“I am thirsty.” John 19:28
Are these words significant or merely a historical fact in the story of Jesus’ final hours? Who is Jesus, who died on the cross? The emphasis for most believers is that He is “the Christ” and “Son of the living God!” He was the Son of God, in the flesh, who’d come “to take away the sins of the world,” “the Lamb of God,” and the ultimate and final sacrifice.
However, when we consider Jesus’ words, “I am thirsty,” we have a tiny glimpse of a vital truth. Jesus was completely human, in the flesh. Though He was God, the source of living water, He became flesh to experience all of our human limitations. Craving sustenance, Jesus’ need was met with sour wine, a type of vinegar, on a stick. The only perfect Son of Man gave up the privileges of His infinite being to identify with and become one with the human plight and the disappointment, pain, and neglect that you and I know well.
Jesus knew only what the Father revealed to Him. He understood temptation. He felt the frustration of broken relationships, pain of physical labor, and even the anger of violation. His body was limited by the need for proper nutrition, vitamins, minerals, water, and air to function properly.
In His final hours on the cross, Jesus experienced complete separation from His Father, the source of life and goodness. As His body failed physically, Jesus “thirsted, not only in the flesh but also in His spirit. He knew the complete fulfilment of unity in His relationship with the Father and Spirit. Yet, as He hung on the cross, His Father, and source of life, turned away. Physical death was imminent, and He experienced the human plight of spiritual death away from God’s Spirit as well.
Isolated, lonely, and violated, humanly speaking, Jesus was removed from fellowship with the Father as well. In His life and Death, Jesus experienced the fullness of God’s condemnation.
Jesus became fully human to enter and relate to all of our human experiences. He understood the thoughts, ideas, feelings, and questions of living in the adversary’s domain. And concerning the broken experiences of all of humanity, He promised, “I am the Way… Follow me…”
His last words, “I am thirsty,” are a small reminder of a vital Truth: Jesus understands and has experienced the physical, emotional, and relational longings and needs we face daily. Because of His human experience, Jesus offers grace and the way of hope as none other.
Matthew 16:15-17, Mark 11:12-14, John 1:14-15, 1:29-30, 2:14-17, 3:13, 5:20, 13:32, 14:6, 19:28-19, Hebrews 4:14-16, Proverbs 30:4
Pictured: Entire denominations come from all around Southern Africa, travelling great distances to gather. Travelling on Easter weekend is known to be slow, hazardous, and generally ill-advised by SA traffic authorities because of bottlenecks, traffic jams, and hazardous traffic created by people moving in the millions at Easter.