“I thirst”

The Bible tells us that, “Jesus, knowing that all was now finished (ended), said in fulfillment of the Scripture, I thirst.” (John 19:28 AMPC). This was one of seven sentences Jesus uttered from the cross, where He suffered every kind of physical pain and mental anguish; from the unspeakably severe to the seemingly tolerable thirst, Jesus Christ bore it all for us on that cross.

Jesus said “I thirst” as a final reminder to us that we never have to be thirsty again. A final reminder because Jesus had already told us so in John chapter four, when He said to the Samaritan woman at the well, 

“I offer water that will become a wellspring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.” – John 4:14 (VOICE)

Just as Jesus had uttered seven sentences from the cross, He made seven statements that day at Jacob’s well, which changed a woman’s life forever. That unnamed woman’s conversation with Jesus applies to all of us. 

“Seven” signifies a completed work, divine completion, a perfect work accomplished or finished – “It is finished!” (John 19:30), words spoken by Jesus just after He said “I thirst”, seemed like the end, but it was the beginning of something new, it was the commencement of salvation.

Wasn’t it also the commencement of the Samaritan woman’s salvation when, as she was about to draw water from the well, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4:7 ESV)? That first statement initiated an encounter like no other. 

In those days, for Jesus, a Jew and a man, to utter anything to her, a Samaritan and a woman, was inconceivable and defied the day’s code of moral conduct. But Jesus did not conform to this world’s patterns but came to transform by doing God’s perfect will (see Romans 12:2; John 6:38) – He came to save and save He did. Jesus, on His way to Galilee, did not have to pass through Samaria, but He knew that there was need for salvation.

Jesus’ command for water gained the woman’s attention, arousing her curiosity enough to want to know more and He did not disappoint. Jesus’ seven statements to that woman revealed to her, and reveals to us, needs that only Jesus can satisfy. God knows our needs (see Matthew 6:8) and His command for us to give to Him exposes our inability to comply and our desperate need for someone who is able but that ability does not lie in man. You see the water from Jacob’s well satisfied for a time, because man’s provision can only meet the needs of the flesh but the water Jesus provides is living water, able to quench thirsty souls, a “wellspring within”.

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately thirsty for more than water from man’s well. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that thirst in us, is when we realize our need for Jesus and cry out, "I thirst!".

Amen†

“I thirst”

Shelley Johnson March 20, 2017