My field work church did seven little homilies based on the so-called seven last words of Jesus. I had a one-page limit. Enjoy!
The Fifth Word
April 6th, 2007
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.†(John 19:28)
Jesus thirsted forty days in the wilderness. There Satan tempted Him to bring water from the stones, as Moses had four hundred years before. Jesus resisted his body’s need for water. Now at the cross His mouth is parched. Agony, pain, and sweat leeched his body of moisture. Jesus says, “I thirst.â€
The men only give him sour wine, vinegar on a sponge, just as the psalmist spoke “And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.†(Psalm 69:21) Satan reminded him of His thirst in the desert. Jesus does not need the reminder now. The Spirit is strong but the body is weak.
His thirst was for our parched souls. He came, died, and will rise for our thirst. “[My people] will not hunger or thirst, Neither will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them, And will guide them to springs of water.†(Isaiah 49:10)
Jesus guided the woman at the well to living water. He told her “Everyone who drinks of [the] water [of Jacob’s well] shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.†(John 4:13-15) He says again, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.†(John 6:35)
“O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.†(Psalm 63:1) “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?†(Psalm 42:1-2)
Jesus, the one who thirsted, the wellspring of our salvation, says through the lips of John “they shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes.†(Revelation 7:16-17)
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