Jesus’ 5th Statement

John 19:28 · 2025-04-16 · Caleb Dragna · 7 Statements From The Cross

John 19:28 · Jesus' Passion. Jesus’ 5th Statement — sermon from Cypress Bible Church on BibleSlides.

Jesus’ 5th Statement Let’s begin today by reading John 19:28-29 together: 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 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. In Jesus’ final moments on the cross, after enduring the agonizing pain and laboring for his every breath for roughly six hours; He utters these two words: I thirst. We must first appreciate the painful irony of Jesus, who came to provide living water which will never leave us thirsty, desperately thirsting for something to drink Himself. But why would John record these words which seem like such an easily understood request for us to read 2,000 years later as we reflect on Jesus’ death and resurrection? If there is one thing we know about Jesus’ words, it is that He was always intentional with what He said. I believe there are a few reasons we can quickly discuss. First, Jesus experiencing thirst on the cross is yet again another clear display of the humanity He took on for our sake. Jesus experienced all of what we experience, including the physical discomfort of an insatiable thirst as He hung there dehydrated in the arid desert climate on this day. Next, as John says in the verse itself, Jesus said these words to bring about the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning the sacrificial savior. Jesus had full knowledge of the messianic prophecies about Him, and this confirms for us that all of the events we read about surrounding the crucifixion were taking place through the obedience of the Son in accordance with the will of the Father as had been prophesied long ago. Jesus knew that when he requested a drink, He would be given sour wine. This kind of wine was common for Roman soldiers to have around due to its wide availability and its cheapness. In fact, Jesus had already been offered this to drink during His time on the cross and could have fulfilled the words we read in the messianic Psalm 69 in verse 21 much earlier during His agony. So we might wonder, why now? The answer to this is found in what happens immediately following His request. Simply put, Jesus took this opportunity to fulfill another prophecy about His death at this exact moment to moisten His lips and dampen His throat; so that He could utter loudly and clearly enough for all beholding this atrocity to be able to hear what He had to say next. We read in verse 30 that after He received the wine, He said: “It is finished” which will be the focus of tomorrow’s devotional. For today, let’s take some time to appreciate the fullness of suffering that Jesus endured on our behalf, the fullness of humanity He put on display for us all the while simultaneously pointing us to the di…

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