Crucifixion

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Crucifixion

Matt. 27:48-49

48 And [kai] straightway [eutheos] one [heis] of [ek] them [autos] ran [trecho] , and [kai] took [lambano] a spunge [spoggos] , and [te] filled [pletho] it with vinegar [oxos] , and [kai] put it on [peritithemi] a reed [kalamos] , and gave [potizo] him [autos] to drink [potizo] .
49 The [de] rest [loipoy] said [lego] , Let be [aphiemi] , let us see [eido] whether [ei] Elias [Helias] will come [erchomai] to save [sozo] him [autos] . KJV-Interlinear

48 And immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But the rest of them said, 'Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.' NASB

Mark 15:36
36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, 'Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.' NASB

John 19:28-29
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, 'I am thirsty.' 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth. NASB

Darkness had covered the land for three hours. This was the first of the miracles to occur this afternoon. The purpose of any miracle is to catch the attention of those who observe it. At some point one would think that a light bulb will click on for some folks who need to be awakened to life and truth.

As the darkness lifted, there will be a few moments of calm (before the storm). The burden of the Cross made Jesus extremely thirsty.

Psa. 22:15
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; NASB

For some the debate and ridicule continued as to who He really was. They were watching all of these events as though they were watching some theatrical show. Now they want to wait and see if Elijah will come to save Him. One would think that the three hour darkness would suggest to them that this was no ordinary day, and that this crucifixion was no ordinary event. They were clueless, and that would be an understatement.

But there were those who were now convinced that this was something of an unusual and an extraordinary event in history. During the past few decades history recorded over 30,000 crucifixions which the Romans carried out against those who had rebelled in the region. This set of three would probably have been looked at as nothing unusual. However those others were initiated by the Romans, not the Jews, and this day was to have some very remarkable events which will soon accompany the crucifixion.

Jesus said that He was thirsty. This was after the judgment of mankind's sins had been completed. We note first of all, that He was very much alive after the judgment of mans sins on the Cross. He did not die physically as part of judging mans sins. He did not bleed to death. The phrase 'blood of Christ' refers to the act of His sacrifice in the spiritual phenomena of paying the price of mans sins, not His physical death. The punishment and payment for sin was a spiritual phenomena, not a physical one, lest someone else might try to copy this sacrifice.

Unfortunately many folks try to copy or imitate the trials and life of Jesus, by being poor, by suffering in some fashion (as they might define suffering), such that people might see their 'sacrifice' and thus people might take notice of their humble life style and again that people might give them some form of credit for their 'burden.'

But again, our life style is irrelevant. You can be the richest person on earth or the poorest. Either way the state of your spiritual life resides in your soul, not in your life style.

Jesus asked for a drink, and this normally would have been ignored by the soldiers guarding the condemned. After all, to them this was an execution, not a charity service. Typically a condemned person would have hung on the cross for days before dying. Pain and suffering were part of the execution.

Psa. 69:21
21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. NASB

The gall part of this verse we have already studied. It was offered at the beginning of the execution process. Jesus refused it then. The latter part of this verse is where He is thirsty and a cheap wine (not the gall) was offered to Him to drink, which He did.

On the one hand there were those (heartless ones) who just wanted to standby and watch Him suffer and die (if a miracle happened, they wouldn't want to miss it), and on the other hand there were those who were sympathetic towards Him.

Meanwhile, off in the Temple, the events of this day had been totally interrupted. The darkness prevented their sacrifices, and many of the priests weren't even there. They were here at the cross watching Christ. What to do with all those animals the temple merchants sold? Do you suppose they would pay out refunds if asked? How dare that Jesus for messing up their schedule of events! Didn't He understand the importance of this sacred feast?

It is getting lighter now. The darkness is now clearing. Perhaps they can get their sacrifices in before nightfall is they can only hurry. Hummm! What were the sacrifices for anyway?

Or, will something else interfere with their rituals?