“After this, knowing that everything had now been finished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.”
(John 19:28-30)
The one who had just drunk the cup of suffering that God the Father had asked him to drink—the cup of suffering our sins had poured for him—said, of all things, “I thirst.”
He no doubt was. What had he had to drink in the last 12 hours? How much fluid had his body lost in the last 6 hours? How excruciating had his crucifixion been? How dehydrated had he become? He was thirsty, of course, but his thirst served a greater purpose on Good Friday. His thirst fulfilled Scripture. His thirst fulfilled a prophecy about him. His thirst revealed that he was indeed the one whom God had promised to send to drink our cup of suffering. To be our Savior from sin, Jesus had to fulfill every one of the prophecies about the coming Messiah—even something as simple as thirst before death.
The wine vinegar hardly quenched his thirst, but it did wet his lips and vocal cords enough so that he could say that beautiful—and essential—phrase, “It is finished!”
What was finished?
Drinking that cup of suffering. Paying for our sins. Our redemption. All was finished. Literally, Jesus said, “Paid in full.” Our sins were paid in full. We have nothing to pay God—there’s nothing we could pay God—to make up for our sins. Our sins are already atoned for—completely. In Jesus we have full and free forgiveness.
Every time I thirst, Lord, remind me of your Scripture-fulfilling thirst on the cross that assures me you are my promised Savior. Amen.
From These Words Are Written: Devotions on the Gospel of John. All rights reserved. Explore the whole book!
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