Devotion for today: I thirst

As we continue our study of the seven last words of Christ on the Cross, we come to His painful pronouncement...

Scripture for meditation: John 19:28
After that, Jesus, realizing that everything was now finished, said to fulfill the Scripture, “I am thirsty.” There was a jar there, full of common wine. They stuck a sponge soaked in this wine on some hyssop and raised it to his lips.

Scripture for reflection: Psalm 69:21-23

Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none; for comforters, and I found none. Rather, they put gall in my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Fr. John Bartunek, L.C. tells us:  The Gospels record that Christ’s crucifixion began around noon and His dead body was taken down three or four hours later. The last time He would have drunk anything would have been at the Last Supper. Considering His overwhelming blood loss from the beatings and flagellation, and the physical exhaustion of the forced march with the cross to Calvary under the hot sun, Jesus’ thirst must have been severe. But thirst is an odd type of suffering. It is physical, but hidden. As Jesus hangs on the cross, His torn flesh rubbing against the rough grain of the wooden cross, His head and brow pierced with thorns, His hands and feet throbbing from the nails, it seems curious that Jesus doesn’t complain about any of those excruciating pains. Instead, He mentions only being thirsty. In one sense, nothing could be done to alleviate the monumental pain at that point, whereas Jesus could still take a drink to relieve His parched throat. Christian tradition has always seen another meaning included in those words, however. Just as Jesus called to mind the suffering of physical thirst, Christians believe He was simultaneously bringing to light another hidden suffering – that of spiritual thirst, the thirst of unrequited love. God didn’t have to send a Savior to fallen humanity. And yet He did, Christians believe. Why? Out of love. In the early chapters of his Gospel, St. John summarizes the entire message of Christianity in one simple but amazing phrase: “For God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him may not perish but may have life everlasting.” (John 3:16) God wants to save sinners; He wants to welcome them back into His friendship by forgiving their sins and renewing the trust in their hearts. He thirsts to gives them back authentic meaning and unquenchable hope. When Jesus gasps, “I thirst,” it points to more than His burning desire for a drink; it reveals the even more ardent desire for hearts, for the reciprocal love of those He loves so deeply. (Inside the Passion; Ascension Press, 2005)

 Prayer: Psalm 69:30-31, 33-35

But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help, O God, protect me. I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving; “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts be merry! For the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not. Let the heavens and the earth praise him, the seas and whatever moves them!”

My thoughts: I recently spoke with a young middle school teacher. He told me that what upsets him the most about some of his students was not the crazy behavior of pre-teens, but the lack of moral and ethical development he sees in them. He said he sees an “entitled” mentality. “I showed up didn’t I? I deserve something for that!” “If I don’t want to come to school, I don’t have to. You still have to pass me.” Parents, too, he said, have the same idea. “He wrote the paper, he should get an ‘A’. After all, he deserves to go to a good college someday, and you could hurt his chances.” Of course, this is by no means across the board. There are wonderful students and parents out there who know it takes hard work, dedication and self-sacrifice to get ahead in this world. Father Bartunek reminds us that God didn’t have to send a Savior, and that made me think: how many of us feel entitled to heaven? How many of us do not really believe that our sins may keep us out of heaven? How many of us feel that Jesus’ suffering and death opened heaven to everyone who is “a good person.” How many of us are not willing to work hard, dedicate ourselves to a life of prayer, and perform acts of sacrifice and mercy to get to heaven? Jesus thirsted for souls. He saw how many would never understand that His suffering and death were an invitation to us to join Him on the Cross, not an invitation to entitlement. We must relieve Jesus’ thirst by bringing Him our hearts and souls, by promising to pray for all those souls who do not believe in sin and its effects, by nailing our wills to the cross, and by never taking them back.

Our prayer to God: Thirst is relieved by water. There are many souls in the world today thirsting for the love and mercy of God. Let us be the water flowing into their hearts by our loving presence in their lives. Kindness to others, relieving the suffering of others, satiating the thirst for God in others will bring relief to our suffering Lord. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us all.