The Final Words - Part 2

Today, we are continuing our contemplation of the final words of Jesus Christ. The next two sayings of Jesus remind us of the emotional and physical pain that Jesus endured on the cross.

THE FOURTH WORD: Matthew 27:46

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

THE FIFTH WORD: John 19:28

"I thirst.”

The physical pain of crucifixion displays the horrible cruelty of humanity. It is truly a barbaric means of death to devise! The intention of crucifixion was to make the suffering last for days, not hours. For most, death on the cross came through their lungs slowly filling up with blood and literally drowning to death. This was only after the pain of flogging, nails piercing flesh, and both hunger and thirst. Jesus simply saying “I thirst” reminds us of the physical cost that Jesus was willing to pay to bring forgiveness of sin for those who believe. Jesus was fully human, and he was not spared any of the physical torment as he suffered.

When Jesus quoted David’s words in Psalm 22 about God forsaking him, he was expressing the emotional pain of taking the sin of the world upon himself. This was the humanity of Jesus’ incarnation expressing the suffering of his soul. Of course, Jesus was still God and therefore God cannot separate himself on the cross. However, the feeling Jesus experienced as a man was overpowering, and that feeling was of being forsaken, abandoned, and alone. Jesus’ saying here reminds us of the emotional cost that Jesus was willing to pay.

As we prepare for Easter, we are confronted with questions. Are we willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel? To suffer both physically and emotionally so that others might have salvation?

Let us pick up our cross and follow him.