I Thirst and It Is Finished

Midweek Lenten Meditation

April 6, 2022

John 19:28-30

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Epitaphs – carved into stone, wood or metal – they offer a lasting message long after loved ones die and memories fade. Through poetry, Scripture, and prose, epitaphs seek to sum up in one last message the life and purpose of those for whom they stand. But Jesus had no epitaph. Instead, during the final hours of his life, Jesus mapped out his way of suffering with seven last words, remembered and recited throughout the ages; touchstones along his way of sorrow. The meditations for these midweek Lenten services will focus on Jesus’ seven last words as found in the Gospels. They provide glimpses into his suffering and loving final thoughts. And so we listen to them as Jesus speaks to us even now. Today we focus on the fifth and sixth of Jesus’ final words: “I thirst” (John 19:28) and “It is finished” (John 19:30).

As the suffering of Jesus on the cross intensified, he cried out in human need: “I thirst.” Jesus is both true God and true man, and in his full humanity, save for sin, Jesus experienced thirst as his life ebbed away. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus had provided for others who were thirsty: the wedding guests at Cana in Galilee when he transformed water into wine (John 2:1-11); the Samaritan woman at the well when he told her that he would provide her with living water (John 4:1-42); the people gathered at the feast in Jerusalem to whom he said, “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37b-38). But now, it is Jesus himself who is thirsty. There on the cross, Jesus’ mouth was likely hanging open, panting in terrible agony, drying out his mouth. The soldiers respond to Jesus and offer him sour wine, the equivalent of what we would call vinegar. It was commonly used to quench thirst for soldiers, laborers, and those who worked with their hands. The soldiers drench a sponge in the sour wine, attach it to the end of a hyssop branch, and hoist it up for Jesus to drink. It was a small act of kindness as death closed in. When we have moistened the mouth and lips of a loved one as death draws near, we may understand in some small way what this act of love can mean.

Having received the sour wine, his thirst being satisfied, Jesus utters his sixth word: “It is finished.” What was finished? Certainly the gross miscarriage of justice, the mocking scorn of the crowd, the horrendous pain and suffering were now finished. Certainly Jesus’ earthly life and ministry were now finished as his life quickly came to a close. But so much more than this was finished! These are surface things of what was finished. In a much larger sense, the entire purpose of Jesus life and ministry, the work of accomplishing our salvation through his atoning sacrifice upon the cross, this is what he meant. The sum total of all that needed to be done was finished. The original word here is significant: τετέλεσται, which means to bring to and end; to complete or fulfill. This word is in the aorist tense, which means that is a once-for-all action. The meaning here is that Jesus’ sacrificial death upon the cross has once and for all fulfilled the just requirements of God’s holy Law. The debt of sin has been fully paid with the blood of Jesus. “It is finished.” Having done all this, we are told that Jesus “bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

There is nothing that we can add to what Jesus has already done. Trying to do so would be a gross insult. The Word of God makes clear that “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy rag” (Isaiah 64:6). What could we possibly add or contribute to what Jesus has already done through his innocent suffering and death? Such a gift can only be received with humble thanks and a repentant heart. The finished work of our salvation accomplished by Jesus on the cross is our refuge and our hope, now and at the hour of our death. We can only say with the hymn writer:

 What language shall I borrow

To thank Thee dearest Friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow,

Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever!

And should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never,

Outlive my love for Thee. Amen.