I prefer to be a caregiver, rather than needing someone to take care of me. That might sound kind of noble, but really part of the reason is pride. It’s humbling to be needy and have to ask for help.

Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Kings. He doesn’t need a thing. But as He hung on the cross, He willingly became someone in need. He was thirsty. Extreme, painful thirst was one of the things that happened to those who were being crucified. There was Jesus on the cross, true God and also true man, humbly admitting His need and asking for someone to give Him something to drink. “Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty’” (John 19:28).

It was humbling what He received when He made His request, and it sounds a little disgusting. A sponge soaked in a jar of wine vinegar and stuck on a stick. Who knows what all was in that jar? Who knows where that sponge and stick had been and what it had been used for? The Creator of water, the pure Son of God gets what was probably a stinky sponge on a dirty stick stuck in His face.

In a way that nasty sponge represents what little the world can offer to try to quench the thirst of people’s souls.

Earlier in the Gospel of John we read of another time Jesus was thirsty. He was sitting beside a well and asked a woman, “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4:7). She was considered part of the wrong ethnic group and was surprised to get the request. Jesus’ thirst was physical. Her thirst was much deeper. She was thirsty for hope and forgiveness and love. Jesus told her He had living water. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst” (John 4:13-14).

Jesus humbled Himself and became thirsty, so that the thirst of your soul could be quenched. All the world offers is a fancier looking version of that sponge. It only satisfies our thirst for a little while. Because Jesus became thirsty and suffered and died on the cross for our sins, our thirst for forgiveness can be quenched. Our thirst for love can be satisfied in the love Jesus demonstrated by what He endured on the cross for us.