Athletes expend an enormous amount of energy when in competition. Marathon runners will tell you that after they compete in a race, they feel energized, but they are completely exhausted! All their resources are used up and until they get rest and nourishment, they are simply depleted. In a physical sport, you may have less skill than your opponent, but if you can endure a little longer, that may be all that’s needed for victory.
When Christ met with his apostles the day before his crucifixion, he knew it would be his longest day. He would be up for over 30 hours, and for the last half he would have nothing to eat or drink. He would be arrested, beaten with fists, flogged with a whip, forced to wear a piercing crown of thorns, and made to carry the cross, that he would be crucified on, to the place of execution, outside the city. With the lack of rest, the lack of nourishment, and the loss of blood from the beating, he would be physically drained.
The writer of Psalms described the suffering savior 1,000 years earlier.
“I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint.”
Psalms 22:14
Psalms 22:14-16 describe His struggle with death; a prophetic way of describing crucifixion, a method of execution not known until Roman times. The pain, the extreme thirst, the asphyxiation, the agony of His hands and feet, the blood and the fluids pouring out, all of which describe a horrible death: He wasn't drained, He poured Himself out!
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