IS ANYONE THIRSTY? ANYONE?
APRIL 8, 2022
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John 4:10-14
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
... “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.”
John 19:28
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”
The Gospel of John frames the beginning and the end of Jesus’ ministry with the image of thirst. From the wilderness and desert surrounding Jericho to the cross outside the gates of Jerusalem, Jesus thirsts. I wonder if this thirst of Jesus is not so much Physical, but more Spiritual. What if Jesus words “I thirst” can only be for one thing: us, his creation, his people; our salvation. Jesus thirsts for communion with us and for us to be in community with him.
If we are to be in community with him, that will sometimes lead us into hard places. We will encounter moments when Jesus is inviting us to do something difficult, to step out into the unknown. Places where we need to forgive even though forgiveness is difficult; perhaps places where we need to serve even though service may be costly to us. Jesus wants to act in our lives, but we, perhaps out of fear, hesitate to follow, at times we may even turn our backs on the path where He is leading us.
The Gospel of John frames the beginning and the end of Jesus’ ministry with the image of thirst. From the wilderness and desert surrounding Jericho to the cross outside the gates of Jerusalem, Jesus thirsts. I wonder if this thirst of Jesus is not so much Physical, but more Spiritual. What if Jesus words “I thirst” can only be for one thing: us, his creation, his people; our salvation. Jesus thirsts for communion with us and for us to be in community with him.
If we are to be in community with him, that will sometimes lead us into hard places. We will encounter moments when Jesus is inviting us to do something difficult, to step out into the unknown. Places where we need to forgive even though forgiveness is difficult; perhaps places where we need to serve even though service may be costly to us. Jesus wants to act in our lives, but we, perhaps out of fear, hesitate to follow, at times we may even turn our backs on the path where He is leading us.
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I read recently, that in the simple chapels of the Missionaries of Charity — the religious order that Mother Teresa founded, the image that stands out most in the Chapels is a large crucifix behind the altar and two words painted in bold, black capital letters on the wall alongside it: "I THIRST."
Now, we are used to the emphasis of thirst being our longing for God, like Psalm 42 says “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Jesus told the women at the well in John 4, that he would give her water not from the well they stood near but rather a spiritual water that would result in never thirsting again. This image is an important image in the scriptures that speaks of our deep human longing for connection with our creator. Perhaps this scriptural message has been best described by Augustine’s well know words, “Our hearts are restless until we rest in you O God.”
Still I wonder, what if Jesus thirst from the cross is spiritual? Thirsting for us and all of creation, how could we begin to quench his thirst? Let me just quote the words of Mother Teresa.
“We can begin to quench God's thirst for our love by being generous with Him with our time, by giving Him attention throughout our day, by spending more of our lives with Him in prayer.”
Mother Teresa further said that “we satisfy Christ's thirst by loving Him in our neighbor, those people He places in our lives, especially those in most need of our care and attention.”
All my thoughts on thirst recently have slowly caused me to wonder if “I Thirst” doesn’t mean that Jesus thirsts for our lives to be completely surrendered to Him. He passionately desires that we be intimately connected to Him in such a way that we will not thirst for anything in this world that will lead us away from Him, the true and living water. This satisfying of Jesus thirst implies a total surrendering of our lives to Him, and actually chasing His plan for our lives. He thirsts for our entire lives to be surrendered to Him so that they may be used for His purposes.
Perhaps these are helpful thoughts for us as we get ready to enter into Holy Week and think about, slow down to think about, what Jesus passion says about his thirst for us.
All my thoughts on thirst recently have slowly caused me to wonder if “I Thirst” doesn’t mean that Jesus thirsts for our lives to be completely surrendered to Him. He passionately desires that we be intimately connected to Him in such a way that we will not thirst for anything in this world that will lead us away from Him, the true and living water. This satisfying of Jesus thirst implies a total surrendering of our lives to Him, and actually chasing His plan for our lives. He thirsts for our entire lives to be surrendered to Him so that they may be used for His purposes.
Perhaps these are helpful thoughts for us as we get ready to enter into Holy Week and think about, slow down to think about, what Jesus passion says about his thirst for us.
As we come together, Jesus thirsts for community with us, his people;
As we come together, Jesus thirsts and intercedes for us with the Father;
As we come together, Jesus thirsts to transform our whole selves by the power of the Spirit;
Today, may WE be thirsty for our Refreshing, Living Lord.
Amen.
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