Read: John 19:28
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. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Jesus has been beaten and mocked. He’s been marched from Gethsemane to the High Priest and from the High Priest to Pilate. He has been spat upon and condemned. He has been forced to carry his cross, the weight of which caused him to stumble and fall. Simon of Cyrene had to be pressed into service to help him.
Jesus is in shock. Blood loss was not the usual cause of death in a crucifixion, suffocation was. The weight of the body pulled down on the diaphragm making it hard to breathe. Jesus would have to try to push up with his legs and pull up with his wrists to open things up. Over time, his leg muscles would cramp.
In the midst of all this, Jesus has been up all night. He has not had anything to eat or drink since he celebrated Passover with the disciples. Until the darkness settled on the land for three hours, we can expect the sun was beating down on him.
It his context, Jesus knew the end had come. He knew he had accomplished all God had sent him to do. He says, “I thirst.” This is the fifth statement Jesus made from the cross. It is unclear what Old Testament passage this points to.
Some have suggested Psalm 22:15, “my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” This has some weight because several verses in Psalm 22 are quoted in connection with the crucifixion. Others see Psalm 42:2 or Psalm 63:1, “My soul thirsts for God.” This would mean that Jesus’ words are symbolic – a thirst for God, not literal thirst – which seems less likely.
Most likely, Jesus is alluding to Psalm 69:21, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” John has already quoted this psalm in reference to Jesus in two other places (John 2:17 and 15:25), and after Jesus says he is thirsty, someone runs and gets a sponge full of sour wine and offers it to him to drink.
Professor C.F.D. Moule suggested the connection to Psalm 69:21 is even tighter. He suggested that if Jesus knew he was fulfilling Scripture, he knew that if he confessed his thirst, someone would bring him sour wine to drink. Scripture would be fulfilled.
The point of all this, is that John wants us to understand that nothing that happens in the passion of Jesus is random or coincidental. Every single event, even the smallest thing like Jesus saying, “I thirst,” was a part of God’s plan for redemption and a result of Jesus’ direct obedience to it. He knew all things would be fulfilled and he had a key role in that process. It is his obedience which brings them all to pass.
When you see how specifically and minutely God planned for Christ’s death that we might receive life, what is stirred in your heart?
What does his willingness to go to such lengths to not only have Old Testament writers record specific verses, but then to have them be fulfilled in the New Testament in the life and death of Jesus?
Though we can imagine the pain and the suffering Jesus endured, we can’t truly understand the depth of all he went through. The physical and emotional pain; the weight of our sin laid on him; it’s a burden no mind can conceive.
When you consider Jesus’ willingness to obey to the point of death – even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8); that he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), how do you respond? What does such love do to your heart?
Take time to meditate on God’s love and tell him what it means to you!