I Thirst/It Is Finished - Palm Sunday 2022 Series

1.3 Psalm 22

Jesus knew the Old Testament really well and no doubt HE connected the dots of the ancient text to His life. A few verses before in John 19, John had referred to Psalm 22. The entire Psalm reads like a running commentary of Jesus' crucifixion.

"I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death" (Psalm 22:14-15).

Once again, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, the Old Testament predictions. Even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus lived to please the heavenly Father. Even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus lived to fulfill the Divine plan for His life. Pain dried His tongue and made His mouth like an oven. Again, all the moisture in His body is gone due to the physical trauma. You can almost lay your hand over His forehead all these years later and feel His fever even now.

Remember, my Christian friend, He did all this for you. He suffered all this for you, His enemy. You were among those He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34b). Never forget this for a moment.

1.4 Lazarus and the Rich Man

Jesus told this rich parable on one occasion of a rich and a poor man. Lazarus, the poor man finds Himself in Heaven while the rich man who lived with callous disregard for others on earth finds himself in hell. At the heart of the story, thirst comes up: "and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish" (Luke 16:23-25).

Friend, had Jesus not thirsted then every single one of us would thirst just like this rich man. Had Jesus not thirsted, every one of us would suffer in a place where there is an impassable gulf between Heaven and us. Thank God for every moment Jesus thirsted on the cross! Now, Jesus moistens his lips with vinegar, or "sour wine," just enough to eke out two more statements. Years before, He had turned water into wine with His mother watching at a wedding Cana. That was a distant memory now.

1.6 Imagine Jesus on the Cross

Can you imagine the scene in your mind's eye? What if you spent thirty minutes in solitary thought about one or two of these seven statements? Can you take in the horror of the moment? What if you spent thirty minutes in conversation about one or two of these seven statements? Do a wide sweep in your mind just now and see all those witnessing His crucifixion. Take it all in.

1.7 The Irony of His Thirst

"After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst' (John 19:28). Of course, what makes this even more astonishing is the One who He says He thirsts. He was the One who poured water out as streams along the hills. He made torrents of water rush down from the mountains. And He's the One who sends the rains that enrich our land. To paraphrase the psalmist for a moment: If Jesus were thirsty, He would not have told us. At a moment's notice, He could have called for the clouds to quench His thirst with a thunderstorm at Calvary. The irony of the One who created water itself is now dying of thirst.