etcetera:

John 19:28-29

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

Jesus is barely hanging on to life and knows death is near.  Since he already has cried out using Psalm 22:1, note v. 15: “My tongue cleaves to my jaws; you have brought me down to the dust of death.”  Thirst is closely related with death in the psalm, and he knows his death is only a few breaths away, and “I have one more thing I have to say.” 

John may have included it for the sake of symbolism, and Jesus said it to set up what came next.

First, John as both eyewitness and author included it for the sake of symbolism.  Think back to John 7:37-39,

[37] On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  [38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’”  [39] Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

It is in part an expression of irony.  Jesus, the source of living water, cries out in thirst; he must dry up and die before the living water can be given.   

Second, in an immediate sense Jesus said, “I thirst” to prepare for what came next. 

When Jesus cried out Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani, it likely did not come out in an understandable way.  A drink was offered because those present wanted to hear what he had to say.  Some thought he was calling for Elijah. 

The common belief among Jews was that Elijah would come to the aid of the distressed.  Since the onlookers misheard Jesus’ cry, they thought he was calling for Elijah to come rescue him.  Thinking they were going to see something spectacular, they did what they thought would help Jesus speak more clearly—offer him a drink to help him clear his throat and wet his tongue and lips. 

Probably to their surprise and disappointment, Jesus did say something, but it was not a cry for Elijah to come rescue him; rather, it was a deliberate and loud [as all 3 Synoptics describe it] statement that only John recorded:

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished” [Greek Tetélestai], and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit [John 19:30]. 

Author, Jesse Bankhead. Holy Week 2024