Jesus Crucified Between Two Thieves at GolgothaBible World
27:34Matthew 27:34
They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
On the road to and upon the cross at Calvary He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper, and with parched tongue He was offered on a saturated sponge the vinegar mingled with gall, which He tasted and refused to drink. That draught was the stupefying potion allowed the crucified to deaden pain, offered as added insult while angels watched with no command to rescue, and in tasting and refusing He fulfilled that He would be given gall for food and vinegar for thirst, because He would take nothing to cloud His mind when His faith must hold fast to God as His only strength lest Satan gain advantage. The bitter cup He did drink to the breaking of His heart was bearing human sin under the Father's wrath as man's substitute outside the gate to redeem from the curse, and His refusal came while bearing that sin, not from fear of death or bodily pain. His horror was not dread of dying, which would place Him beneath rejoicing martyrs, but the sense of the malignity of sin so familiar and deeply rooted in the human heart, with death itself no angel of mercy from which nature recoils as the fruit of sin. His suffering shows the great cost of what He gave for sinners and sets the measure of what His followers must be willing to give up, to humble the soul in shame unto repentance and to demand all in undivided consecration, patience under affliction, and unsparing labor for others.
Setting and the Drink
The offering belongs to the suffering on the way to and upon the cross at Calvary outside Jerusalem, where criminals were executed, after He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper with His disciples. Near the end of His earthly life His tongue was parched and He thirsted and said, I thirst. The drink was vinegar mingled with gall, offered to Him on a sponge saturated with it, which He tasted and refused to drink. That refusal stands as one detail in an ordeal of mocking and abuse in which even the Roman governor was forced by the Jewish priests and rulers to do their will.
The vinegar mingled with gall was a stupefying potion permitted to those dying by crucifixion to deaden the sense of pain. Its giving in His thirst was additional insult heaped upon Him in His agony. Heavenly angels watched Him hang on the cross, while no command was given for them to rescue Him.
His tasting and refusal fulfills the prophecy that the Saviour would be given gall for meat and vinegar for thirst in His suffering. He would receive nothing that could becloud His mind. His faith must keep fast hold upon God, which was His only strength, and to becloud His senses would give Satan an advantage.
The verse belongs to His descent into humiliation to suffer at the hands of wicked people and die on the cross as a criminal. He was led away pale, weak, and fainting, stretched upon the wooden cross with nails driven through His tender hands and feet, and hung those dreadful hours in agony until angels veiled their faces and the sun hid its light. With this belong the garden agony, the mocking in the judgment hall, the purple robe, the coarse jests, and the crown of thorns driven into His temples until blood flowed. His disciples would see the One in whom their hopes of eternal life rested thus suffer, giving them cause to mourn and fast and trying their faith, hope, and courage.
Substitution and the Bitter Cup
He suffered outside the gate as humanity's substitute, bearing the curse of the law to redeem people from it. That suffering on Calvary was endured on our account, to show the way and to bring the divine help that must be had or perish. When His tongue was parched near the end of His earthly life He tasted the sponge saturated with vinegar mingled with gall and refused it, and then the Lord of life and glory died a ransom for the race. The bitter cup He did drink, which broke the heart of the Son of God, was the sense of sin bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as man's substitute for our sins, borne in meekness and loveliness for sinners, and His refusal came as He bore that sin, not from fear of death or bodily pain.
His inexpressible agony was not dread of death, for to believe so would place Him beneath martyrs in courage and endurance who yielded to torture and death rejoicing to suffer for Christ. Though He was the prince of sufferers, it was not bodily anguish that filled Him with horror and despair but the sense of the malignity of sin. That included the knowledge that man had become so familiar with sin as not to realize its enormity and that sin was so deeply rooted in the human heart as to be difficult to eradicate. Death is not an angel of mercy, and nature recoils from dissolution as the consequence of sin.
Example and Call to Follow
The suffering on the way to and upon the cross shows the great cost of the sacrifice made for sinners and is set as the measure of what followers should be willing to give up. Led away pale and weak and fainting to crucifixion, stretched upon the wooden cross with nails driven through tender hands and feet, and hanging those dreadful hours in agony until angels veiled their faces and the sun hid its light, together with the garden agony, the mocking in the judgment hall, the purple robe, the coarse jests, the crown of thorns driven into the temples until blood flowed, and the murderous throng crying for blood, it proves what was given up for sinners and puts anything called self-denial in the shade. So the narrow way is not too strait and giving up all is not too hard.
That suffering, endured on our account to show the way and to bring the divine help that must be had or perish, stands as an example of hardship and trial in the work of overcoming that rebukes complaint. It calls youth seeking eternal life not to follow their own inclinations and not to shrink from conflict, self-denial, and every sacrifice, since the prize costs everything. With the conflict in the wilderness of temptation, a life of self-sacrificing love, the soul agony in Gethsemane, and the cruelty of the judgment hall, the agony upon the cross teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God, and fitting preparation for holy work, requiring those called to sacred work to put all their energies into it and make every other consideration secondary. Joined with the sacrifice made in Gethsemane, the great sacrifice made on the cross of Calvary sets the measure for the greatest work ever given to mortals and shows the church is far behind and must give far greater consideration to missions at home and abroad.
Looking at Christ crowned with thorns and nailed to the cross for sins, suffered in meekness and loveliness for sinners, should humble the sinner, break the heart, and bow the soul in the dust with shame and humiliation unto repentance and reform. Christ demands all, undivided affections, a whole sacrifice and entire consecration. This requires separation from worldly society and dead heartless professors, and transformation by the renewing of the mind.
On the road to and upon the cross at Calvary He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper, and with parched tongue He was offered on a saturated sponge the vinegar mingled with gall, which He tasted and refused to drink. That draught was the stupefying potion allowed the crucified to deaden pain, offered as added insult while angels watched with no command to rescue, and in tasting and refusing He fulfilled that He would be given gall for food and vinegar for thirst, because He would take nothing to cloud His mind when His faith must hold fast to God as His only strength lest Satan gain advantage. The bitter cup He did drink to the breaking of His heart was bearing human sin under the Father's wrath as man's substitute outside the gate to redeem from the curse, and His refusal came while bearing that sin, not from fear of death or bodily pain. His horror was not dread of dying, which would place Him beneath rejoicing martyrs, but the sense of the malignity of sin so familiar and deeply rooted in the human heart, with death itself no angel of mercy from which nature recoils as the fruit of sin. His suffering shows the great cost of what He gave for sinners and sets the measure of what His followers must be willing to give up, to humble the soul in shame unto repentance and to demand all in undivided consecration, patience under affliction, and unsparing labor for others.
Setting and the Drink
The offering belongs to the suffering on the way to and upon the cross at Calvary outside Jerusalem, where criminals were executed, after He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper with His disciples. Near the end of His earthly life His tongue was parched and He thirsted and said, I thirst. The drink was vinegar mingled with gall, offered to Him on a sponge saturated with it, which He tasted and refused to drink. That refusal stands as one detail in an ordeal of mocking and abuse in which even the Roman governor was forced by the Jewish priests and rulers to do their will.
The vinegar mingled with gall was a stupefying potion permitted to those dying by crucifixion to deaden the sense of pain. Its giving in His thirst was additional insult heaped upon Him in His agony. Heavenly angels watched Him hang on the cross, while no command was given for them to rescue Him.
His tasting and refusal fulfills the prophecy that the Saviour would be given gall for meat and vinegar for thirst in His suffering. He would receive nothing that could becloud His mind. His faith must keep fast hold upon God, which was His only strength, and to becloud His senses would give Satan an advantage.
The verse belongs to His descent into humiliation to suffer at the hands of wicked people and die on the cross as a criminal. He was led away pale, weak, and fainting, stretched upon the wooden cross with nails driven through His tender hands and feet, and hung those dreadful hours in agony until angels veiled their faces and the sun hid its light. With this belong the garden agony, the mocking in the judgment hall, the purple robe, the coarse jests, and the crown of thorns driven into His temples until blood flowed. His disciples would see the One in whom their hopes of eternal life rested thus suffer, giving them cause to mourn and fast and trying their faith, hope, and courage.
Substitution and the Bitter Cup
He suffered outside the gate as humanity's substitute, bearing the curse of the law to redeem people from it. That suffering on Calvary was endured on our account, to show the way and to bring the divine help that must be had or perish. When His tongue was parched near the end of His earthly life He tasted the sponge saturated with vinegar mingled with gall and refused it, and then the Lord of life and glory died a ransom for the race. The bitter cup He did drink, which broke the heart of the Son of God, was the sense of sin bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as man's substitute for our sins, borne in meekness and loveliness for sinners, and His refusal came as He bore that sin, not from fear of death or bodily pain.
His inexpressible agony was not dread of death, for to believe so would place Him beneath martyrs in courage and endurance who yielded to torture and death rejoicing to suffer for Christ. Though He was the prince of sufferers, it was not bodily anguish that filled Him with horror and despair but the sense of the malignity of sin. That included the knowledge that man had become so familiar with sin as not to realize its enormity and that sin was so deeply rooted in the human heart as to be difficult to eradicate. Death is not an angel of mercy, and nature recoils from dissolution as the consequence of sin.
Example and Call to Follow
The suffering on the way to and upon the cross shows the great cost of the sacrifice made for sinners and is set as the measure of what followers should be willing to give up. Led away pale and weak and fainting to crucifixion, stretched upon the wooden cross with nails driven through tender hands and feet, and hanging those dreadful hours in agony until angels veiled their faces and the sun hid its light, together with the garden agony, the mocking in the judgment hall, the purple robe, the coarse jests, the crown of thorns driven into the temples until blood flowed, and the murderous throng crying for blood, it proves what was given up for sinners and puts anything called self-denial in the shade. So the narrow way is not too strait and giving up all is not too hard.
That suffering, endured on our account to show the way and to bring the divine help that must be had or perish, stands as an example of hardship and trial in the work of overcoming that rebukes complaint. It calls youth seeking eternal life not to follow their own inclinations and not to shrink from conflict, self-denial, and every sacrifice, since the prize costs everything. With the conflict in the wilderness of temptation, a life of self-sacrificing love, the soul agony in Gethsemane, and the cruelty of the judgment hall, the agony upon the cross teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God, and fitting preparation for holy work, requiring those called to sacred work to put all their energies into it and make every other consideration secondary. Joined with the sacrifice made in Gethsemane, the great sacrifice made on the cross of Calvary sets the measure for the greatest work ever given to mortals and shows the church is far behind and must give far greater consideration to missions at home and abroad.
Looking at Christ crowned with thorns and nailed to the cross for sins, suffered in meekness and loveliness for sinners, should humble the sinner, break the heart, and bow the soul in the dust with shame and humiliation unto repentance and reform. Christ demands all, undivided affections, a whole sacrifice and entire consecration. This requires separation from worldly society and dead heartless professors, and transformation by the renewing of the mind.