In the name of Jesus

 Tonight we consider our Lord's 5th and 7th statements from the cross.  (The 6th we will consider on Good Friday.)  Jesus 5th word or statement from the cross is "I thirst."

 Two simple words.  And yet they communicate so much about the suffering that Jesus was going through.  They are words which show the pitiful condition He was in, having to ask a favor of His merciless enemies.  He had gone now almost a full day without food or drink.  He was exposed to the elements for these past six hours without any clothing.  He had lost much blood.  He was dehydrated.  He is now parched, feverish, in pain.  His tongue sticks to the roof of His mouth.  His heart can barely pump His blood any more because of the effects of His crucifixion.  He can scarcely enunciate these two words, "I thirst."

 The evening before, Jesus thirsted for the Passover, the Last Supper, with his disciples. Instead, He gave it for them to drink, and put Himself in it, His body and blood, vowing that he would drink it with them new in the kingdom of God. Now he thirsts, longing for a cooling drink.

 His is a genuine thirst, a human pain.  His is our pain, our disease, our thirst.  He bears the bone-drying effects of our sin so that we might washed in the pure water of His Spirit.  Jesus drinks deeply of our thirst, so that in our thirst we might drink deeply of Him.  Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."

 Jesus, the well of life, is dried up here for you, so that He may become for you in His resurrection a fountain of living water.  Jesus declared to the woman at the well, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  Later Jesus also said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  This He spoke concerning the Holy Spirit.

 Jesus said, "I thirst," in order to fulfill the Scriptures.  The Scriptures that are being spoken of here are the Psalms.  Jesus put Himself in your place and prayed the Psalms on your behalf on the cross.  The Old Testament Psalms which cry out to God in suffering, in repentance, in faith, Jesus prayed for you, in your place, so that the Father would hear your cries and your prayers and deliver you.  Psalm 69 prays, "Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.  They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst."

 Remember Jesus' thirst so that you may know the thirst for the Holy Supper when you are suffering and in pain and the help that is offered to you is as cynical as a sponge of vinegar. Remember His thirst so that you may learn to have mercy on those who are hungry and thirsty. Jesus still cries out, "I thirst," hidden in them, and he waits for you to care for him with something more than vinegar. Remember his pain so that in your pain you may know the comfort and the company of Him who brings true refreshment.

 Finally, Jesus says, "Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit."  These also are words from the Psalms, Psalm 31.  This Psalm is one expressing faith and trust in God.  Listen to Jesus' words in the context of the full Psalm.  "In you, O Lord, I trust. . . quickly deliver me! . . . For you are my rock and my fortress . . .  You will bring me out of the net they hid for me, for you are my stronghold.  Into your hands I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth. . .  I will rejoice and be glad in your faithfulness."  After Jesus' other anguished words on the cross, here Jesus expresses serene confidence in His Father's love and faithfulness.  He breathes His last, certain that the Father will deliver Him and raise Him up again.

 As one who is not only fully divine but also fully human, Jesus has a spirit, a human soul.  At this moment of His death He entrusts His spirit to His Father.  He dies like a child falling asleep in the arms of his father.  Remember these words of Jesus when the time comes for you to breathe your last breath.  Remember that by entrusting Himself to the Father, Jesus has entrusted you to the Father.  You spirit even now is held safely in His hands.  You live in Christ, and He is in the Father.  When you are experiencing anguish and pain in your last days and last moments, you also are given to pray these words with serene trust and to breathe your last in peace, knowing that God will deliver you and raise you up again.  "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit."

  In the name of Jesus