Key Verse: Later, knowing that all was now
completed, so that the scriptures would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am
thirsty."
John 19:28
It would make sense that Jesus would be
thirsty. He had suffered tremendous blood loss from the beatings and
crucifixion. It was also probably a warm spring day and, while the sun may have
been dark at the time He spoke of this physical discomfort, it may have been
beating down powerfully during the earlier part of the day. This simple
statement lets us know that Jesus was feeling it all, the nails, the heat, the
dislocated bones and the thirst. He was not above experiencing the physical
suffering that He was enduring for our sake.
John is the only gospel that mentions this
statement. Perhaps this is because John was standing at Jesus’ feet and may
have been one of the few who heard it. Matthew and Mark, who recorded the
fourth word, (yesterday's reading), record that Jesus was offered something
to drink after Jesus cried out in a loud voice about His being forsaken by God.
John, however, heard the physical need, that perhaps was offered more quietly.
At this point, Jesus was offered something,
probably "oxos," a wine vinegar drink of the common soldiers and the
poor. This is a different drink than the wine mix that was offered before the
crucifixion. Even that act is a bit confusing. It's not clear if Jesus was
offered wine with a bit of frankincense to dull the pain, before being
crucified, and He refused it in order to experience fully the sacrifice He was
offering on our behalf, or if the wine He was offered was mixed with gall, a
bitter herb that would have increased His thirst while hanging on the cross. Imagine a taste of baking cocoa on your tongue and not being allowed to wash
out your mouth with water and you can understand how this further torture would
work. For some reason, Jesus refused the first offering, but now, to fulfill
His word on what would happen, He accepts this wine vinegar, offered in
kindness or mockery, this also is not clear, but He knew the heart and intent
of the one doing the offering, though we may not.
It is also interesting that the sponge was
extended to Jesus on a reed of hyssop. In the Old Testament, the priests were
instructed to use hyssop in sacrifices and for sprinkling blood on the people
during the act of cleansing and or purification. The blood was placed on the hyssop
and in turn sprinkled on the people by the priests during the cleansing
ceremony. Now, Jesus is shedding His blood, which is our new covenant and He is
receiving His last taste of earthly wine from a sponge, on a branch, meant for
cleansing. Nothing is wasted in God's economy of meaning.
Jesus had been abandoned by the trinity. Jesus
endured suffering as a real, physical human being. When He had sucked the wine
from the sponge, there was nothing left to do.
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