I Thirst

Happy Sunday! Today we have made it to the fifth word from the cross. We find this in the book of John, chapter 19, verses 28 and 29. It says, "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said, in order to fulfill the scripture, 'I am thirsty.' A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth."

The scene here is heartbreaking. Jesus is dying, he's in pain, he is thirsty, and he asks for a drink. He's given some sour wine. I'm not a wine drinker, and sour wine doesn't sound good to me.

In reading about this, it seems that sour wine was the cheap stuff that the soldiers would drink. It was nothing special; it was the bottom of the barrel. Here Jesus is on a cross, and he's given the cheapest sour wine from a sponge on a hyssop branch. A hyssop branch, they say, wouldn't be more than about a foot and a half long, so this soldier is pretty close to Jesus.

Go back with me three years before the crucifixion, another story about wine. Jesus is just beginning his ministry. He performs his first miracle. We're told in John chapter 2 that Jesus and his disciples were at a wedding in Cali. Jesus's mother Mary was there, and she came to Jesus with a request.

They'd run out of wine for the wedding, and she wanted Jesus to do something. And John tells us there were six large water jars there. We're even told how big they were: they'd hold between 20 and 30 gallons of liquid. Jesus had the servants fill the jars with water, and then he had them take a taste to the master of the banquet.

The water was now wine. Not sour wine: good wine, the best. Isn't God like that? He takes sour wine on a cross as he died for our sins, while he gives the best for us. It's sad to me that we treat God that way. He gives us his best, and we do not often reciprocate.

Back to the cross and the sour wine. I'm struck by the way that Jesus treated his killers. He's already asked the Father to forgive them, and now we ask them for a drink. What would you say to those who had nailed you to a cross? Would you ask for their forgiveness? Would you ask them for a favor?

The words "I thirst," or "I am thirsty," mean so much here beyond the physical. Last week we looked at the fact that Jesus was forsaken, and he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In saying "I thirst," Jesus, on another level, is looking for restoration from that moment when he took all of our sin upon himself. Do the words "I am thirsty" remind you of what Jesus once said?

Matthew tells us in chapter 5, verse 6, that Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." As I hear Jesus saying "I thirst," I think that on one level he's thirsty for his reward, thirsty for unbroken communion with God. On the cross so much prophecy was fulfilled. Psalm 69:21 predicted this moment. There it says, "For my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

Sour wine is pretty much vinegar. Even this moment, this brief, these brief words, "I thirst," "I am thirsty," it's a fulfillment of prophecy. Have you ever tried to predict the future or make a prophecy? Can you tell me what this world will be like in one year, or ten, or a hundred? The weatherman can't get next week right.

Biblical prophecy is so accurate when it comes to the cross. We are told that Jesus would be betrayed. We are told that false accusations would be made. We're told that he would be silent before his accusers. We're told that soldiers would gamble for his garment.

We're told that he would pray for his enemies. We are told that he would not have his bones broken. We're told that he would be buried in a rich man's tomb. And much of this prophecy was written 700 to a thousand years before the cross. That's hard to fathom for me. This is like someone in the 11th century trying to predict events taking place today.

Seeing Jesus on this cross is painful. Seeing him thirsty reminds me of his humanity, and it's hard to understand: fully man, fully God, on a cross. It's beyond our comprehension. I look forward to Easter. I'm ready for it.

Years ago, when our kids were small, we took them to the Passion Play at Eureka Springs. It's an amazing production, and it's very realistic. I recall, while Jesus was on the cross, our kids were petrified. I leaned over to them and said, "It gets better." Praise God, it gets better! I so look forward to Easter this year. I'm thirsty for it. How about you?

Pray with me. Lord, it is amazing, the prophecy fulfilled on the cross. It is amazing, your love and kindness to those that put nails in your hands and in your feet. It is the best example that we have of how we are to live in the worst of times.

Father, we look forward to Easter, beyond these words from the cross, the word from the empty tomb, that he has risen. And Father, help us as we prepare our hearts for that. Help us to be thirsty. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless.