SCRIPTURE

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” John 19:28

OBSERVATION

Jesus was thirsty.  But was He actually physically thirsty or was He again misunderstood.  While I understand that Jesus was dying and quite understandably He would likely want some water, I’m not totally convinced that this was His request.

This is the man who went into the intense desert heat and fasted from food and water for forty days and forty nights.  When Satan tempted Him to turn the stone into bread, He refused.  This is the man who said to the Samaritan Woman  “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,   but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4: 13 – 14).  By God’s power, Jesus is The Living Water.  So why would Jesus thirst?

I think Jesus was spiritually thirsty.  Throughout His life on the earth, outside of His relationship with God, Jesus was alone.  He was spiritually misunderstood.  The only One who understood Him completely was His Father to whom Jesus was divinely connected to. They had a symbiotic relationship through which Jesus was connected to the Fountain Living Water springing up into Everlasting Life.  Jesus knew that in order to save the human race, He had to be separated from His Father through death. As death approached, Jesus felt His connection to the Father, the Fountain of Life, The Living Water begin to fade.  He knew His time was coming and He thirsted to be connected to the Source of Living Water.

APPLICATION

I have had days or periods in my life, when I have not been as connected to God as I should have been.  I miss God.  I miss the connection.  I miss the time spent in His presence and there is a nagging reminder that I need to get back into my devotions to renew that friendship, that parent/child bond that I have with Him.

Jesus was dependent on God and They worked together in all things.  God was His Father and Best Friend.  While I would love to say that my relationship with God is the similar, I cannot.  So if I have a longing to renew my relationship with God, I cannot even begin to imagine how Jesus felt on the cross being separated from His Father, from His Source of Life, The Living Water.  The thirst He felt, must be unlike any other.

God is the only One who truly understands me, after all He created me.  I need to develop a dependent relationship on God, such that I am thirsty to be in His presence and that it is only His water that can quench my thirst.

PRAYER

Abba Father

Your sacrifice demonstrates Your love for us and for this we are truly grateful.  We  are spiritually thirsty Lord, more than we know and yet we sometimes fail to actively seek The Living Water that springs into Everlasting Life.  I pray that You will teach us to seek You and to have an earnest desire to spend time with You while we can.   Christ was thirsty for You and I pray that we can be too.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen