Matt 27:34 They gave Him wine to drink, mingled with gall. And when He tasted it, He would not drink. Mark 15:23 And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
At that time the punishment of the cross was the most agonizing kind of punishment; therefore, the law in those days permitted giving the one who was going to be crucified wine mingled with gall [mixed with myrrh] to drink. Although wine mingled with gall was not as good as the anesthetics that surgeons use today, at that time it was the substance that best alleviated the pain in one's senses. The Lord Jesus was very distinctive here in that He would not drink wine mingled with gall. When others were crucified, they all wanted to drink wine mingled with gall; only the Lord Jesus would not drink it when He was crucified. There was bitter feeling with the crosses of men, so they all needed wine mingled with gall to remove the pain in their senses. But in the cross of the Lord Jesus, wine mingled with gall was refused. At this point we should ask the reason for the Lord's refusal. The cross produced a bitter feeling in others, but it did not produce such a feeling in the Lord Jesus. (This does not refer to physical feeling; physically, He also had feeling.) Because others were full of feelings, there was a need for wine mingled with gall. But here was a person who, on the spiritual side, did not harbor any bitter feelings when He was crucified, so He did not need wine mingled with gall. According to Luke, when the Lord was on the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (23:34). This is what is meant by having no need of wine mingled with gall. Here was a man who was wrongfully accused, afflicted, scourged, shamed, persecuted, rejected, judged, and even condemned by men. He was abused by men to the uttermost, but at this point He lifted up His head and said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He had no feeling of bitterness within, nor the feeling of being wrongfully accused, nor the feeling of being persecuted; therefore, He needed no wine mingled with gall. A person who has no feeling of bitterness within does not need wine mingled with gall to alleviate his pain.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 97-98 Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
