"I Thirst" = What REALLY happened on that cross when Jesus drank?

[Jayne]

If this is just too long for you to read [and I understand] skip down and please read #4 and #5.

 

Jesus said, himself, that he almost died in the Garden of Gethsemane. Sweating blood. I think that’s indicative of near death. Then he was scourged 39 times and had to carry the arm bar of the cross to Golgotha. It’s a wonder he didn’t die along the way.

 

The cross. A demand by the Jewish religious elite. A torture device by the complicit Romans.

 

Hanging naked – stark naked. In full view of all of those interested in watching. That was part of the shame and humiliation. Unable to breath, having to push yourself up with your feet that were nailed to the vertical bar – killing your feet. After catching a breath, then your body falling back down a little – tearing your hands.

 

The purpose was shame, torture, and death. Supposedly, it was to deter people from committing crimes. If you lived longer than a day, they broke your legs causing you not to be able to push up and get a breath. You died much quicker. They did not do this to Jesus. He did die after several hours.

 

He made seven statements while hanging there. The first three – about those he was concerned about. The fourth and fifth – about himself and his pain. The sixth and seventh – a closing.

 

#1 – “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” There were all sorts of people mocking him: soldiers, passers-by, Matthew said that initially BOTH thieves hanging next to him were mocking him, and of course, the religious government who demanded that he be killed. If you don’t grasp anything else, grasp this. When Jesus uttered those words, things started happening!!! Before he drew his last breath and even before he was resurrected, God started MOVING in the hearts of people. One of the thieves repented, one of the soldiers declared that Jesus really was the Son of God. And by Acts 15, some of those Pharisees were saved! That an awesome thing to think about.

 

#2 – “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” The repentant thief declared his own sinfulness and Jesus’ innocence. Jesus comforted him with wonderful words of hope.

 

#3 – “Woman, behold your son.” “Behold your mother” Jesus, dying a horrid death, commissioned the Apostle John to take care of his mother, Mary. Jesus had half-brothers and half-sisters, but they, at that time, did not believe in him. At least two of his brothers eventually believed and they wrote two books of the New Testament. James and Jude.

 

Next, he speaks of himself and what is happening to him.

 

#4 – “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani - [My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?]” Jesus is quoting Psalm 22. Why does he feel forsaken by the Father? This took place between noon and 3:00. Everything turned black – as if God turned the lights out. Jesus felt alone. Why? I can only answer that by citing what the Bible says about what happened to him.

• 1 Corinthians 5:21 says Jesus BECAME sin on that cross.
• Galatians 3:13 says that Jesus BECAME the curse for us.
• Isaiah 53:4-5 says that he was stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced, and crushed. By whom? The Roman soldiers? No. The Bible passage say by God. Why? The punishment WE should have born was placed on him. He became the sin and became the curse and Jesus felt horribly forsaken. But it was the ONLY way to bring us salvation. There is and was no other way.

 

#5 “I’m thirsty”. At the beginning of the crucifixion, they offered him some sour wine mixed with myrrh to drink and he refused it. NOW, just before he dies, he requests it. Why? John 19 says he asked for it knowing that it was finished and that scripture must be fulfilled. The is seemingly the least dramatic of all the statement he made, but look out!! It is truly powerful!! Jesus told his disciples that he must “drink the cup the Father gave me.” What cup? Psalm 75:8 says “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.” There is much more about the” cup” in the minor prophets. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked for that cup to be taken away from him. What cup? The wrath of God against sin. Jesus had to drink that. His requesting the drink of bitter wine and myrrh literally seconds before he died wasn’t random. His drinking this is metaphorically symbolic of his obeying God and drinking the dregs of wrath that WE deserved TO save us.

 

#6 - “It is finished.” – John 19 says that the moment after he drank, he said, “It is finished.” What was finished? God’s plan to save people from their sins. There is NOW no condemnation for those in Christ!!

 

#7 - “Father, into your hand I commit my Spirit”. Jesus is quoting Psalm 31:5. Jesus - shamed, tortured, and dead would rise the third day. His Spirit was going back to God. His body would rise.

 

Jesus Christ did ALL the work necessary for salvation. Please turn to him today.

 

Sin deserves God's wrath.  NOT a quantity of sin.  NOT a quality of sin.  All sin is sin to God.  There may be different consequences for a theft compared to a lie compared to a rape, but it's all the same to a holy God.

 

Jesus bore the unbearable.  To SAVE us from ourselves, from the penalty and power of sin, from hell, from a life of pain because of sin.

 

What Jesus did cannot be scoffed at or our sin be made light of.  There is NO quantity or quality of our lives that will "earn" us eternal life with Christ.

 

Only what Christ bore in his flesh, spirit, and on that cross matters.  We can submit ourself under the salvation of the price HE paid or we WILL pay the price in our own flesh.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Jayne