After - Day 12

April 6th, 2023

“I Thirst. . .”

This may appear overly simplistic. The temptation is to take these words and interpret them in some overly spiritualized manner. We might equate “thirsting” with Christ’s call to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). Another possible connection would be to link this statement with Christ’s invitation that all who are thirsty are invited to drink from the waters of life (Revelation 22:17). These interpretive links are not necessarily wrong, and word-studies can be an enjoyable foray into both biblical meditation and biblical study.

It is out of this place of physical exhaustion that Jesus declares his thirst. The hours spent in the sun, coupled with the physical pain he was feeling, would have created mild, if not severe, dehydration. Jesus speaks of his own thirst out a real human need for sustenance and relief. On the cross, Jesus is physically thirsty. And this probably shouldn’t surprise us too much.
And why not? Why wouldn’t Jesus be as thirsty as we would be after this kind of ordeal? Have you ever been so thirsty that you ask for water? Let us not forget the human state that Jesus inhabited at this point of his life.

“It is finished”
Jesus is saying in “It is finished” that the debt owed by man to his Creator on account of Adam’s sin is finally and forever dealt with. Jesus, with “it is finished,” is saying not only does He take away man’s sin, but now He removes it as far as the east is to the west, for it is finished, done, signed, and sealed because of the blood of Jesus.
When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) He brought about the completion of all the Old Testament prophecies, symbols, and foreshadowing about Himself. From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Malachi, there are 300 detailed prophecies about the Anointed One Jesus, which are fulfilled by Him. From the “seed” who would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15) to the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53).