1512AFC032015 – A Thirsting
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Exodus 17:3 – But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”
E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika’i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) This Bible verse is the first use of the word thirst in the Bible. This was the confrontation between Moses and The People at Massah in the Desert called Meribah. Moses was at wits end with the Israelites, but God was there to show his power to Moses and The People. God told Moses to strike the rock with the staff he held to divide the waters. When Moses obeyed, the rock broke open and the water flowed.
Revelation 22:17 – The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
This Bible verse from Revelation (please note there is no s at the end of Revelation) is the last use of the word thirst in the Bible. It is part of the Epilogue and Benediction in John’s prophecy in the last chapter of Revelation – the last page of the Bible as it were. On the first page of the Bible, we also find water: Genesis 1:1-2 – 1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Throughout all of our Scripture, water is a very important tool in the work of God. Water cleanses the Earth of all but a handful of living creatures – eight earthlings and a giant menagerie of animals as Noah obeys the command of God to be righteous. It is especially used as a marker of suffering – being thirsty is one of the most terrible experiences in our lives, especially if it is a chronic problem with little hope of relief as at Massah in the desert. Thirst is also a simile for the spiritual longing we feel for the presence of God; we thirst for the righteousness of God.
The Prophet Isaiah used the idea of slaking our thirst to demonstrate God’s magnificent generosity and compared it to a marvelous feast to which all are invited and for which none have to pay:
Isaiah 55:1 – Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Often water is the symbol of relief and satisfaction as well as cleansing and restoration. Things are made new when they are cleaned and restored. Distress is nullified when water is sufficiently present. Think of the greatest migrations across the deserts and savannahs of Africa – they are quests for water. Thirst is a very powerful motivator that can keep a person crawling through tortuous heat in the hope of quenching that thirst with water, co-o-o-o-l, cle-e-e-e-ear water.
In this series on the Seven Last Words of Christ, we are at the point in his passion where he is nearing the end of his earthly life. He has been beaten nearly to death, tortured by being forced to carry a 200 pound cross uphill to the crest of Golgotha, willingly submitted to being stretched out on the cross so forcefully that his shoulder was dislocated, nailed to a rough wooden upright and crossbeam, and left for six hours to slowly suffocate in agony. He knows the end is near, but he has not yet finished his task. He knows he must continue to fulfill scripture. He’s been living out the prophecy in Psalm 22, and now he continues that commitment by saying “I thirst.” John tells us about this moment because, from his position at the foot of the cross, he heard and saw this happen to Jesus: John 19:28-30 – 28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Which scripture is being fulfilled? There are two places in the Psalms where we can look for the prophecy about this moment. The first is Psalm 22:15 – my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
That is certainly an accurate description of thirst! There is another passage which relates to this moment of his Passion and death: Psalm 69:21 – They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
You may remember that right after he was crucified, he was offered gall – myrrh – which would have helped deaden the pain. He refused it. It is described in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark:
Matthew 27:33-34 – 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
Then later we read in Matthew 27:45-50 – 45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.
Mark 15:22-23 – 22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.
This was customary in Roman crucifixions. The wine was “sour wine,” vin egar – vinegar – which was the common drink for Roman soldiers. The myrrh – gall – was a type of pain killer. It dulled the senses a little. Jesus refused the wine – which could have relieved his thirst at the beginning of his suffering – and he refused the gall or myrrh which would have lessened his suffering a little. Now, just as his life-light is flickering out, he speaks of his thirst, but only to fulfill the Scriptures. Remember when Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob and he told her that he could give her Living Water? He denied himself even that there on the cross!
Truly we long for water as an essential sustenance in our lives, but we also need to long for the Living Water that comes from God. Here are some passages to think about:
Psalm 42:1-2 – As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
John 7:37-39 – 37 On the last day of the festival [of Booths], the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit [or was not yet given], because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Amos 8:11 – The time is surely coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send a famine on the land;
not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Revelation 22:1-2 – Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
As Jesus hung on the cross, dying for every living soul ever created, he fulfilled scripture. Let us pray that we will fulfill the prophecy of Amos and have A Thirsting for hearing the words of the Lord. Let our hearts break forth like the waters at Massah in the desert with rivers of Living Water so that we will be among those who take the water of life as a gift. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift. Turn to the Lord, the Giver of Life, who alone has told us he is True Food and True Drink. John 6:53-55 – 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
Only that Communion will satisfy “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” O, Lamb of God, I thirst!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
