“I Thirst”
“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
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“It’s not my responsibility”, I say to my roommate Jenn while pointing to the drooping houseplant in my living room. Her mom had given her this plant a few months ago and it has slowly fallen victim to our busy schedules. I have walked past this plant often and felt compassion for it. Sometimes it calls out to me, begging for a drink. Depending on my mood, I will either do one of two things: water it or think “What’s the use?”. Plastic plants have become the preference in our apartment; they don’t have needs and are easier to accept as objects than living things.
Thirsty?
John 19 captures the gruesome end to Jesus’ public ministry. After growing in popularity, Jesus had become a threat to the religious and political leaders of his day. They had arrested him Thursday night and by Friday morning the Empire was leading him out to execute him. When the billboard of Jesus’ broken body was raised that morning, it seemed like all hope was lost. The powerful laughed as the One who claimed to be king gasped for air from the cross. Yet, let’s focus on one statement from Jesus in verse 28: “I thirst.”
Many Bible teachers have wondered about the significance of Christ using his limited strength to utter this from the cross. Some interpret this as Jesus speaking cosmically, desiring more people to trust in him. Depending on your view of the crucifixion’s purpose, you could even make a case that Jesus is spiritually dehydrated as he takes on our sins. But it might be simpler than that. Jesus is just thirsty.
The Gospels are pretty quiet about the reality and details of crucifixion. Still, their 1st century audience would have been very familiar. It was shocking. Jesus was stripped naked and beaten publically. The Romans reserved crucifixion for political prisoners and rebel leaders. The goal of crucifixion was to discredit any threat to the Empire. Because both the Romans and the religious leaders didn’t understand what Jesus meant by the “Kingdom of God” they saw him as a political threat that needed to be crushed. The physicality of hanging on a cross by nails in your wrists and ankles meant that the victim had to pull up on their wounds to breathe. The irony is that the dry heat of the Middle Eastern climate left the crucified dehydrated while, due to asphyxiation, they slowly drowned from fluids filling their lungs.
The Call of Injustice
God in Jesus is fully identifying with human suffering here. God is truly in our worst moments with us. The Messiah, who offered Living Water to a Samaritan outsider, is now thirsty. And what is offered to him? “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." (John 19:29) At first glance, this seems very considerate. However, Roman soldiers usually carried wine vinegar and a sponge with them as a form of toilet tissue. So, the lips that spoke with authority and commanded the dead to rise tasted our filth as a response to his thirst. Jesus experienced injustice.
Injustice is far too common in our world. It is something that feels uncomfortable and hard but recognizing how to navigate the required care is difficult. Or, in the spirit of Easter, discerning a pathway to Resurrection seems complicated and overwhelming.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus tells a parable of a King separating sheep from goats. It’s a parable that plays on the apocalyptic expectations of the audience. The expectation is that there are simply “good people” and “bad people”. In the story, Jesus identifies himself with groups of people who are in need. The “good” turn out to be those who acted in service towards Christ in need. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40) Where have you seen thirst in our world? Has the response been filth and not living water? Where have you seen Christ thirsty?
A Plastic Plant Gospel
One hindrance I’ve experienced in the Church in dealing with injustice is the belief that just sharing the Gospel will solve the problem. The culture I have seen this produce is a “plastic plant gospel”. It turns the Gospel into this two-dimensional story; instead of the impetus for radical change. Plastic plants don’t require growth, pruning, or watering. They might need a little dusting now and then, but overall they are a certain thing. Plastic plants don’t require faith.
Don’t get me wrong, the message of the broken body of Jesus and his defeat of Death’s power is the cornerstone of confronting injustice. However, if that story isn’t enacted and is simply recited, its power is not being accessed. It is because Jesus was offered filth when he needed water that we know he understands us when the world does the same. It is because Jesus crushed death in all its forms by getting up from the grave that we know these things don’t define us. That is what gives us the motivation and authority to respond like the sheep do in Matthew 25.
We are called to have a living and breathing faith that requires watering. The “plastic plant gospel” that is rooted in certainty and absolves anyone of real work is not the answer to the thirsty. The Gospel should be our permission to work against the darkness of empire, injustice, and death. There is a Black spiritual that aids in my Good Friday meditation each year. It asks a question that helps me to think through places I see Christ thirsty.
“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
