John 19:28

Jesus’ Death

19:28 After this Jesus, realizing that by this time ¹  everything was completed, ²  said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ³  “I am thirsty!” ⁴ 

John 19:36

19:36 For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.” ⁵ 

[19:28]  ¹ tn Or “that already.”

[19:28]  ² tn Or “finished,” “accomplished”; Grk “fulfilled.”

[19:28]  ³ sn A reference to Ps 69:21 or Ps 22:15.

[19:28]  ⁴ sn In order to fulfill (τελειωθῇ [teleiwqh], a wordplay on the previous statement that everything was completed [τετέλεσται, tetelestai]) the scripture, he said, “I am thirsty.” The scripture referred to is probably Ps 69:21, “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Also suggested, however, is Ps 22:15, “My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth, and you [God] lay me in the dust of death.” Ps 22:1 reads “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?,” a statement Jesus makes from the cross in both Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34. In light of the connection in the Fourth Gospel between thirst and the living water which Jesus offers, it is highly ironic that here Jesus himself, the source of that living water, expresses his thirst. And since 7:39 associates the living water with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ statement here in 19:28 amounts to an admission that at this point he has been forsaken by God (cf. Ps 22:1, Matt 27:46, and Mark 15:34).

[19:36]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, and Ps 34:20. A number of different OT passages lie behind this quotation: Exod 12:10 LXX, Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, or Ps 34:20. Of these, the first is the closest in form to the quotation here. The first three are all more likely candidates than the last, since the first three all deal with descriptions of the Passover lamb.