Editor’s Review
We continue with the series of sermons by A. W. Pink titled “The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross”. On this occasion, we arrive at the fifth saying, known as the word of suffering, where the Lord Jesus declares: “I thirst”.
This brief yet profound expression clearly reveals the true humanity of Christ. He who is the Lord of glory, the Creator of all things, experiences the most extreme physical weakness. However, this word not only manifests His bodily suffering, but also His perfect submission to the Scriptures, fulfilling every prophetic detail even in the midst of His agony.
We invite the reader to meditate on this saying, where the Savior’s pain is united with divine faithfulness, reminding us that every aspect of His suffering was necessary to accomplish the work of redemption. Here we see the Christ who suffered in our place, and whose suffering points us both to His love and to His perfect obedience.
Sermon by A. W. Pink: The Word of Suffering
“Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst” (John 19:28).
“I thirst.” These words were spoken by the suffering Savior shortly before He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. They are recorded only by the evangelist John and, as we shall see, it is fitting that they have a place in his Gospel, for they not only evidence His humanity, but also set forth His divine glory.
“I thirst.” What a text for a sermon! It is brief, it is true, but how full, how expressive, and how tragic! The Maker of heaven and earth with parched lips! The Lord of glory needing a drink! The Beloved of the Father crying, “I thirst”! What a scene! What a word is this! Evidently, no uninspired pen could have drawn such a picture.
Long ago, the Spirit of God moved David to say of the coming Messiah: “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. 69:21). How wonderfully complete was the prophetic vision! No essential detail was lacking in it. Every important aspect of the great tragedy was written beforehand. The betrayal by a close friend (Ps. 41:9), the abandonment by the disciples because of offense (Ps. 31:11), the false accusation (Ps. 35:11), the silence before His judges (Isa. 53:7), His being found innocent (Isa. 53:9), His being numbered with the transgressors (Isa. 53:12), the crucifixion (Ps. 22:16), the mockery of the spectators (Ps. 109:25), the taunt for not being delivered (Ps. 22:7–8), the dividing of His garments (Ps. 22:18), the prayer for His enemies (Isa. 53:12), His being forsaken by God (Ps. 22:1), the thirst (Ps. 69:21), the committing of His spirit into the Father’s hands (Ps. 31:5), the not breaking of His bones (Ps. 34:20), the burial in a rich man’s tomb (Isa. 53:9); all clearly foretold centuries before they occurred. What a convincing evidence of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures! What a firm foundation, saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
“I thirst.” The fact that this is recorded as one of the seven sayings of our Lord on the cross indicates that it is a word of precious meaning, a word to be treasured in our hearts, a word worthy of deep meditation. We have seen that each of the previous expressions of the suffering Savior has much to teach us; certainly this is no exception. What then are we to learn from it? What are the lessons this fifth word of the cross teaches us? May the Spirit of truth illuminate our understanding as we seek to fix our attention upon it.
1. Here we have evidence of the humanity of Christ.
“I thirst.”
The Lord Jesus was true God of true God, but He was also true man of true man. This is something that must be believed and not something for proud reason to analyze. The person of our adorable Savior is not a proper object for intellectual analysis; rather, we must bow before Him in worship. He Himself warned us: “No one knows the Son except the Father” (Matthew 11:27). And again, the Spirit of God through the apostle Paul declares: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16).
Although there is much about the person of Christ that we cannot comprehend with our understanding, there is in Him everything to admire and worship: chiefly His deity and His humanity, and the perfect union of both in one person. The Lord Jesus was not a divine man, nor a humanized God; He was the God-man. Always God, and now also forever man.
When the Beloved of the Father became incarnate, He did not cease to be God, nor did He lose any of His divine attributes, though He did lay aside the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. But in the incarnation, the Word became flesh and dwelt among men. He did not cease to be what He was, but He took to Himself what He previously did not have: a perfect humanity.
The deity and the humanity of the Savior were both seen in the Messianic prophecies. Prophecy presented the One who was to come sometimes as divine, and at other times as human. He was the Branch “of the Lord” (Isa. 4:2). He was Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). He who would come forth from Bethlehem and be ruler in Israel had His goings forth from eternity (Mic. 5:2). It was Jehovah Himself who would suddenly come to His temple (Mal. 3:1).
And yet, He was also the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15); a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:18); a descendant of David (2 Sam. 7:12–13). He was the Servant of Jehovah (Isa. 42:1). He was the Man of Sorrows (Isa. 53:3). And it is in the New Testament that we see these two prophetic lines perfectly harmonized.
He who was born in Bethlehem was the divine Word. The incarnation does not mean that God simply manifested Himself as a man. The Word became flesh; He became what He was not before, without ever ceasing to be what He always was. He who was in the form of God and did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6–7). The child of Bethlehem was Emmanuel—God with us—not merely a manifestation of God, but God manifested in the flesh. He was the Son of God and the Son of Man. Not two persons, but one person with two natures: divine and human.
While He was on earth, the Lord Jesus gave full evidence of His deity. He spoke with divine wisdom, acted with divine holiness, manifested divine power, and showed divine love. He read the thoughts of men, moved their hearts, and subdued their wills. When He exercised His power, all nature obeyed. At His word disease fled, the storm was stilled, demons departed, and the dead were raised. So truly was He God manifested in the flesh that He could say: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
But also, while He dwelt among men, He gave full evidence of His humanity—a humanity without sin. He entered the world as a child and was wrapped in swaddling clothes (Luke 2:7). As a child He grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). As a youth He asked questions (Luke 2:46). As a man He grew weary (John 4:6). He was hungry (Matthew 4:2). He slept (Mark 4:38). He marveled (Mark 6:6). He wept (John 11:35). He prayed (Mark 1:35). He rejoiced (Luke 10:21). He groaned (John 11:33). And here, in our text, He cried: “I thirst.”
This evidenced His humanity. God does not thirst. Angels do not thirst. We shall not thirst in glory: “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore” (Rev. 7:16). But now we thirst because we are human and live in a world of suffering. And Christ thirsted because He was man: “Therefore in all things He had to be made like His brethren” (Heb. 2:17).
2. Here we see the intensity of Christ’s sufferings.
“I thirst.”
Let us first consider this cry of the Savior as an expression of His bodily suffering. To understand something of what lies behind these words, we must recall and review what preceded them. After instituting the Supper in the upper room, followed by the extended Passover discourse to His apostles, the Redeemer went to Gethsemane, and there for an hour He passed through the most terrible agony. His soul was exceedingly sorrowful. As He contemplated the dreadful cup, He did not shed mere drops of sweat, but great drops of blood.
His struggle in the garden was interrupted by the arrival of the traitor accompanied by the crowd that came to arrest Him. He was taken before Caiaphas, and though it was midnight, He was examined and condemned. The Savior was held until morning, and after long hours of waiting He was brought before Pilate. After a prolonged trial, it was ordered that He be scourged. Then He was led, probably through the city, to the tribunal of Herod, and after a brief appearance before that ruler, He was delivered into the hands of brutal soldiers. Again He was mocked and scourged, and once more He was led through the city back to Pilate. There were again delays, formalities of trial—if such a farce deserves that name—and finally the sentence of death was pronounced.
Then, with His back bleeding, bearing His cross under the heat of the sun that was already approaching midday, He ascended the rugged heights of Golgotha. Upon reaching the place of execution, His hands and feet were nailed to the tree. For three hours He hung there while the relentless rays of the sun beat upon His thorn-crowned head. Then came the three hours of darkness, now past.
That night and that day were hours in which an eternity was compressed. Yet during all that time not a single word of complaint escaped His lips. There was no murmuring, nor any plea for mercy. All His sufferings were borne in majestic silence. Like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. But now, at the end, with His whole body torn with pain and His mouth parched, He cries: “I thirst.” It was not a plea for compassion, nor a request to relieve His suffering; it was the expression of the intensity of the agony He was enduring.
“I thirst.” This was more than a common thirst. There was something deeper than physical suffering behind it. A careful comparison of our text with Matthew 27:48 shows that these words followed immediately after the fourth expression of the Savior on the cross—“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”—for while the soldier was bringing the sponge with vinegar to His lips, some of the spectators cried out: “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
We know that the trials of the soul affect the body, tearing its nerves and weakening its strength: “A broken spirit dries the bones” (Prov. 17:22); “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:3–4). The body and the soul affect one another.
Let us remember that the Savior had just emerged from the three hours of darkness, during which the face of God had been turned away from Him while He bore the intensity of His poured-out wrath. This cry of bodily suffering, then, speaks to us of the severity of the spiritual conflict through which He had just passed. Speaking prophetically through the mouth of Jeremiah concerning this very hour, He said: “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me; for the Lord has afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger. From above He has sent fire into my bones, and it prevailed against them; He has spread a net for my feet and turned me back; He has made me desolate and faint all the day” (Lam. 1:12–13).
His “thirst” was the effect of the agony of His soul under the burning heat of the wrath of God. It indicated the dryness of the land where the living God is not. But more than this: it clearly expressed His longing for communion with God again, from whom He had been separated for three hours. Was it not Christ Himself who said by the spirit of prophecy, immediately after emerging from the darkness: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” Do not the words that follow identify the speaker and reveal the moment when that longing was expressed? “My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’” (Ps. 42:1–3).
3. Here we see our Lord’s deep reverence for the Scriptures.
“I thirst.”
How constantly the Savior’s mind turned toward the sacred oracles! He truly lived by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He was the “blessed man” who meditated on God’s law day and night (Ps. 1). The written Word shaped His thoughts, filled His heart, and governed His ways. The Scriptures are the revelation of the Father’s will, and that was always His delight.
In temptation, what was written was His defense. In His teaching, the statutes of the Lord were His authority. In His controversies with the scribes and Pharisees, His appeal was always to the law and to the testimony. And now, in the hour of His death, His mind is fixed upon the word of truth.
To grasp the principal meaning of this fifth word of the cross, we must observe its context: “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst” (John 19:28). The reference is to Psalm 69, another of the Messianic psalms that describes His passion in great detail. In it, the spirit of prophecy had declared: “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (v. 21).
This had not yet been fulfilled. The previous predictions had already been accomplished: He had sunk in deep mire (v. 2); He had been hated without a cause (v. 4); He had borne reproach and shame (v. 7); He had become a stranger to His brothers (v. 8); He had been made a proverb and the song of drunkards (vv. 11–12); He had cried to God in His distress (vv. 17–20). And now it only remained that vinegar and gall be offered to Him to drink, and in order to fulfill this He cried: “I thirst.”
“Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished…” What perfect self-possession the Savior had! He had been six hours on the cross, had passed through incomparable sufferings, and yet His mind remained clear and His memory intact. He had before Him, with perfect clarity, the whole Word of God. He reviewed the entire scope of Messianic prophecy. He remembered that one prophecy remained unfulfilled. He omitted nothing. What proof that He stood above all circumstances!
Before continuing, let us make an application to ourselves. We have seen how the Savior submitted to the authority of the Scriptures both in His life and in His death; Christian reader, how is it with you? Is the Word of God your final authority? Do you see in it the revelation of God’s will for you? Is it a lamp to your feet? Do you walk in its light? Do its commandments have authority over your life? Do you truly obey it?
Can you say with David: “I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. I cling to Your testimonies… I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies. I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments” (Ps. 119:30–31, 59–60)? Are you like the Savior, eager to fulfill the Scriptures?
Oh, that both the one who writes and the one who reads may seek grace to pray from the heart: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies… Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Ps. 119:35–36, 133).
4. Here we see the Savior’s submission to the will of the Father.
“I thirst.”
The Savior thirsted, and He who thus thirsted, let us remember, possessed all power in heaven and on earth. Had He chosen to exercise His omnipotence, He could easily have satisfied His need. He who once caused water to flow from the smitten rock to refresh Israel in the wilderness had at His disposal the same infinite resources.
He who turned water into wine with a word could have spoken the word of power here and supplied His own need. But He never performed a miracle for His own benefit or comfort. When Satan tempted Him to do this, He refused. Why now does He refuse to satisfy His urgent need? Why does He remain there on the cross with parched lips? Because in the volume of the book where the will of God was written, it was written that He should thirst, and that in His thirst they would give Him vinegar to drink. And He came to do the will of God, and therefore He submitted.
In death, as in life, the Scripture was for the Lord Jesus the authoritative word of the living God. In temptation He had refused to supply His need apart from that word by which He lived, and now He makes known His need, not in order that it might be supplied, but so that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Observe: He does not fulfill it directly; God can take care of that; but He expresses His distress in order to give occasion for its fulfillment. As another has said: “The terrible thirst of crucifixion is upon Him, but that is not enough to make those parched lips speak; but it is written: in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink—this opens them” (F. W. Grant).
Here then, as always, He is seen in active obedience to the will of God, which He came to accomplish. He simply says: “I thirst”; the vinegar is offered to Him, and the prophecy is fulfilled. What perfect absorption in the will of His Father!
Let us pause again to make an application to ourselves—a twofold application. First, the Lord Jesus delighted in the will of the Father even when it involved the suffering of thirst. Are we thus surrendered to Him? Have we sought grace to say: “Not my will, but Yours be done”? Can we exclaim: “Yes, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight”? Have we learned, in whatever state we are, to be content (Phil. 4:11)?
But now observe a contrast. To the Son of God a cup of cold water was denied to relieve His suffering—how different with us! God has given us a variety of things to refresh us, and yet how often we are ungrateful! We have better things than a simple cup of water to enjoy when we thirst, and yet we do not give thanks. Oh, if this cry of Christ were considered in faith, it would make us bless God for what we now almost despise, and it would produce contentment in us even for the most common mercies!
The Lord of glory cried “I thirst” and had nothing in His extreme need to comfort Him, and you, who a thousand times have forfeited all right to temporal and spiritual mercies, despise the common blessings of providence? What! Do you complain over a cup of water, you who deserve only a cup of wrath? Oh, consider it well and learn to be content with what you have, even if it be the bare necessities of life! Do not complain if you dwell in a humble home, for your Savior had nowhere to lay His head. Do not complain if you have only bread to eat, for your Savior lacked it for forty days. Do not complain if you have only water to drink, for your Savior was denied even that in the hour of His death.
5. Here we see how Christ can sympathize with His suffering people.
“I thirst.”
The problem of suffering has always been a difficult one. Why should suffering exist in a world governed by a perfect God? A God who not only has the power to prevent evil, but who is also love. Why is there pain, misery, sickness, and death? As we look at the world and behold the multitude of those who suffer, we are perplexed. This world is a valley of tears. A thin layer of joy barely manages to conceal the sad reality of life.
To philosophize about suffering brings little comfort. After all our reasoning, we still ask: Does God see? Is there knowledge in the Most High? Does He really care? Like all questions, these must be taken to the cross. Though there we do not find a complete answer, we do find enough to satisfy the troubled heart. Though the problem is not fully resolved, the cross casts sufficient light to relieve the tension.
The cross shows us that God does not ignore our sorrows, for in the person of His Son He Himself “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4). The cross shows us that God is not indifferent to our suffering, for in becoming man He Himself suffered. The cross shows us that God is not a stranger to pain, for in the Savior He experienced it.
What, then, is the value of this? This: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Our Redeemer is not so far removed from us that He cannot enter, with sympathy, into our sorrows, for He Himself was the “Man of sorrows.”
Here is comfort for the broken heart. No matter how cast down you are, how difficult your path may be, or how sorrowful your condition, you are invited to bring it all to the Lord Jesus and cast all your care upon Him, knowing that He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7). Is your body full of pain? His was also! Are you misunderstood, misjudged, misrepresented? He was also! Have those closest to you forsaken you? Him also! Are you in darkness? He was also for three hours! “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest” (Heb. 2:17).
6. Here we see the expression of a universal need.
“I thirst.”
Whether he expresses it or not, natural man throughout the world is crying: “I thirst.” Why this constant desire for riches? Why this ambition for honor and the approval of the world? Why this restless pursuit of pleasure, moving from one thing to another without rest? Why this pursuit of knowledge, science, philosophy? Why this obsession with the new? Why? Because there is a void in the soul.
Because there is something in every man that is not satisfied. This is true of the millionaire as well as of the peasant. Traveling throughout the world does not give peace. Over all the wells of this world it is written: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again” (John 4:13).
The same is true of the religious man without Christ. Many follow religious routines, attend church, read the Bible, pray… and yet their cry remains: “I thirst.”
The thirst is spiritual. Therefore, nothing natural can satisfy it. Without knowing it, the soul “thirsts for God” (Ps. 42:2). God made us, and only He can satisfy us. Christ said: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14).
Only Christ can satisfy the soul. Only He can give true peace. Reader, how is it with you? Have you discovered that all is vanity? Do you feel that emptiness? Does your soul cry, “I thirst”? Then there is good news: there is One who can satisfy you. It is not a religion, it is a person—Christ. He says: “Come to Me… and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Come to Him now, just as you are. Come with faith, believing that He will receive you.
I came to Jesus as I was, Weary, worn, and sad; I found in Him a resting place, And He has made me glad.
Oh, come to Christ! Delay not. Are you “thirsty”? Then you are the one He is seeking: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6).
Unsaved reader, do not reject the Savior, for if you die in your sins, your eternal cry will be: “I thirst.” This is the groan of the condemned. In the lake of fire, the lost suffer amid the flames of God’s wrath forever and ever. If Christ cried “I thirst” when He endured the wrath of God for only three hours, what will be the state of those who must endure it for all eternity! When millions of years have passed, ten million more will still lie ahead. There is an eternal thirst in hell that admits no relief.
Remember the terrible words of the rich man: “Then he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24). Oh, think, reader! If physical thirst in its extremity is unbearable even now when suffered only for a few hours, what will that thirst be which is infinitely greater than any present thirst, and which shall never be satisfied!
Do not say that it is cruel for God to deal thus with His creatures. Remember what He exposed His own beloved Son to when sin was imputed to Him. Surely, he who despises Christ deserves the hottest place in hell! Once more we say: receive Him now as yours. Receive Him as your Savior, and submit to Him as your Lord.
7. Here we see the enunciation of a permanent principle.
“I thirst.”
There is a sense—a real sense—in which Christ still thirsts. He thirsts for the love and devotion of His own. He longs for communion with His people redeemed by His blood. Here is one of the great wonders of grace: a redeemed sinner can offer that which satisfies the heart of Christ! I can understand how I ought to appreciate His love, but how wonderful that He—the all-sufficient One—appreciates my love! I have learned how blessed communion with Him is to my soul, but who would have thought that my communion is blessed to Christ? And yet it is so. For this reason He still “thirsts.” Grace enables us to offer that which refreshes Him. Wonderful thought!
Have you ever noticed in John 4 that although Christ said to the woman who came to the well, “Give Me a drink”—for He was “wearied” from the journey and the heat—He never took water? In the salvation and faith of that Samaritan woman He found that which refreshed His heart. Love is never satisfied until there is a response of love!
So it is with Christ. Here is the key to Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” This is often applied to the unconverted, but its primary reference is to the Church. It presents Christ seeking communion with His own.
He speaks of “dining,” and in the Scriptures dining is a symbol of communion, just as the Lord’s Supper is a special time of communion between the Savior and the saved. And observe that here Christ speaks of a double supper: “I will dine with him, and he with Me.” It is not only our ineffable privilege to dine with Him, to delight in Him, and to have fellowship with Him, but He also “dines” with us.
He finds in our communion something for His heart, something that refreshes Him, and that is our devotion and our love. Yes, the Christ of God still “thirsts”—thirsts for the affection of His own. Will you not offer Him that which can satisfy Him? Then respond to His call: “Set me as a seal upon your heart” (Song of Solomon 8:6).
Editor’s Conclusion
The fifth word of Christ on the cross—“I thirst”—leads us to contemplate one of the deepest expressions of His voluntary humiliation. He who is the source of all life, the One who offered living water to the thirsty, now experiences a real, intense, and agonizing thirst. In this scene we clearly see the perfect union of His divine and human nature: true God and true man, suffering in our place to the very end.
But this word not only reveals physical suffering; it also points to the exact fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. Nothing at the cross was accidental; nothing lay outside the sovereign control of the Father. Even in His agony, Christ acts in full obedience, fulfilling the Scriptures and carrying to completion the work entrusted to Him. Every detail, however small it may seem, is part of the glorious plan of redemption.
Moreover, in this expression we can glimpse the real cost of our salvation. The thirst of Christ reminds us that He endured not only bodily pain, but also the burden of sin and the divine wrath. His suffering was not superficial or symbolic, but deep, real, and sufficient to fully satisfy the justice of God. Here we behold the sacrificial love of a Savior who withheld nothing in order to redeem His people.
Therefore, this word calls us not only to admire the sacrifice of Christ, but to respond with faith, gratitude, and surrender. He who thirsted so that we might never thirst spiritually deserves all our devotion. As we meditate on this scene, may our hearts be moved to trust Him more fully, to value His redemptive work, and to live in obedience to Him who, even in the midst of His suffering, remained faithful to the end.