by When Jesus spoke His fifth phrase on the cross ─ John 19:28-30 ─ He continued to lay out the Gospel. He had just taken on the sins of all men who ever have and ever will live. For three hours there was darkness and separation from God the Father, and soon there will be three full days of separation. For these days He went to underworld, not Hell but paradise where the thief on the cross went. This is the same place Lazarus went in Luke 16, while the rich man went to Hell to pay for his sins because of unbelief. In Hell, the rich man “cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24). This is what Jesus suffered, hanging on His cross, as He paid for the sins of all mankind. This is why He said, “I thirst.” The eternal payment of sin drains the body and soul of every drop of nourishing water. Jesus suffered this for three hours, while the unsaved rich man will suffer this for all eternity.
Note: Jesus did not go to Hell to pay for our sins. We know this because soon after He said, “I thirst,” He said, “it is finished.” The payment of sin was finished upon the cross ─ we will see this phrase next week.
While Jesus walked on earth, He proclaimed Himself as the “living water” in John 4 when He taught the woman at the well, “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). If we trust Christ as our personal Savior, we also “shall never thirst.” This means we will not go to Hell where the rich man went in Luke 16. We will go where we “shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; … For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters” (Revelation 7:16-17).
Is Jesus your personal Savior? We can show you the way to the eternal living water.
