“I Thirst” Jesus spoke these worlds from the cross, but do you think Jesus really mean that he wanted a drink? In his hour of need to do think he was thinking about a nice cold glass of wine? I think not.
The simple phrase holds more meaning than volumes of books, Jesus used the moment in History to create an infinite of meaning.
“I Thirst”
To truly understand this phrase we need to look at what we call The Last Supper. The Last Supper was the Jews holiday of Passover. Jesus and His friends were celebrating and remembering there heritage, the freeing of there people by Moses. God commanded that the Jewish people were to celebrate the feast of Passover every year. The Passover is full of prayers, singing and feasting, and Jesus and his friends were no exception, they to celebrated Passover. The Passover meal consist of three cups of wine that are prayed over and shared. Except at the Last Supper Jesus did not bless and share the last cup of wine:
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Luke 22:17-18
Jesus did not finish the Passover Meal or Celebration, at that time. The Passover is a celebration of the Israelites passage from slavery to freedom The Last Supper is the Christians calibration of death to life. Jesus was initiating a new Passover a new celebration of freedom and He was not yet done at the time of the Passover. He had a few more preparations to make.
Jesus was referred to as the Lamb of God, the Pascal Lamb to be sacrificed. Once again a reference to the Passover, the Jewish people are to sacrifice and eat an unblemished sacrificial lamb, Jesus is that lamb. But at the time of the Passover Jesus had not yet freely offered Himself up as the sacrifice, that was yet to come.
Once Jesus offered Himself, by the kiss of Judas:
While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" Luke 22: 47-48
Jesus now becomes for all to see the unblemished sacrificial Lamb of God, offer up for our sins, yet He was sinless.
Upon the cross, the Sacrificial Lamb finished the Passover and offered up the to God Himself, sinless and perfect.
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:28-30
The Last cup of wine was prayed over and drunk, Jesus had completed the 
Passover and it was celebrated to its ultimate end. The new Passover was indicated on that day, the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
I Thirst is the completion of the Passover, yet it is so much more. Jesus is not just completing a custom of requirement of His Jewish faith, He is calling to all of us, He is thirsting for you and me. Jesus is stating that He is calling us to Him that He desires our souls and is thirsting for us to come to him. Like a man desires water in the heat of the day, Jesus desires us.
Yet it goes much deeper than that, Jesus told us to “do this is remembrance of me.” He was not just talking about the sharing of bread and wine, he was talking about the taking of His body and blood, He essence. And His essence is also His actions, we too are to thirst, we are to thirst for HIM. We are to thirst for salvation and righteousness and the purity of heart that Jesus showed us.
I Thirst is a quest statement, a quest that Jesus is on seeking us and a quest that we too should be on seeking Jesus. I Thirst speaks of the depth of passion the Lord has for us, it speaks of the longing in His heart for us to come to him and it should also speak of our passion and longing for Him. Yet so often it does not, so often He is left seeking those who do not wish to be found. His deep thirst is left unquenched. His lips remain parched and His quest left unfulfilled.
Jesus offered freely His life for our salvation, and offers freely His love, yet we so often refuse the gift of salvation and shun His love as if it were of no use to us. We thirst, yet we do not seek the life giving water.
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:5-10
Easter is almost upon us, can we, can you, can I truly say that I Thirst? Am I truly seeking Him whom offered His life for me? Are you on a quest to find Him who is seeking you? Do we want to drink from the well of the live giving water?
Lent is almost over, Easter is almost here, did we seek salvation on the cro
ss during the forty days of Lent? Are we going to seek the one who can quench our thirst during the fifty days of Easter? Salvation is at hand for those who seek the well of the life giving water and who drink from the cup of salvation.
God Bless
Paul
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