, I should want what God wants.
This, of course, is easy as long as God wants us to have good health, a strong family, a nice car, new house, and a job we love. As long as life is good, it is easy to want what God wants. However, when God wants something that is not fun, or if even one of those things does not fall exactly into place, it is markedly more difficult to align our human desires with God’s will. How much harder it is when we are asked to pick up our own cross and carry it to our own sacrifice!
This, though, is exactly the point. The ultimate test of our faith and the definition of being a mature, sanctified, holy Christian is to want what God wants, no matter the cost. Indeed, John Wesley wrote that the singular desire of the mature Christian’s life should be “‘to do, not his own will, but the will of Him that sent him.’ His one intention at all times and in all places is, not to please Himself, but Him whom his soul loveth” (source: A Plain Account of Christian Perfection).
To do this means liking what God likes and disliking what God dislikes, and saying “yes” when God says “yes” and “no” when God says “no.” It means getting excited about what excites God, infuriated by what infuriates God, and pleased only as long as God is. It means reaching the point where, when God hands us a cup to drink, regardless of whether it contains joy or sorrow, prosperity or pain, life or even a call to carry our own cross our response is, as Jesus said, “I’m thirsty.”
Of course, that raises a critical question: How can we know what God wants? We can point to the Bible, in which God reveals his character and command, and prayer. We can also point to the church, where we will find other godly men and women who can help us discern his will.
So also, we must ask why we would want to do this, especially if it has the potential to bring so much pain and sacrifice. To answer that, consider the case of the flamingo. Typically, we imagine flamingoes as large pink birds standing on one leg, but did you know flamingoes are actually born white? As they mature, flamingoes turn pink because of the shrimp they love to eat. Just as the stuff that is inside the flamingo inevitably works its way to the surface, the stuff that people see on the surface of us more often than not flows out of the stuff that is inside us. Therefore, if we want what God wants, then we will do what God wants.
In his final moments on the cross, Jesus was thirsty, and in his thirst, we learn two critical lessons. First, he had a legitimate need that had to be satisfied. Are you taking care of yourself so you can take care of those around you? Are your needs important, too? Second, he had reached the point where, once and for all, his human desires were aligned with the Father’s divine will. Do you want what God wants? Are you thirsty?