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I realize I am writing on the day of Easter.
The resurrected day, the day of Hope and the day of Salvation.
But can we go back for a short time to look at a few things?
We read in Luke about the last words of Jesus.
Forgiving those who stood below him and mocked him.
As they were placing him on the cross in the most horrific way.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
They fulfilled prophecy, when they cast lots and rolled dice.
It was all a part of the master plan.
Then as he was dying he gave Mary to John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.
“Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, 
“Here is your mother,” From then on this disciple took her into his home.
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said,
“I am thirsty.” 
A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it to his lips. When Jesus tasted it, he said, “It is finished!”
Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
Several thoughts come to my mind when reading this.
First… in the midst of dying and the process of releasing his body and spirit,
He thought of others. 
He still ministered and thought beyond himself, beyond his pain, beyond his suffering.
Second… I was drawn to the verse, “I’m thirsty,” 
when I think of what it is like to be thirsty, it is uncomfortable and hydration is needed.
Almost every night in the middle of the night, I wake up thirsty.
My mouth is parched. I need cool wet ‘water’ to refresh me.
He was in shock. Traumatized. Suffering.
And they gave him what some have said, vinegar.
How cruel. How horrible. The last thing to touch his lips
was something bitter with no form of release.
It makes me sad to think the last thing Jesus said, was 
“I am thirsty”. Then he released his spirit and let go.
He wasn’t asking for much, just a quenching of the palate.
A small bit of relief from those who stood under the cross where he hung to die a horrible death.
I might be wrong, but perhaps can we think, that this might have been the first time he ever asked for something for himself? 
The human side of him being vulnerable, remember he could have stopped all of it. 
He had the power to release himself and to change the story.
But he didn’t choose to use it, because we needed a Savior. 
Then he bowed his head and let go.  
But we know hope is not lost, hope is not gone.
The God of hope, the God who gives hope… will over power death and  
Jesus will return to those who he loved.