The Fifth Word

“I thirst.”  John 19:28

Jesus continues his preaching from the cross. As was the case of his parables the format of his teachings from Calvary are intended to make us think and meditate upon the gift of salvation and the gospel which he has given us. When Jesus said, “I thirst,” we may think that he is merely asking for some water to slake his physical thirst. But we ought to know better. He who never asked for anything for Himself would not break the mold at this late date.

The Seventh Prayer of St Bridget captures some of the mystery of “I thirst!:”

“Oh Jesus! Inexhaustible fountain of compassion who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the cross, “I thirst!” suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of thee oh my savior to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires.”

As the representative of all humanity Jesus was thirsting for God; as God he was thirsting for the salvation of all souls. As the Christ he gave his life to reconcile all of humanity to the love of God and thirsted for their salvation.

But there were some that would deliberately turn away from Jesus and thus from God. His proclamation of “I thirst!” serves as a reminder and warning to those versed in scripture of his parable of the rich man in hell (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man begged Abraham to send him a bit of water for he was in anguish in the flames. But separating Abraham and Hell was a great chasm that none may cross. The rich man, who had lived luxuriously during his earthly life, asked Abraham to warn his brothers so they would not suffer this eternal torment.

“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’” Luke 16:29-31.

 Even in the last moments of his life Jesus was proclaiming the gospel. While he thirsted for our salvation, he also felt the thirst of those who would be lost through their arrogance and choice. Jesus’ eternal message is that he wants us to spend eternity with him and he is giving us the means do so. God has given us the way, but we need to respond. Unfortunately, some will not, even if one should rise from the dead.

How can we know that Jesus is the Messiah? First, from the prophets – those same people of God that the Jews persecuted and killed and who had told them about the coming Savior. The prophecies were being fulfilled, there in front of their eyes. They had foretold the crucifixion. For example, go to Psalms 22 for some of the specific details of the Messiah’s passion foretold 1,000 years earlier and which Jesus suffered. The prophecy that comes to mind for this Fifth Word comes to us from Psalm 22:15 and Psalms 69:21: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; . . . They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

Bishop Sheen tells us (The Life of Christ, page 404):

“Thirst was the symbol of the unsatisfying character of sin; the pleasures of the flesh purchased at the cost of joy of the spirit are like drinking salt water. The rich man in hell, in the parable, thirsted and begged Father Abraham to ask Lazarus to wet his tongue with but a drop of water. Making complete atonement for sin demanded that the Redeemer now feel the thirst even of the lost before they are lost. But for the saved, too, it was a thirst – a yearning for souls. Some men have a passion for money, others for fame; His passion was for souls! “Give Me to drink’ meant “give Me thy heart.” The tragedy of Divine love for mankind is that in His thirst men gave Him vinegar and gall”.

 We’re still doing the same today. He offers us his Gospel, his life, his body and blood, and we offer him the vinegar of arrogance and neglect.

One Drop of Water by Ralph Stanley reminds us of the parable of the rich man in hell. The complete lyrics can be accessed at the Genius website.

Some websites and references

Footnotes and Attributions

The painting at the beginning of this page depicting the thirsting rich man reaching for heaven retrieved from the BibleStudy1 website.

Last modified August 5, 2019