I have to wonder if sour wine sucked into His mouth from a sea sponge atop a branch of hyssop was anything of a thirst quencher. Perhaps the thirst He was expressing was more about a spiritual desire for the sweetness of perfect union with His Father whose face was now turned away as Jesus “became sin for us.”

John 19:28-29 (NASB)  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.  (NASB)

Jesus knew what He was supposed to do.  He knew what His life was about.  He was not compelled to be on that cross, He knew He was there by assignment from His Father in heaven.  In fact, the purpose for His life was accomplished while He experienced the most horrible death ever endured.  He was the “promised one” spoken about in the Old Testament scriptures, and His thirst experienced in such agony was foretold in a prophetic statement in Psalm 69:21.

The sour wine near the cross was there as the chosen refreshment for the Roman soldiers.  Hyssop shrubs were a common hardy perennial herb, which grew about 18 inches high.  The soldier who responded to His words of thirst may have stripped the leaves and tiny, sweet-scented, purplish-blue flowers off the severed branch to turn it into a stick that would extend his reach.  Earlier, as the ugly process of crucifixion had begun, they had offered Him another wine that was mixed with myrrh, which is believed by some to have had stupefying effect.  He would not drink that wine, but now He takes the sour wine to quench His thirst and to fulfill the scriptures.

I wonder if it was the same solider who offered the earlier wine.  As a solider, he would not have acted independently without the command of his superior.  There was a centurion present at the scene who was in charge of this crucifixion, and possibly he was the one who instructed this act of kindness toward the suffering Savior whose body hung above them.  Certainly, he was the nameless leader who later cried out, “Truly, this was a righteous man!”

I have to wonder if sour wine sucked into His mouth from a sea sponge atop a branch of hyssop was anything of a thirst quencher.  Perhaps the thirst He was expressing was more about a spiritual desire for the sweetness of perfect union with His Father whose face was now turned away as Jesus “became sin for us.”  He was experiencing for the first time in His life the daily experience of unquenched desire known to all who are yet looking for the satisfaction that only relationship with Him can bring.

Are you thirsting today, dear one?  Is there an unquenched desire in you for more intimacy, understanding, and love than you have ever known?  The reason a relationship with Jesus Christ can satisfy that inner thirst is that He comes inside of you, into your very soul, to live and reside when He is invited in.  This is a wonderful, mysterious reality, unparalleled by any other human experience.  When that relationship is not only begun, but also cultivated and grown in terms of quality, it becomes a source of living water to others and a satisfying fountain of life coming from within.

Jesus said, “…whoever drinks of the water I shall give him shall never thirst.  The water I give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”