mgpcpastor's blog

At mgpc today we focused on the meaning of the words “I thirst” (John 19:28)

The Lord Jesus uttered these words “knowing that all was now finished”. We are also told that he spoke these words “to fulfill the Scripture”.  What was finished? Why these words?

Earlier he had refused what was described as sour wine mixed with other substances (Matthew 27:34 & Mark 15:33). The effect of drinking would have been to dull his feelings. Jesus was determined to keep his senses. He had undertaken in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup would not pass from him. The course would be completed.

As his crucifixion continued he was able to promise one the thieves crucified alongside him that he would join Jesus in paradise. Later when he would cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he was not doing so from a sense that something had gone wrong, but rather that he was experiencing something awful, something new, the presence of God in judgement. Later Peter would describe it in these words: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed”.

Isaiah prophesied “he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” and “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all”. Psalm 22 foretells of indignity heaped upon indignity.

But when all was finished then Jesus said ‘I thirst’.
Two observations.
First, Jesus’ suffering was real and physical, but his suffering was not limited to the physical. When he said “I thirst”, it was not the preconceived plan of a madman to identify with Scriptural allusion even with his dying breath. (Psalm Psalm 22:15 & Psalm 69:21) His physical need was real. Our Saviour is like us, yet without sin. His empathy for us is based on experience.
Secondly, when thirst is mentioned by Jesus in other parts of John’s Gospel the word is used to illustrate the spiritual need of peace with God. To a woman beside a well, in Capernaum, and then to those gathered in Jerusalem, Jesus promises that those who trust in him would never thirst. They would enjoy a relationship with God would sustain them and overflow to the blessing of others. When Jesus says: “I thirst” it is his desire to experience again this pure fellowship with God. Rather than his suffering alienating him from the Father, Jesus desires Him even more. His words enable us to know that he experienced that desire so that we would never have to. No drink can ever quench that thirst, only the presence of God alone.

Our response should be to accept both the instruction and the effect of Jesus’ work on the cross. So great is our sin against God that justice demands the ultimate punishment. If it has not fallen on Christ then it remains on us. We should turn in sorrow for our sin and trust that Jesus “bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness”.