47 “And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” (Matthew 27:47–49 (ESV)
35 “And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” (Mark 15:35–36 (ESV)
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.” (John 19:28–29 (ESV)
In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours.
Immediately following Jesus’ cry to God the Father, and the bystanders mocking speculation the Lord was actually calling Elijah, Jesus said, “I thirst.” Apparently, one of the bystanders, perhaps one of the Roman soldiers on duty, ran, found a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to the Lord to quench His thirst. Death by crucifixion was not only caused by asphyxiation but also dehydration. Sour wine (ὄξος; oxos) was a favorite beverage of the poor. It was not only inexpensive but also effective in quenching thirst.
John commented this statement fulfilled Old Testament Scripture. “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” (Psalm 69:21 (ESV)
“Both Jesus’ intense thirst (Psalm 42:2; 63:1) and sour wine offered to quench it (Psalm 69:21) are fulfillments of Scripture. Earlier in the afternoon He rejected wine that might have anesthetized to pain (Matt. 27:34). Now He accepts a sip of a different and non-anesthetic wine to prepare Him for His final shout of victory “It is finished (John 19:30),” explains Dr. R.C. Sproul.
Three takeaways stand out from this narrative.
- Jesus was fully human. He experienced the same physiological, intense pain and suffering others felt in crucifixion.
- Jesus perfectly, or completely, fulfilled Messianic prophecy to the minutest detail.
- Jesus typified the sinners’ need for living water (John 4). While experiencing physical thirst, He illustrated the spiritual thirst felt by the lost. This was in keeping with His substitutionary atonement on behalf of sinners (2 Cor. 5:21).
“The emphasis is on the infinite love of the Lord, revealed in being willing to suffer burning thirst in order that for his people he might be the everlasting fountain of living water. For the physical suffering of Jesus see also on 19:18. For Jesus as the source of living water see on 4:10–15; and on 7:37–39,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.
The following comments are from Pastor William Boekestein. They are most insightful.
“First, God foretold that His Messiah would thirst. Jesus had just cried out those penetrating opening words of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When Jesus publicized His thirst, He spotlighted the fifteenth verse: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” It is difficult to imagine a more thorough fulfillment of this prophesy.”
“Second, before Christ came to earth, He said through David that He would drink bitterness: “For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Ps. 69:21). Ironically, the psalmist was drowning in deep waters (vv. 1, 2, 15), yet his throat was dry (v. 3), and his only drink was bitterness. Jesus, swirling in a sea of sorrow, received only bitter wine to wet His parched tongue.”
“By nature, because we have forsaken God, “the fountain of living waters,” and have hewn ourselves “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13), we are the thirsty ones. God’s wayward ones are “parched with thirst” (Isa. 5:13). We are spiritually dehydrated—a deadly condition. But here, Jesus musters a cry from His dry, hoarse throat—and all He gets is sour wine. Why? Because, on the cross, He “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). Jesus announced His thirst knowing that “All was now finished” (John 19:28). Of our salvation He could say, “It is finished” (v. 30).”
“Christ is the rock from which the wandering Israelites drank in the desert (1 Cor. 10:4) and the Living Water that rehydrated the woman at the well (John 4:13–14). On the cross, the Living Water became thirsty, securing the salvation that His spiritually thirsty people desperately needed.”
Soli deo Gloria!
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