In
John 19:29-30 a sponge of full common wine is placed on hyssop and offered to
Jesus, an episode recalling the Marcan/Matthean incident where the sponge was
placed on a reed and offered to him before he died. By mentioning hyssop,
fern-like and certainly less suitable than a reed, John is again playing on
symbolism, for in Exodus 12:22 hyssop was used to sprinkle the blood of the
paschal lamb on the doorposts of the Israelite houses. Jesus is sentenced to
death at noon (19;14), the very hour on Passover Eve when the priests began to
slaughter the paschal lambs in the Temple precincts. In his death he gives
meaning to that mysterious acclamation of John the Baptist uttered when Jesus
made his first public appearance: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world” (1:29).
For
the fourth evangelist even the very human cry “I thirst” (19:28) must be st in
the context of Jesus’ sovereign control of his own destiny. Jesus utters it “aware
that all was now finished, in order to bring the Scripture to its complete
fulfillment.” And when he takes the wine, he declares, “It is finished,” and he
hands over his spirit. (Raymond E. Brown, Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical
Year [Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2008], 189)
