The ironic, thirsting truth

I thirst. - Jn 19: 12

I saw this quote last night on the poster which is still up in our church for the Tajci concert the weekend before last, and a fresh (for me) irony hit me right in the face.  Though I've previously reflected and written on this sixth of the Seven Last Words of Christ, in a moment of clarity I realized aspects of it that I had never considered.

God, who has no lack whatsoever but rather is fully complete in Godself, and therefor has no need of us as we experience need or lack, nonetheless thirsts completely for our sake, that is, on our behalf. If you think about it, this makes sense: God is infinite love, and love always desires and seeks the best for the beloved, and desire is thirst, and the best for us is found only in God.

We who have no way of being complete except to find ourselves made whole in God's love often fail to thirst for God in a way that leads us to our fulfillment.  We are too frequently unable to recognize that for which we truly thirst, and we substitute every lesser thirst for our true one.

God's thirst for us, his desire for us for our own sake, is so great that he was willing to go to immeasurable lengths so that we might be satisfied.  Unlimited Christ forsook his glorious eternal throne to become a human bound by time and the rest of physical limitation.  In a very real sense, while he remained fully God, Jesus gave up his godly glory for our sake.  By comparison, the humiliating crucifixion he endured was a small thing, and anyone who really thinks the cross was a small thing doesn't grasp it in the slightest (which is the most that any of us can grasp it). As a result of all he did, God is no more complete than he would have been had he done nothing at all for us. We, on the other hand, receive the opportunity to become completely fulfilled because of God's thirst for us, that is, for our sake.

Yet we are too frequently unwilling to give up any of ourselves for the sake of others or for God, even when it is really the only way to become fully ourselves. Rather, we cling to the tiniest bit of ourselves as if it is our very essence.

So God, who needs us not at all, thirsts greatly for us and seeks us at all cost, while we, who completely need God, often fail to thirst for him or seek him at even the slightest cost.