Words from the Cross (Part IV)

Articles

Lance Byers
06/29/24 - Words from the Cross

“I thirst.”

These two words speak to the very core of humanity within Jesus. His last bit to eat and drink had been the night before, and He had been awake, being drug through trials, humiliations and beatings all night long. Psalm 22:15 tells us a little about the torture Jesus is going through:

“…my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.”

Jesus knew that death was near, as God had destined for Him. To understand this utterance, we must first look at the time Jesus did not take anything to drink:

Matthew 27:34: “…they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.”

Mark 15:23: “And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.”

If Jesus was thirsty, why did he not take the wine mixed with myrrh, or gall, to start with? There are several explanations:

First, this would have been an alcoholic substance. It was a wine mixed with different medicinal herbs and spices. The alcohol was often consumed by the crucified individuals to help with the pain; the spices with some of the effects of the beatings. This sounds like an act of mercy from the Roman soldiers, which doesn’t seem to fit how the soldiers conducted this business until you notice…

Second, we read from tradition that the instrument used to give Jesus this drink was a sponge on a stick. This was another insult given to the condemned. The name of the sponge on the stick is a Xylospongium, which is the Roman equivalent of toilet paper. Offering the condemned something that might give them some aid and comfort in their final hour is how the Romans would get them to suck the liquid from the sponge out of desperation despite knowing what the item was.

Finally, it is speculated that Jesus did not want a dulling of the senses while on the cross. He wanted to be fully aware and able to give the words which these articles have been expounding upon these last few weeks. Perhaps this should be a commentary on how we should approach alcoholic substances today?

Jesus was thirsty, His humanity showing. Matthew 27:47-49 tells us of one unnamed man who shows mercy at the last moment:

“And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, ‘This man is calling Elijah.’ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’”

The sour wine was a cheap wine which would have been readily available with all the common people and soldiers around. It was a common drink of the poor and lower classes, a wine which had been mixed with spices to make it palatable, and then diluted with water for the drinking. Among all the bystanders who were jeering, one went off to find a clean sponge, put it on a reed to send up to Jesus. Jesus accepted the offering as an act of mercy, and, as John 19:28 points out, as a final fulfilment of scripture from Paslm 69:21.

“They gave me poison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”

Lance Byers

6/28/2024