Seven Last Words—
I Thirst

Thirsting for Life

By Allison Askins

I am thirsty." (John 19:28) 

I have read that the dying tend to lose their desire for food or liquids. Such is the body’s normal response to death’s arrival.

This makes Jesus’ words “I am thirsty” puzzling. Though John's gospel states that the words were uttered “in order to fulfill the scripture,” I wonder what else might be at work in this portion of our Lord’s story.

Was Jesus implying that he wasn’t ready to die? That he still thirsted for life—the raw and dusty life that he had so willingly stepped into? A life of meeting the wounded where they hurt, the lost where they needed to be found, the unloved where they could be loved, even the joyful where they danced?

If Jesus loved as deeply as our stories about him imply, he must have felt such sorrow upon realizing that he would no longer experience life as he had. In his grieving plea for relief, is it possible that his heart was overriding the condition of his body?

Was his thirst for the bittersweet nature of life that he had so fully tasted? For a creation that lives into abundance rather than a fear of famine? For the unifying, risky love that allows the Pharisee to recognize what part his adherence to the law plays in keeping grace from the other? For a world overflowing with the transformational love that frees us from racism’s caste system that damages us all?

Even to the end, it seems, Jesus’ thirst for such a life could not be quenched. Surely, after all we have been through in recent years, we have developed a deeper sense of longing for all that life offers. Despite it all, may Christ’s thirst for life remain unquenched in us, too.