By the Grace of God, I had the privilege to Speak about the 5th Verse that Jesus spoke on the cross. I have given the Youtube link of the same & the transcript
Chapter 9, verse 6 in the book of Prophet Isaiah begins as
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
You might be wondering, why is this guy quoting a Christmas verse on a Good Friday. There is a reason for it. – A child is born to us and a son is given to us. The Child born to us is Jesus of Nazareth and the Son given to us is Christ the Messiah. The essence of this prophetic lines from Isaiah is that Jesus Christ is Fully Human & is Fully God.
The focus of the fifth word of Jesus Christ on the Cross is the Humanity of Jesus Christ. Let me read the scripture text from John 19:28
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 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.
John 19:28-29 (NIV)
It’s humane to thirsty. Sleepless night, Trials, flogging, carried his cross, crucified. Our focus is on this Jesus of Nazareth, a Human being who lived 2023 years ago, who by His way of life has given us an example to live our lives in this world & by His work on the cross has ensured our Salvation.
It’s the humanity of Jesus that died on the cross; not the deity of Jesus. A human being without blemish, without sin, fulfilling the Law, fulfilling what the Prophets Propheised could carry the sin of the world, so that there is Salvation for human beings. That humanity was Jesus, the fully God and fully Man. Only he could meet this condition. This humanity of Jesus suffered and died for us on the Cross.
How can God die? God is Omnipotent, how can the All Powerful, All mighty God die? God is Omniscient, how can the all-knowing, Sovereign Lord be killed? God is Omnipresent, How can God who is everywhere can reduce just to one particular cross on Golgotha and die? God is eternal life, how can eternal life die? We have to be clear the humanity of Jesus suffered & died on the cross, the humanity that was without any blemish, without any sin, the humanity that fulfilled God’s Laws, that Pleased God. This Humanity of Jesus died on the cross.
Specifically, this 5th Verse on the cross focuses more on the Humanity of Christ. We are going to look at 2 dimensions of Jesus’s thirst and then close with our response to Jesus Thirst.
It brings out the extent of Suffering of Jesus. Only John records it. Matthew & Mark records the guards offering the vinegar in chapter 27 verse 48.
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. Matthew 27:48
Mark 15:36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.
Additionally, John records 2 things and they are significant.
- John mentioning that “Scripture would be fulfilled” & Jesus speaking “I am thirsty”
“Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said “I am thirsty”
Let’s look at what Scripture is Apostle John talking about. We can look at two verses that points at the Thirst of Jesus.
Psalm 22:15
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Psalm 69:21
They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
Prophesied by David, spoken by Jesus, Recorded by John.
Ps 69:21 actually refers to two places. Jesus was offered wine to drink twice. First time Jesus refuses to drink
34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. Matthew 27:34
Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Mark 15:23
The first time in Matt 27:34 it says Jesus was offered wine, in the John’s passage its says wine vinegar. Some translations it mentioned as sour wine. The subtle difference of Jesus refusing the wine & accepting the sour wine does have a significance. The first one is wine taken from the grapes fruit pulp, which is of good quality and when fermented becomes alcohol about 15% alcohol. Jesus refused to drink this wine here. Scholars say, this wine is alcohol given as a relief to reduce pain; so that Jesus will lose senses. Myrrh has narcotic properties; but I definitely feel Jesus refused the Drink here because he wanted to fully undergo the pain.
But the Sour Wine or Vinegary wine is a cheap wine, prepared from the skins of the grape fruit. It has acidic properties which kills the germs in water and used to quench thirst. Jesus Christ accepted this Sour Wine, really to quench his thirst. How did this Sour wine find its place there? Guards. It significant to note that, the Sour Wine kept for the Guards was offered by the Guards to Jesus Christ.
The first instance when they offered him the attitude was mockery, but it was humanly beneficial to Jesus, because his pain will reduce. The Second time the Guards were in awe of Jesus, they were astonished on what happened at the cross. They really want to quench his thirst.
We see Jesus suffered, He endured pain, Why did he suffer? Obviously we all know He went through this for our Salvation. Jesus was accomplishing His Purpose, the Purpose given to Jesus of Nazerth by God is to offer Himself as a Sacrifice for the sin of the World. When Jesus endured it fully, all knowing that it’s God purpose and God will triumph in the end. That was His purpose;
There is another minute information that John has recorded here
While Mark & Matthew have recorded it “filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink” – John in His gospel records additionally the staff is of the hyssop plant.
John has this minute detail additionally – the Hyssop plant. But we can derive a larger meaning from it. If we turn to Exodus chapter 12, Hyssop plant is used as the brush to paint the blood of the Passover lamb on the door posts. That ensured the Israel first borns were spared, they were Passed over.
John mentioning here is symbolic. The sponge was filled with Vinegar and put on the Hyssop plant and was raised to Jesus to quench the thirst. The blood of Jesus surely would have fallen on that Hyssop plant. That hyssop plant with the blood of Christ is our Faith. Take it and paint it on you,so that we are cleansed, we are strengthen, We are saved.
Apart from the Salvation, we have another lesson to here, When we try to accomplish the purpose God has given us there will be suffering, there will be pain, Jesus endured them to accomplish His purpose, We need to endure it as well. When we place the trust in God He gives us the victory.
God has given us a purpose and he has given us a roles. We are called to accomplish them, the obstacles, the pain, the suffering we face…We get our Strength to endure them through Jesus, because we have our Hope in Him.
With this Faith, we have to pursue our problems Whatever roles we have, God has given us a Purpose. We will face challenges when we pursue them. We will struggle, we will fail, we will suffer…but we have to endure.
Israelites had the Egyptians behind them, that was their obstacle stopping freedom for them. They obeyed what God told them through Moses, they endured the pain, finally God Delivered them and they tasted freedom. They trusted God and painted their door posts with the blood of the lamb without blemish.
In the same way, through our needs of life, we have to endure. It could be the financial, exams, marriage, waiting for a Child, raising Children, exams, Jobs, Promotion. IN every aspect there are struggles, Jesus endured in His life, we should take HIM as an example. Like that Hyssop plant brush, Have faith in the cleansing power of Jesus on the Cross, We will see Joy & Peace.
This Thirsting Jesus on the cross is the source of living water.
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
This Thirsting Jesus on the cross is the source of living water.
Fully Human Jesus fully suffered to give us life
It’s kind of Paradoxical – The Thirsting Jesus is also the source of living water, the Dying Jesus is the life giver.
That’s the first take away I have, Fully Human Jesus fully suffered to give us life.
The Second dimension of Jesus’s Thirst is the Spiritual dimension. Let’s start this section of the devotion with a question
What is that you Thirst for? In other words What do you crave for?
Is it your work? Is it time spent in entertainment/having fun? Buy a property? Build a house? Own a car? Marry a beautiful partner? Some of these are good craving or Thirst to have…
But the bigger Thirst we need to have is to be with God. Each of these carving also should be aligned with God.
Thirst is mentioned 57 times in the bible, In 6 places it has a Spiritual meaning.
Psalms 42:1-2; Psalms 63:1-2; John 6:35-36; John 7:37-38; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:17
22:17
Let’s read the first reference alone Psalms 42:1-2
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? Psalms 42:1-2
The “I am Thirsty” expression from Jesus is because of this feeling, His soul pants for God, His Soul thirsts for God. Why would Jesus’ Soul thirst for God.
Sin separates us from God. The sin of the entire world came up on Jesus. He faced Separation from God. I am Thirsty expression coming right after the 4th verse is also an expression for separation from God and longing for God.
Separation from God is painful. To explain it, lets go to the Creation Account
“Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds Genesis 1:11
God looked at the land to produce vegetation. Plants & trees were created by God looking at the Land
“Let the water teem with living creatures Genesis 1:20
God looked at the water to create sea creatures. Fishes were created by God looking at the Water
Now to the interesting part, In Genesis 1:26
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
God looked at Him when creating you & me. We are created in God’s image & likeness
I want you draw your attention to these three Creations. There is a very close relationship between Land-Vegetation. Sea-Fishes. God & us. It’s pretty clear the relationship here is very close & intimate. Also the dependency is one-way.
If the tree is uprooted from the land, the tree dies; but land is still land
If the fish is taken out of the water, the fish dies, the water is still water
Dear friends,
If Man or a Woman is taken out of God, they die. But God is still God.
At the Cross, Jesus was taken out of God, because of the sin of the world. One thing we must understand that this Separation that Jesus experienced, ensured that we can have a relationship with God. As the psalmist sings in Psalm 42:1-2 , the soul of Jesus thirsts for God.
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? Psalms 42:1-2
மானானது நீரோடைகளை வாஞ்சித்துக் கதறுவதுபோல, தேவனே, என் ஆத்துமா உம்மை வாஞ்சித்துக் கதறுகிறது.
2 என் ஆத்துமா தேவன்மேல், ஜீவனுள்ள தேவன்மேலேயே தாகமாயிருக்கிறது; நான் எப்பொழுது தேவனுடைய சந்நிதியில் வந்து நிற்பேன்?
What about our Souls? Do our souls thirst for the God?
Many times we do the opposite; because of our misplaced priorities we move away from God. We carve & thirst for worldly things moving away from God.
Prophet Jeremiah captures our misplaced priorities in an appropriate way. In Jeremiah 2:13
“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
என் ஜனங்கள் இரண்டு தீமைகளைச் செய்தார்கள்; ஜீவத்தண்ணீர் ஊற்றாகிய என்னை விட்டுவிட்டார்கள்; தண்ணீர் நிற்காத தொட்டிகளாகிய வெடிப்புள்ள தொட்டிகளை தங்களுக்கு வெட்டிக்கொண்டார்கள்.
Instead of holding Jesus the spring of Living Water.
What broken cisterns are you holding on to?
Fully Separated from God for us to have a relationship with God
We have seen two dimensions of the Thirst of Jesus on the cross.
- Fully Human Jesus physically suffered to give us life
- Are you ready to endure sufferings & struggles of life like Jesus, by having Faith in Him?
- Fully Human Jesus was Separated from God for us to have a relationship with God
- What broken cistern have you dug that is separating you from God?
So these two take-aways we understand that we are Saved, Yes
We are the Saved Church
I hope no-one has any doubts on that. We are Saved because we believe in Jesus Christ. One of My favorite verse in the Bible Romans 10:9 goes like this
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
All that God needs is a Contrite heart that confesses our short coming and believes in Jesus and His Resurrection.
Let’s go back to the Second verse on the Cross, the thief who was saved, he was not baptized, he didn’t attend Sunday School, he was not confirmed by the laying of hands, he didn’t have an immersion baptism, he was not an expert in the Bible…Yet he made it, How did he make it? Because Jesus said he will be in Paradise. Jesus just looks at the believing heart.
So let know one here have any doubts on our Salvation.
We the Saved Church need to respond, our response should be Christ-Like, We should go in to the world and behave like Christ and bring the unsaved to the Saved Church, that’s my third take-away today
We the Saved Church have to respond by reaching out to the Unsaved.
We should follow Jesus’s teachings. I will just quote 2 places and close
The first one is what Jesus said when he began his worldly ministry. It’s on Luke 4:18-19
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor Luke 4:18-19
& the second one is Matthew 25:35-36
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:35-36
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40
We have been anointed by the God to do these things. John 7:38 reads like this
38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38
Friends we are anointed to reach out to the Unsaved, the socially marginalized, the economically poor & the politically oppressed, we have to identify with them, uplift them and bring them in to the Saved Church. Jesus asked us to be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the Word. Food needs Salt & Darkness needs Light in the same line, every Neighborhood needs Christ-like people to be the Light and to be the salt. The challenge before us, Are we ready to be Christ-like in our neighborhood, our homes, our workplaces, so that we can Populate Heaven & De-Populate Hell. The job of populating the Kingdom of heaven by de-populating the Kingdom of the World is in our hands, the Saved Church.
Through the fifth verse of Jesus on the Cross we saw three things – 2 Dimensions of Jesus’s Thirst and our response.
- Fully Human Jesus physically suffered to give us life
- When we are set to accomplish God’s purpose we will suffer, but through Faith in Jesus we can endure and be victorious.
- Fully Human Jesus was Separated from God; for us to have a relationship with God
- What broken cistern have you dug that is separating you from God?
- The Fully Saved Church has to Thirst for the Unsaved.
- Do you have the thirst to Populate Heaven & De-Populate Hell?