November 17, 2023

Pranking The Dying

(Some information may be too graphic for small children)

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.” John 19:28-29 (NASB)

            I have been offered vinegar by someone who was playing a prank on me as a young man. It looked just like water, so I didn’t hesitate to take a drink when I was offered it. As I swallowed the vinegar whole, it was so overpowering! It was so tart that I initially choked on it. Within a few minutes, my stomach started aching and cramping. I had to drink a lot of water to compensate for the vinegar. My friends laughed, but I didn’t think it was very funny.          

            Jesus had completed the work God gave Him to do so scripture might be fulfilled. “It does not come within the purpose of John to record the portents which attended the final scene—either the supernatural darkness on the one hand or the rending of the veil of the temple on the other. He does not record the visions of the saints, nor the testimony of the centurion (see Matt. 27:45–56; Mark 15:33–39; Luke 23:44–49). He does not record the further quotation of Ps. 22.; the cry, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” nor the misinterpretation of the multitudes; nor the jeer at his dying agonies. But he does record two of the words of the Lord, which they had omitted. He, moreover, implies that he had purposely left these omissions to be filled up from the synoptists, for he adds, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had been (τετέλεσται) now finished, said, I thirst, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. John heard in this word the comprehensive cry which gathered up all the yearnings and agonies of his soul, which fulfilled its travail, which expressed the awful significance of his suffering, and strangely filled up the prophetic picture (Ps. 69:21).”[1] Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” Jesus previously rejected the offer to condemned men for a sedative of wine mixed with myrrh during His painful walk with the crosspiece. Now His body craved drink. “... it is interesting that the same psalm also alludes to the dehydrated state of the victim, for his strength is dried up like a broken ‘potsherd’ and his ‘tongue sticks to the roof of [his] mouth’ (22:15).”[2] This thirst originated from the loss of blood, and the heat of the day. His physical body had been drained of the life-giving force. Within the next three verses (28-30) Jesus’s life would end. “... so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.” Borchert says, “The problem may be alleviated by remembering that the crucifixion pole probably was not very tall and Jesus was certainly not lifted as high as is pictured in most art devoted to the cross. All that would be required was that his feet were above the ground. As a result, the soldiers could probably have washed his mouth without too much difficulty by putting the sponge on a small plant that could easily be ripped from the nearby rocks.”[3] This vinegar-dipped hyssop reed was used to revive Jesus who was suffering at the time, thus prolonging His suffering.

            What was meant to be a relief for Jesus’s thirst was a prank. It was designed for Christ to suffer more. It didn’t stop God’s plan for mankind though. Jesus would be victorious!

[1] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). St. John (Vol. 2, p. 431). Funk & Wagnalls Company.

[2] Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 271). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[3] Ibid.