Living Bulwark

March 2009 - Vol. 28

The Word of Physical Torment

“I thirst” – John 19:26

commentary and painting
by John Dunne

The hot sun has been burning down on the crucified man hanging on the rough cross. Above all the other pain raises that of thirst; a draught of sour wine is the response of man to the King of Kings. This scene represents the total humanity of Jesus and the thirst for God by those who are put far from him. Here we are shown the mounted soldier offering the sponge on the hyssop stem, with the gathering rainclouds behind.
Here the one who created all things including the rain must go without. The sun now hides its face in shame as even nature turns its back on its creator. There are echoes here from Psalm 69:20-21 where the psalmist cries out:

Insults have broken my heart,
So that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
They gave me poison for food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

The Word of Physical Torment, oil painting by John Dunne

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Now the one who is speaking through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 41:17) promises to help those who are thirsty saying:

When the poor and the needy seek water,
And there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them…….

Here hangs the same one who promised the woman at the well that “those who drink from the water that I will give will never thirst again” (John 4:14).

All of these symbolic sayings are in the past now, as Jesus faced with a prolonged agony, cries out for relief. Saint John tell us in his account that after he tasted the bitter drink he breathed his last and died, but the Synoptic accounts differ, recounting that the agony went on for longer, and the humiliation was to continue. We experience an echo of this sense of utter helplessness when our physical bodies do not function as we would like; when we are at the mercy of others for our welfare. God knows our feelings of humiliation because Jesus experienced this humiliation on the cross.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta put this sign over each of her convent doors, “I thirst, I quench,” words that remind those who work for her that it is the thirst of Christ that is quenched each time a cup of water is given in his name.

It is a reminder to us also, each time we hear these words or look on the image, that we are called to do likewise.

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