Dear Peddie Church Family,
During this Holy Week, we are invited to participate in a great mystery into the heart of Christ. It is tempting to go through the Holy Week as if it’s just another week of busy activities. I encourage you to slow down, be still in the presence of the Lord, and follow the Lord Jesus to the cross.
Perhaps, you are already a devout Christian. You have been spending much of your time on church work, Bible studies, and religious meetings, yet you feel there is more to Christian life than these activities. If you’ve been in church long enough, you would discover that these religious activities, though they are good, can never satisfy your deepest thirst.
Are you still thirsty? Are you searching restlessly for something more? What do you thirst for?
If you are still thirsty, this last word of Jesus on the cross may be for you.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:28 ESV)
Undoubtedly, a physical thirst was an inescapable aspect of crucifixion, and we could interpret Jesus’ expression of thirst simply at the physical level. But understood as the fulfillment of the Scripture, it points to a deeper thirst in the heart of Jesus.
One of the most insightful interpretations of this thirst comes from Mother Teresa of Calcutta. During an extended time of spiritual retreat, Mother Teresa received a word from Jesus in a vision – the very word of Jesus on the cross: “I thirst.” She understood it, not merely as a physical thirst, but as Jesus’ infinite thirst for all humanity and His desire to bring them into Himself.
Have you ever thought that Christ is thirty for you and that He longs for you to come to Him? Have you ever thought that Christ’s love for you is so unceasing and tenacious that He thirsts for you?
I often go through a day hurriedly without being aware of Christ’s thirst for me. But when I slow down, be still in the presence of the Lord, and think of His thirst for me, then something awakens in my soul, and I sense my heart being lifted up with a thirst for Him and my soul being filled with living water.
What about you? Are you aware of Christ’s thirst for you? Are you aware that even now what Christ longs for is to be united with you? Are you thirsty for Him?
During this Holy Week, may you take time to be still, and in the stillness of your soul, may the Spirit of the Living God awaken your sense of thirst for Him.
In the service of Christ,
– Pastor James