THIRST.—The occasions on which the physical suffering arising from thirst is noted by the Evangelists are connected in every instance with the personal experiences of Jesus. Early in His public ministry, as He was journeying back from Judaea to Galilee, leaving the former country as a result of Pharisaic hostility, the writer of the Fourth Gospel notices that Jesus suffered the pangs of thirst, and records His request for a drink of water from the Samaritan woman as she came to draw water from ‘Jacob’s spring’ (πηγὴ τοῦ Ἰακώβ, John 4:6). It is remarkable that this author mentions this fact, as well as the weariness felt by Jesus in His journey, side by side with the title (ὁ κύριος, John 4:1) which betrays the writer’s attitude towards His claims over human life and conduct.

The other instance of Jesus’ suffering in this respect is also mentioned by this writer, who records His cry ‘I thirst’ (διψῶ, John 19:28) from the cross. And although he seems to connect the expression with the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy (cf. Psalms 69:21), there can be no doubt as to the reality of the feeling which prompted the utterance of the Sufferer. The intensity of His suffering is attested by the unwonted interference of one of the soldier-guards, who, out of compassion for the Crucified, attempted to allay His anguish. One result of these and such like incidents in the course of His life is to be seen in the vivid portraiture by Jesus of the great Day of final judgment. The common physical wants of struggling humanity afford opportunities of service in the sacred cause outlined by the two great commandments of the Law (Matthew 22:36 ff.). Nor must we omit to notice the basis upon which Jesus has placed the service of man by men, and the grounds upon which He distributes the final awards. To every believer in the cosmic significance of the Incarnation the use of the first person (ἐδίψησα, etc.) by the Judge-King (Matthew 25:34) who is ‘the Son of Man’ (Matthew 25:31), reveals the nature and character of His sympathy with our weaknesses (συνπαθῆσαι ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν, Hebrews 4:15), and guarantees the truth of the assertion that ‘it was necessary that he should in all things become like his brethren’ (ὤφειλεν κατὰ πάντα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ὀμοιωθῆναι, Hebrews 2:17).

Following the example of OT thinkers, Jesus employed the idea embodied in the word ‘thirst’ to express the conscious needs of the human soul for something higher and more satisfying than it could discover in its earthly experiences (cf. Isaiah 55:1, Psalms 42:2 etc.). Just as man in the vigour of physical health revolts against physical deprivation in the shape of thirst, so in proportion to his spiritual health and energy he reaches out and cries for spiritual satisfaction, and cannot rest as long as his wants are unsupplied. In this restlessness Jesus sees a source of men’s ultimate happiness, and those He accounts blessed (μακάριοι) who thirst for righteousness (διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, Matthew 5:6). As might perhaps be expected, the Johannine writer makes the most frequent reference to this feature of Jesus’ teaching. Belief in Himself, Jesus asserts to be the means by which spiritual thirst is assuaged (cf. John 6:35; John 7:37); and if we compare this statement with its expansion and elaboration, we will observe that by belief He means the spiritual appropriation of His entire Manhood (ἡ σάρξ μου … τὸ αἶμά μου ἀληθής ἐστι πόσις, John 6:56).

On two distinct occasions Jesus makes incidental, though didactic, reference to the profound union, between Himself and those who believe on Him, hinted at above. In His conversation with the woman of Samaria He characteristically emphasizes His teaching by the details in her drawing of the water from the fountain. For her the well was a source of the satisfaction of personal need, and at the same time a means of supplying the needs of others dependent on her. In a manner analogous to this, if she had drunk of the living water which He was ready to supply, Jesus promised her a part in His glorious work of sharing with others out of the fulness she had received (cf. John 1:16). In her the living water would become ‘a fountain springing unto eternal life’ (ἐν αὐτῷ πηγὴ ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, John 4:14). This thought is more definitely and directly stated by Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles which He attended in Jerusalem. His invitation to all who thirsted (ἐάν τις διψᾷ, John 7:37) to come to Him and drink was followed by the promise, founded on the phraseology and thought of the OT (Isaiah 12:3; Isaiah 58:11, etc.), that they who accepted would themselves become sources of blessing and satisfaction to their fellow-men (ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας, κ.τ.λ., John 7:38). ‘He who drinks of the Spiritual Rock becomes in turn himself a rock from within which the waters flow to slake the thirst of others’ (Westcott, Gospel of St. John, ad loc.). It is impossible not to see in this living relationship between Jesus and believers the foundation upon which must ultimately rest all human activities, as they display themselves in the service of the race.

J. R. Willis.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Thirst'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/t/thirst.html. 1906-1918.

Bible Dictionaries Thirst

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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Thirst