Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 19:28

"After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst." — John 19:28 (ASV)

The phrases in John preceding Jesus’ last request (his sixth word from the cross) show that he was consciously fulfilling the program the Father had set for him. “Knowing that all was now completed” accords with what he had said earlier in his prayer (17:4). Unerringly and methodically Jesus carried out the commission the Father had assigned to him. The phrase “I am thirsty” recalls Ps 69:21. Jesus’ loss of blood, his nervous tension, and his exposure to the weather had generated a raging thirst.