Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
No wonder he was thirsty. Loss of blood. Exposure. Heat. Exhaustion. Dehydration. He’s been on the cross now for 6 hours. The sweat rolls off him like buckets. It’s hot. And the flies are buzzing around him. The crowds taunting him. The blood mixes with the sweat as it pours off his body. In the end dehydration sets in. You know what dehydration is like? First it gives you a fever. Then it gives you a terrible throbbing pain in your head. And then cramps in your abdomen. And then nausea sets in. Then your eyeballs begin to dry up in the sockets. And then your lips begin to go dry. Then your tongue gets swollen and thick. And then your throat feels like sand paper. Your vocal cords swell up. In the end you can barely whisper. It doesn’t sound like human words; it sounds like an animal croaking. No wonder Jesus was thirsty.
~ Ray Pritchard