Seven Sayings of Jesus on the Cross #5

“I thirst” — John 19:28

After feeling forsaken, Jesus very quickly speaks three more sayings on the cross before He dies. This time it is a cry for physical relief. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’” (John 19:28). Crucifixion was a slow death of bleeding, suffocating, and dehydrating. Jesus suffered a long night of crying and praying in the Garden of Gethsemane along with sweating like great drops of blood. He endured a series of night trials, flogging, and attempts to carry His cross. Finally, six hours of hanging on the cross. Few men have known the thirst of which Jesus is speaking. When we have a thirst even a small cold drink will suffice.

This prophetic plea produced compassion in some person who was willing to take a hyssop branch and reach up in mercy to give him a drink. The small, bushy hyssop plant acted like sponge to soak up liquids. It was used in the Passover to sprinkle the blood of the lamb over the lintel and doorposts of the Israelite home. Now, the Lamb of God receives a small drink from it while being sacrificed on the cross. Drinking from a small branch would be an odd and nearly impossible task.

Three Cups at Calvary

▸ Cup of Gall

There were three cups associated with the cross on Calvary. The first cup, He refused to drink. They gave Jesus “sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.” (Matt. 27:33-34; cf. Mark 15:22-23). This was a sedative to relieve the affliction of crucifixion. Some claim it was poison to help hasten His death out of mercy. Regardless of the intent of the givers, Jesus chose to suffer. He was going to have some other things to say on the cross and was going to suffer on the cross according to prophecy.

▸ Cup of Vinegar

The second cup was the cup of sympathy. This was not an intoxicating beverage or mixed with gall. It was like drinking balsamic vinegar. Jesus drank of this cup to help Him keep His senses and be able to speak His final important words. “Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19:29-30).

▸ Cup of Suffering

Jesus rebuked Peter after he drew the sword and chopped off an ear, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11). Jesus also spoke of this cup when James and John were seeking the two chief seats in Jesus coming Kingdom (Matt. 20:22). This was not a literal cup but used metaphorically for a cup of suffering which Jesus had to drink. It is the cup He had prayed might be removed by the Father as He prayed three times in the Garden.

Jesus’ Choice to Suffer

Suffering is not something to be sought, but to be avoided. Most philosophies and religions have their opinions on how to deal with suffering. Hedonism seeks pleasure and avoids suffering. Today’s existentialists see no purpose or meaningfulness in suffering. Stoics indifferently face it with a grin and bear it attitude. Still others like Docetists consider suffering an evil, just an illusion.

Jesus did not suffer because of sympathy or enjoyment, but to retain a clear command of His mental faculties. He could have commanded an ocean of fresh water brought to the cross. But “it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). He knew His suffering for a moment would end in death and the suffering death and sin would end for some through His own suffering and death.

Purpose

 To Fulfill Prophecy

A reason for drinking this cup while on the cross was the fulfillment of prophecies. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” (John 19:28). More than one scripture could be fulfilled in this statement and actions. “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. 69:21). The Psalmist also wrote, “I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death” (Ps. 22:14-15).

Notice that Jesus did not of His own will bring these prophecies to fulfillment. He did control what He said but not the soldiers’ gambling for His garments, or the fact they did not break his bones, or hanging between two criminals, etc. Yet, all of the prophecies were made centuries before and fulfilled with perfect precision. John T. Hinds wrote: “The one that filled a sponge with vinegar and placed it to His lips was fulfilling a prophecy of which he knew nothing.”

 To Show His Humanity

The one who created all the waters of the earth, walked upon the sea, calmed the storms, turned water into wine, and was God in the flesh was about to die of thirst. This gave evidence of His humanity. Jesus grew, learned, became weary, slept, hungered, thirsted and died like a man (Luke 2:7; 52; John 4:6; Matt. 4:2; Mark 4:38; Luke 10:21; Jn. 11:33; etc.). Why? Because “in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17).

 To Provide for Man’s Spiritual Thirst

Near the town of Sychar, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. She was surprised that a Jew would ask her for a drink. “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water…Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10,13-14).

Noone likes to be thirsty. Our brains tell us thirst is a sign of a problem that must be corrected. Without the warnings given by thirstiness, many would die of dehydration. Spiritual thirst is a healthy sign. A wise response is to seek that which would quench the thirst of the soul. Jesus said. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). This is a serious painful thirst.

The Greek term means “to suffer hunger, to be famished, to crave after” (Liddell-Scott) and “to suffer thirst, suffer from thirst” (Thayer). All of us need to have a thirst like “the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Ps. 42:1-2). What are you thirsty for? A new car? The next promotion? Alcohol? An affair? Or is your soul thirsty for God?

Jesus was parched and dehydrated on the cross with a painful thirst so that He could redeem us from an eternal thirst. What did the wicked rich man cry out for in torment after death. ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame’” (Luke 16:24). Hell is remembering the Living Water we could have enjoyed on earth. Hell is a lake of fire, a place of endless, unquenchable thirst. However, in contrast in Heaven the invitation is “‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).

– Daniel R. Vess