God Was Thirsty

"After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"

John 19:28

It is truly remarkable God chose to become a man to suffer as a Saviour for sinful humanity.  "Thirst" is one of those bodily mechanisms God designed when He created man, an uncomfortable feeling or sensation to prompt us to drink to supply the needs of our physical bodies.  As a spirit God did not ever have this feeling Himself, but as the Man Jesus Christ He suffered hunger and thirst.

In John 4 when Jesus asked the Samaritan woman at the well for a drink, He claimed to be the source of Living Water.  In response to the question if He was greater than Jacob John 4:13-14 says, "Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ 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."  It is evident there is a spiritual thirst and a physical one, for though Jesus is the source of satisfying Living Water He was thirsty when crucified.

When the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, it was God who supplied life-sustaining water for His people as it is written in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4:  "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."  People drank from water God made to flow from a rock, and it foreshadowed physically what God would do spiritually through faith in Jesus Christ.  The One who supplied water for their bodies and their souls said, "I thirst!" and in doing so revealed His humanity.

At the same time Jesus Christ showed He was divine by knowing how the scripture would be fulfilled in Him expressing His thirst.  Psalm 69:21 reads, "They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."  Jesus knew all the prophesies that would be fulfilled by Him being betrayed, lifted up in crucifixion, being pierced, His clothes divided and lots cast, how no bones would be broken and that He would be given vinegar to drink.  These are just a handful of the many scriptures Jesus fulfilled in His death with flawless accuracy.  For those who know Jesus Christ is God made flesh His perfect knowledge is to be expected, yet I still find His gracious condescension to be human stunning.

My Saviour thirsted on Calvary so those who trust in Him need never be spiritually dry.  Jesus tasted death for sinners so we could be born again and have eternal life.  Those who offer a cup of water in the name of a disciple will not be without reward:  how much more rewarding is it to receive Christ, to know and proclaim Him!  Praise God He became a Man so His atoning sacrifice was acceptable for mankind.