“I Thirst”

This devotional is the fifth in a seven-part series leading up to Easter through the season of Lent. Each week’s devotional will focus on one of Jesus’ seven sayings from the cross. 

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’” John 19:28

This verse comes directly after Jesus entrusted the care of His mother, Mary, to His disciple, John (to read that devotional from two weeks ago, you can click here). This verse tells us that after Jesus did this, He knew “that all was now finished.” In other words, He recognized that His mission was now complete. Jesus had fully fulfilled the will of His Father. As we have seen in the prior four statements Christ made from the cross, Jesus has forgiven His killers, promised eternal life to a thief who hung beside Him, taken care of His earthly family, and acknowledged the unimaginable pain of feeling forsaken in taking our sins upon Himself. Jesus drank the cup of suffering and drained it to the final drop, continuing to glorify His Father and draw the lost to His Kingdom even as He died the most inhumane of deaths. 

Now, however, in order “to fulfill the Scripture,” Jesus is about to make another statement. He simply says, “I thirst.” 

The Scripture Jesus most likely fulfilled here is Psalm 69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” Psalm 22, a Psalm that also prophesies of Jesus’ suffering on the cross, says this in verse 15: “my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws.” The physical thirst Jesus experienced on the cross fulfills these prophecies about Him and shows Christ’s humanity. 

The following verse in John tells us that His thirst was quenched with sour wine: “A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth” (19:29). This was not an expensive wine, but was almost like vinegar. It was a common, cheap drink used by the lower classes. This was the drink the soldiers had on hand in case they were thirsty. 

Additionally, Jesus was given the wine through a sponge lifted up on a hyssop branch. The usage of the hyssop branch is significant because, in the Bible, it is seen as a symbol of cleansing and purification. This plant was used by the Jewish people during the Passover. They were instructed to use a bunch of hyssop to place the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts (Exodus 12:22). God passed over the homes of those who had the blood on their door, sparing the lives of their firstborn. Jesus, on the cross, was lifted up as our Passover lamb, spotless and without blemish. Because His blood was spilled, the Lord “passes over” us, pardoning our sin and giving us the eternal life we don’t deserve. 

However, let us return to some thoughts on Jesus’ statement: “I thirst.” This is God Himself; He should not thirst. The Word who was with God in the beginning when He spread the waters over the earth cries out that He is thirsty (John 1:1-2, Genesis 1:9-10). Jesus, who created all things and all people, experiences the frailty of His own creation (Colossians 1:16). He thirsts.

There was a purpose behind this suffering, however. Jesus thirsted on the cross so that we need never thirst spiritually. Prior to this scene at the cross, in the Gospel of John, Jesus spoke with a woman who has become known as “The Woman at the Well.” When He spoke with her, Jesus knew that she was searching for satisfaction from the wrong well. He knew of her five husbands and the fact that she was living with a man she was not married to. However, Jesus made this promise to her: “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Jesus promises to quench the spiritual thirst of whoever comes to Him, humble enough to admit their need and drink of Christ’s living water. 

Are you spiritually thirsty? Are you looking for satisfaction and relief from this thirst in all the wrong places? Come to this well. Jesus suffered, hung on the cross, and experienced thirst so that He could offer you living water. This water wells up to eternal life, leading to a fulfilling life with God both here and in eternity. Will you take and drink this water?