I Thirst, He Said

​11/26/2019
A poem by Jon Elvrum

It is You whom I see
pinned,
nailed to the cross
dying there for me
even as He
is dying there for you.

It is exactly this moment
that has called out to me
these more than twenty centuries later.

See now, the moment when the sky grows dark
dark as the moment seems
as dark as the moment feels.

I see that He has given
nearly everything for us,
to achieve our salvation,
yours and mine.
He has nearly nothing left to give...yet He is not finished.

He thirsts for our redemption
for our reclamation and salvation;
yours
mine
all the lives of everyone still lost
all those still unredeemed.

I thirst, He said

Among the seven last words recorded
His words remembered,
His words written down
there can be found
these two
pain-filled words...

            I thirst...

and a soldier squeezes vinegar
into a sponge,
lifts it up on spear's point

history does not know
if this was just more abuse
or a sad attempt to offer help,
even misbegotten help ...
an attempt to offer something... anything
that might assuage the dryness,
relieve the parched throat;
soothe the broken body;
something offered
when no other thing
seemed available to give.

Lord, I see that you
rejected the sponge
as soon as you knew
it was not the water that You intended
it was not the Living Water
that You offered the woman at the well
not the Revelation water
the Holy Water, water meant to redeem
water meant to restore;
not the water from the rock at Meribah
that kept the earliest of the Chosen
together, even in their deepest disarray.

It has always been about water...
The creation story tells
about all was water
then water divided, earth formed;
water mixed with earth
used to form Adam.
It was always about Your thirst for us
always about Your love for us
about Your desire that we be obedient
that we come to the water
that we come to You for
baptism by water,
water for relief
water for forgiveness
for healing,
for cleansing,
for repair,
water for redemption.

I thirst, He said...
"Come," He said, "all who are heavy laden and I will refresh you."
He offers us His water to drink...

The old song says it:

"Come to the water.
Stand by my side.
I know you are thirsty.
You won't be denied..."

He said it first to us, first for us.

I thirst, He said.
We should be obedient.
We should be thirsty.
We should come to the water, His water.
And we should drink deep!
He thirsts for us. SELAH!
Amen