Raise!Sample

A raised response to thirst.

Jesus hangs on the cross in the heat of the day. The scourging has come with an intensity that has left Jesus unrecognisable. He has endured excruciating pain. He is fully exhausted. If you meditate on this picture, like me you may find that tears gather in the corners of your eyes.

How loud were the words that came from Jesus’ lips when he pleaded for something to drink. ‘I thirst’ (John 19:28 ESV). This is a deeply human need that Jesus expresses.

When we humanly suffer, we may find ourselves pleading. ‘I thirst’ is an expression that speaks to the diversity of our human needs. We may not even know the depth from which our ‘I thirst’ comes.

Jesus receives a response to his ‘I thirst’. Scripture says they raised the stalk of a hyssop plant that held a sponge soaked in wine vinegar to his lips (John 19:29). My heart says this is a pathetic response to a cry of thirst.

Our world offers many responses to thirst. Many are pathetic. Synonymous words for pathetic are weak, ridiculous, useless, distressing, tragic. Pathetic solutions are raised to us, extended to us, to meet our human thirst.

Jesus understands our humanity and the depth of our soul’s thirst. He raises to us a true solution to our thirst. ‘“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit’ (John 7:37-39).

Today, is your soul thirsty for the living water only Jesus can offer? Jesus says to you, ‘come to me and drink’.