Thirsty Jesus
Jesus was thirsty – on the cross, when he hung condemned for our sins, he was thirsty. John’s gospel says he cried out. Only John’s gospel records these words. Luke’s gospel only speaks about forgiveness – both for his executioners and for the criminal dying beside him. Matthew and Mark share heart wrenching despair when Jesus cries, “ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? ” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But only John mentioned Jesus was thirsty. It’s a random statement, don’t you think? Why would Jesus mention anything about his physical discomfort at all? And if he did, don’t you think it would make more sense to say something about the irritation the nails were causing? Or he couldn’t breathe? Or perhaps his head was throbbing? But John deems it relevant to record Jesus’ cry because he was thirsty. In parallel passages from Mark 15:34-36 and Matthew 27:46-48, those writers record the despair Jesus feels. We know the writers were writing about the same mome...