“I Thirst”
The fifth thing that Jesus said from the Cross that was recorded. When he was going through that suffering, he cried out saying that he is thirsty. The suffering Jesus had to go through was not an easy one, it is one of the most gruesome death a human being has ever gone through, pain so intense that a man cannot endure it. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, which is a place in the Persian part of the world and as the clichés go, it is full of deserts and it is extremely hot and Christ hung on that Cross, with that broken body in that scorching heat and he cried out, ‘I am Thirsty’. By this time, Jesus had been hanging on the cross for almost six hours. Crucifixion was the most painful means of torture and death that man has ever devised. He had suffered great loss of blood and His thirst must have been intense. On his way to the cross, Jesus was so exhausted that he fell down on the way and another person had to carry the cross.
“The cross is proof of both the immense love of God and the profound wickedness of sin.”
To save humanity Christ had to go through suffering like nowhere else. He was crushed under the wrath of God. The saviour who hung on that cross was God but also he was 100% human. He felt every pain, every nail made him scream, every whip that cut through his body made him groan in pain, he felt every single flogging and he took it all with us in mind, with our freedom in mind, with nothing but love in mind. Love finds a way to endure pain so that at the end of it, it is all worth it. Our freedom was the price he paid on the cross with every beating. The irony in this situation is that Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman and told her, ‘Whosever drinks the water I give shall not thirst’ and sometime later, Jesus cries on the Cross, ‘I thirst’! The one who quenches our soul’s thirst screamed ‘I Thirst’ on that Cross of Calvary. The suffering of the Saviour is almost over. He has been hanging on the cross now for several hours. He cries out, “I thirst.” This cry was from the human part of His being. These two words are the only time we hear words that indicate His physical suffering. Jesus was totally aware at all times of the situation. Matthew 27:34 records that Jesus had refused a drink of vinegar and gall offered before. This was a concoction designed to suppress the senses and deaden the pain of the cross. Jesus refused to take this drink because
He wanted to be in total control. He wanted to feel every bit of it, because there ain’t no stopping Love!
I have a river of joy in me, because down came Calvary’s Cavalry!