Thirsting for God

SEVEN AWESOME STATEMENTS

FROM THE

CROSS

Series 4 of 5

Thirsting for God

“Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty’” (John 19:28).  This cry, the fifth statement from the cross, was a cry of personal agony and physical pain, but also a cry of deep spiritual need.

Two days prior to the crucifixion, our Lord Jesus went through a tremendous amount of tension and apprehension.  First, there was the upper room where He told His companions of three years that one of them was about to betray Him.

That was followed by Gethsemane, where our Lord was sweating blood, asking the Father if there was some other way that this cup could pass.  Then there was the tension and the apprehension of His arrest in Gethsemane.  Following His arrest, He was dragged back and forth from one place of interrogation to another for a total of six interrogations.  Jesus was then flogged before being hung on the Cross with nails tearing His hands and feet.

No wonder His soul was anguished with the cry of physical thirst! It was the anguish of His thirst that assures us that He will never turn down one who comes to Him crying “Lord, save me.” If you have ever doubted that the Lord has heard your cry of surrender, meditate on His cries from the Cross, and be assured that He will always hear you.

For all of us, there are times when we go through the valley of doubt.  Sometimes, we experience the shadow of distress and we go through times of wondering if Jesus will ever keep His promises.  But when we go through those times, we must remember the anguish of the Cross.  Remember that He will always keep His promise, and He will never go back on His word.

Our Lord, who suffered the anguish of the Cross, will never turn down one who comes to Him for salvation.  That is His promise.  The words I am thirsty should be assuring to every one of us that our peace treaty with God was signed by the blood of Jesus Christ Himself and nobody can take that away from you—not even you.

Second, the word thirsty should always surface to the forefront of our minds every time we find ourselves tempted to sin.  If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be sure that you won’t go very far in this life without being attacked by Satan.  We all experience the enemy’s assault.  His attack is always clever, subtle and crafty.  He will come to you at a moment of loneliness; he will come to you at the moment of fatigue; he will come to you at a moment of anger; he will come to you at a moment of disappointment and hurt.

We’re reminded in 1 Peter 5:8, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  He’s prowling around, waiting, and the moment you stumble, he pounces on you.  At that moment of temptation you need to stop and meditate on the reality that nailed Jesus to that Cross and caused Him to cry, “I am thirsty.”

At that moment of temptation, whatever it may be, recall the moment when our Savior cried out, “I am thirsty.”  When you do that, you will receive the power to overcome.

Our Lord was experiencing physical thirst, but He also was experiencing a spiritual thirst.  After being separated from the Father bu the sin of mankind, Christ was thirsting for His Father’s presence.

Where was the last time you thirsted for God?

As the deer pants fro streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. –Psalms 42:1-2