“I Am Thirsty”
A short study of Jesus’
humanity
Khen Lim | March 22 2020
Image source: nymag.com
Introduction
From what we can tell scripturally, Jesus was put to the cross
at 9:00am. There, under the scorching sunlight, He endured the first six hours.
Then darkness came and stayed for three hours. At the end of it, on the ninth
hour, He cried out, “Eli, eli, lama
sabachthani?” Translated, Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?” (Mt 27:45-46)
At the cross, Jesus, the Son of God, showed the world a
powerful and evocative sense of humanity. Jesus’ humanness was, in fact, far
more so than many of us could display in all our lives. The first three
statements He made were focused on people other than Himself. He spoke about
His enemies, the two thieves next to Him and also to His earthly mother, Mary,
and His disciple, John.
But it was ultimately His final three statements that
underscored Jesus’ humanity. In centring on Himself, His last words were about
His body, His soul and then His spirit. In speaking of His body, Jesus simply
said, “I thirst” (Jn 19:28) although in original Greek, it was only a single
four-letter word (more of that later).
It is this part that we will be
concentrating on in this article. When He spoke about His soul, Jesus said, “It
is finished” (v.30; Isa 53:10) and then when it came to His Spirit, His last
words were, “Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit” (Lk 23:46) and with
that, He was taken up.
