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I Thirst

John 19:28 | “I thirst.”

Pastor Jim Quigley

John 19:28 contains one of the last sayings of Christ from the cross—and it's one of the shortest (two words in English, only one word in the original Greek language). But do not mistake the brevity of this saying with having a shallow meaning. Rather this one word from Christ has profound meaning and implications.

When Jesus says, “I thirst” (John 19:28), there is no doubt that He is utterly parched from the events that transpired against Him. He has been beaten and flogged. A crown of thorns was pressed into His head. He was forced to carry His cross on His flayed, exposed back. And then nails were driven through His hands and feet. Jesus then hung there on the cross for six hours (Mark 15:25, 33), experiencing loss of blood, severe exhaustion, and excruciating pain. In the midst of the torture, Jesus was desperately thirsty. Jesus’s cry for a drink was not calm and composed, but a cry of agony. His physical thirst was indicative of the physical torment that He was experiencing.

But it was also a fulfillment of prophecy (see the first half of John 19:28). Though the particular text Jesus was referring to is not mentioned, it is likely either Psalm 62:21 or Psalm 22:15. In either case, what is clear is Jesus’s unwavering commitment to order His life around the Scriptures, even in the midst of suffering. In His final moments of agony on the cross, Jesus was still faithful to fulfilling the Scriptures. May that be said of us as well in times of suffering and crisis.

Yet there is something deeper and more profound than physical thirst in this cry from Jesus. Jesus was also crying out about His spiritual thirst as He hung on the cross.

The five other instances in which the word “thirst” is used in the Gospel of John all refer to spiritual thirst (John 4:13,14,15; 6:35; 7:37). In the first three instances, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that He can offer her living water (John 4:7-15). If she were to drink of this water, she would “never be thirsty again,” and the living water will become a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Later, after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). And finally, on the last day of the Feast of Booths, Jesus cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). All usages of the word “thirst” in the Gospel of John point to a spiritual thirst, not merely a physical thirst. 

What is this spiritual thirst? A longing for God’s presence. A longing for our hearts and souls to be satisfied with God. 

Jesus, who from eternity past enjoyed perfect intimacy with the Father, was for the first time ever experiencing the painful absence of the Father’s presence. This is why He cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus’s soul is in agony. His soul is parched.

Jesus experienced physical thirst. Yet His thirst was more profound than just that. He experienced a deep spiritual thirst for God who had separated Himself from Christ as He bore our sins. 

Therefore, this is the truth that we receive from this saying of Jesus from the cross: Jesus became thirsty for us so that our spiritual thirst for God may be quenched. We can experience eternal soul satisfaction only because Jesus experienced the agony of separation from the Father—only because he declared “I thirst.” We find our spiritual thirst forever quenched when we drink of the living water that Christ offers.

Reflection: Consider where you find your soul most satisfied and full. Is it in the fleeting, fickle things of the world? Or in the eternal, unchanging God? Why are the things of this world like a bad, broken well for your soul to drink water from? In what ways is God a superior well to any and every well of the world? Read, reflect on, and pray through Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63; and Jeremiah 2:11-13.