Why Was Jesus Thirsty?

John 19:28-30

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. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

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What is Jesus thirsty for? The anonymous bystanders (“they”— soldiers, the women, onlookers) interpret Jesus to be speaking of His literal thirst.

Perhaps, however, Jesus was desperate for God and, using the language of the psalms, was speaking of that desperation:

42 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?” [Psalm 42:1–3].

And

63 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water [Psalm 63:1].

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
In v. 30, the verb translated here “gave up His spirit” literally means “handed over.” So, in one last act of agency, Jesus, whose life was not taken but who lays it down on His own accord (see John 10:18) hands over His spirit to the Father.