Seven Last Words of Christ
A Cry of Suffering
John 19:28-29
By Rev. John R. Hannem, Calvary Baptist Church, North Sydney, NS – April 4th 2009
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Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.
Of all the incredible pains that come with crucifixion-THIRST was by far the most agonizing. As the victims hung there in the tropical sun their mouths and throats cried for water. Their lips cracked and bled and their eyes glazed. Their tongues swelled in their mouths and saliva hung like drying glue in their throats. Their thirst was horrible!
And remember, in Jesus' case, His thirst had been compounded by the fact that it had been a long time since he had last tasted liquid-perhaps as many as 18 hours-when the night before He had shared the Passover with His disciples. And during that time He had endured unspeakable suffering and trials. The Bible tells us that in the Garden of Gesthemane His agony had caused Him to sweat blood-which of course would have taken precious fluids from His body. Then for long, fatiguing hours He had been forced to stand on His feet-as all through the night and morning He was led to be interrogated by Annas then to stand trial before Caiaphas, then before Pilate, then before Herod, and then back again to Pilate. After that Jesus had been cruelly beaten by the Roman soldiers. A crown of thorns had been thrust on His head. Then, with blood running down His face and lacerated back-fluids literally pouring from His body, He was forced to carry the heavy wooden crossbeam under the burning heat of the sun. It’s no wonder that on the way to Golgotha Jesus fell under the load-exhausted. Then, for six agonizing hours our Lord hung on that cruel Roman cross as the wounds in His hands and feet and back and head continued to bleed drop by drop-increasing His dehydration such that His throat must have felt like it was literally on fire. Well, it is understandable then that Jesus uttered these words, "I thirst" isn't it! I mean, how could He NOT thirst after all He had been through! John says that in response to Jesus' statement someone-perhaps one of the soldiers-took a sponge and soaked it in a jar of sour wine-put it on a stick and lifted it to Jesus' lips.
Now, as I said, this fifth saying is packed with truth but this morning I want to point out just four important truths-facts that Jesus conveyed with this short sentence, and the first is this:
. Jesus was saying, "I am WHO I say I am."
Specifically, "I am the long-awaited Messiah of God." Look back to the words prior to this 5th statement from the cross and you'll see what I mean. "Jesus, KNOWING that all things had already been accomplished-and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled...said, 'I am thirsty.'" Now the word, we translate as, "knowing" does not mean to know by experience or to come to know something by research or study. It means to know intuitively, innately-to have the facts already logged within one's memory and then to be able to call them instantly to mind. So this text is saying that Jesus intuitively-INSTANTLY-KNEW something. What was it? He knew that all the Old Testament prophecies up until that point had been fulfilled-everything that was supposed to happen had. Everything had been accomplished-everything except for one thing-His expression of thirst.
Now-this was a LOT to know because there were 332 Old Testament prophecies that described the Messiah-and in His life and death Jesus fulfilled them all.
Other men were often driven insane by the agonies of the cross. Their minds ceased to function properly-but not Jesus for He wasn't just another man. He was Who He said He was. Jesus was the Messiah. He was God in the flesh. And I think this knowledge is a verification of this fact for only God could KNOW like that in the midst of all that pain! So, in order that the Scripture might be completely fulfilled, He said, "I am thirsty."
Now, the particular prophecy Jesus was thinking of when He said this was Psalm 69 where it says, "They also gave Me gall for My food and for My thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink." You see, they offered Christ something to drink twice that day. Before He was nailed to the cross He was offered wine mingled with GALL. This mixture had a narcotic effect, somewhat dulling the pain. They offered Jesus this mixture to drug Him and take away the raw edge of the pain before they pounded the nails through His hands and feet. But as soon as He tasted it and realize what it contained, Jesus refused to drink it.
The second drink they offered Him was in response to His statement, "I am thirsty." This time they gave Him "sour wine," which the Old Testament calls vinegar. It was the cheapest drink available at that time-as common as water in our day. A jar of it sat at the crucifixion site for the thirsty soldiers to drink and also for them to give to the victims. Now, it wasn't that they shared this vinegar with the victims to be compassionate. No-you see, one of the cruel purposes of crucifixion was to provide a PROLONGED death, so they had sour wine available for sadistic reasons-giving it to the victims was a way to make them linger even longer in their misery. In any case, when they offered this vinegar to Jesus, Psalm 69's prophetic words were fulfilled- -further indisputable proof that Jesus was Who He said He was-the long-awaited Messiah.
Now, why in His final moments was Jesus so determined to fulfill prophecy? For that matter, why did God go to the trouble of putting all this prophecy in the Bible?
Well, I think it is because He knew we would doubt. He knew we would question. Max Lucado writes:
"Why did Jesus proclaim His thirst from the cross? To lay just one more plank on a sturdy bridge over which a doubter could walk....Since He did not want our heads to keep His love from our hearts, Jesus used His final moments to offer further proof that He was the Messiah."
But in any case Jesus did not say "I am thirsty" to quench His raging thirst. No, He cried out so that the Scripture might be fulfilled-so that all His promises down through the centuries would be kept-and so we could KNOW that He is the Christ-so that it would be that much easier for us to put our faith in Him.
2. And then, with those three words Jesus was also saying, "I UNDERSTAND."
You see, as I just said, Jesus was and is GOD, Who knows all things-including the hundreds of prophecies concerning the Messiah. But He was also MAN-who endured all that we endure in this life and more.
I think it's interesting to note that while many people who tend to embrace a liberal viewpoint in life find it difficult to believe that Jesus was God many conservative Christians struggle to accept His complete humanity. But it is so important that we do accept it-and this text helps us in this because it reminds us that Jesus was not only God-He was also man-Who suffered and thirsted just as we do. This text-and hundreds of others that describe Jesus' humanness-tell us that Jesus understands what we go through in life! And because He does, we can come to Him. As Hebrews 4:15 says, we can, "boldly approach His throne of grace..." because we know that, "...He sympathizes with our weaknesses." You see, one reason Jesus made it a point of enduring all the pain and struggle of a human life is because He knew we would too. He knew we would be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew we'd be sleepy, grief-stricken, and hungry. He knew we'd face pain-if not the pain of the body, the pain of the soul-pain too sharp for any drug to deaden-which is why He turned down that gall/wine. He also knew that you and I would face thirst if not a thirst for water, at least a thirst for truth-and the truth we glean from the image of a thirsty Christ is this: HE UNDERSTANDS! You see, as a man, Jesus hurt in EVERY way we hurt. He pioneered our salvation through the same world that you and I face daily. So we can know that when we go to our Savior in prayer, and lay our petitions before Him-we are going to One Whose heart beats with ours.
Now, think about it. If we thought He DIDN'T understand would we be as likely to go to Him?
I don't thing so. I mean, isn't it true that a LACK of understanding keeps us from others? Let's say you were worried about financial problems-and you needed guidance from a sympathetic friend. Would you go to the son of a zillionaire? Remember, you're asking for guidance, not a handout. Well, would you approach someone who inherited a fortune the day he was born if you needed guidance and sympathy when it came to your money woes? I wouldn't. Why? Because I would know that a zillionaire wouldn't understand. He's never been there. He's never had money troubles so he can't relate to my situation. Well no matter what discouragement you face, Jesus HAS been there. He CAN relate to how you feel. And if His life on earth doesn't convince you, His death on the cross should. I mean, if you are ever in physical pain-then remember His burning thirst that day. If you ever feel put down-if your dignity is assaulted in any way-then remember. Jesus was crucified naked. Have you ever felt alone in the darkness of life? They you should remember that He was forsaken by the Father on the darkest day of all time.
This fifth statement reminds us that Jesus UNDERSTANDS what you and I are going through. And because He does, He doesn't patronize us or scoff at our needs. No, as the Bible says, when we go to Him for help He responds "generously to all without finding fault." (James 1:5) With those three words, Jesus was telling us an amazingly comforting fact, "I UNDERSTAND! I-GOD IN THE FLESH-UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH!"
3. And then, a third truth I think Jesus was reminding us of in this statement is that, "God's WILL must always come first."
Now, I make this conclusion because of WHEN Jesus uttered His fifth saying. Verse 28 says that He said it, "After this..." Well, after what? Recall all we have studied up until this point and you'll see that Jesus expressed His thirst only after He had spoken words of forgiveness to His crucifiers...only after He had lovingly extended His grace to the repentant thief...only after He had made provision for His mother...only after He had born the sins of all mankind on His body and experienced the dark forsakenness from His Father. Jesus waited until "after this" or until "all these things had been accomplished" to say "I am thirsty" when in fact He had been thirsty from the beginning. I mean, the trials and the crucifixion together have lasted more than twelve hours.
Jesus had been scourged, beaten, spit upon, mocked, humiliated, stripped naked, and nailed to a cross. Throughout all this, no one has offered Him one moment of rest or relief-yet not until the very end of this ordeal, the very end of His life, did He ask for even the smallest physical comfort.
And this is typical of Jesus because throughout the life our Savior, God's will came first.
Well, let me ask you. Is that true in your life? Do the major things-the eternal things-the things of God-do they always receive top priority in your life? Or-do your own selfish needs tend to come first? You know ours is a culture that is marked by a confused sense of values. Our priorities are all mixed up-and because they are, we tend to value, we tend to treasure the wrong things. Tony Campollo wrote a book in which he compared our world to a store window in which some mischievous person had gotten in during the night and switched the price tags so that the CHEAP things have the high prices and the really PRECIOUS things are priced low. And isn't that an accurate comparison? We spend most of our time and money on relatively UNIMPORTANT things-things that don't last and because we do the truly important things...the things of God...the things that REALLY matter often get ignored.
Well in this 5th cry from the Cross Jesus challenged us NOT to do this. The example He set that day and every day of His life should motivate us who are His disciples to always put God's will before our own.
4. And then the fourth thing I think Jesus was saying is this: "I alone can satisfy your THIRST for God."
You see, when He said, "I thirst" I think He was referring to more than water. Arthur Pink writes, "[Jesus'] thirst was the effect of the agony of His soul in the fierce heat of God's wrath." In other words, Jesus' thirst expressed His yearning to be back in fellowship with the Father after three hours of horrid separation-separation He had to endure if He were to bear our sin. Well, you and I thirst in this same way every day of our lives. All of us have an inner yearning to know God. We are all born thirsty-as every mother knows. But just as we come into this world with physical thirst, so we have a spiritual thirst built into our soul. There is in us a thirst for fellowship-not with other people but with the God Who made us. In all people there is a longing and desire to get back the relationship with our Creator that was lost in the fall. We can all empathize with David who wrote in his 42nd Psalm, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."
Augustine described our thirst for God in a prayer in which he said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." Billy Graham once asked a psychologist friend, "What is the greatest problem of the patients who come to you for help?" The doctor thought for a moment and said, "Loneliness...and when you get right down to it-it's loneliness for God." One lady said that before she became a Christian she had a "hole in her soul." Well, call it what you like: a thirst, a restlessness, a loneliness, or a hole in your soul. It's all the same. There's an emptiness in every human life that only God can fill. As Acts 17:28 says, it is only in God that our lives makes sense. It's only in relationship with Him that we "live and move and have our being."
Billions of Christians have discovered that as Jesus said in John 4:14, "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Jesus satisfies the thirsts of life. By taking our sin on Himself Jesus made it possible for our thirst for God to be satisfied. In short He thirsted so that we wouldn't have to.
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