I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. (Psalm 22:14-15)

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:28)

Today is the day on which the most heinous sin in the history of humankind is perpetrated. It is Good Friday. But how is good? Today, three men will be executed on the Roman cross — the method of execution designed to maximize the shame and suffering of the convicted. Two of the men are common criminals, justly receiving the sentence of death for the crimes that they committed. The other, Jesus, the only Son of God, has lived a perfect, sinless life — the only person in the history of the world to do so. Today we see the injustice of man plainly displayed. Here we also see the glorious justice of God magnified. Dying on the cross, Jesus suffers the wrath of God against every sin of every believer throughout history, so that God could demonstrate his perfect justice when he justifies all those who believe on Jesus.

The suffering of Jesus on the cross is unimaginable. After six hours of hanging naked, bleeding, nailed to the cross, he utters, “I thirst” through parched lips and a dry throat. Jesus — the God-man, the one through whom all things were made, the creator of the springs and rivers and lakes and clouds and rains — is thirsty. This is not abstract or theoretical thirst. It is real, experiential, personal agony. Jesus is experiencing the wrath of God in the place of all those who would trust in him. Jesus, the source of living waters, was tortured with agonizing thirst on the cross so that we could drink of those waters freely. He drank the bitter cup of the Father’s wrath to the last drop so that we could drink of the sweetness of the Father’s love. It is finished. The price for sin has been paid. This is good news. And this is why it is Good Friday.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for willingly taking the just punishment for every one of my sins - past, present, future - by dying in my place on the cross. Thank you that you have redeemed me from bondage to sin. Thank you that you have fully reconciled me to God. Thank you that you have secured for me the indestructible hope of eternity with you. Thank you for your astonishing mercy and staggering grace. Please help me live my life in light of the glorious redemption you have accomplished. In Jesus name, Amen.