Matthew 27:27 - 44
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue himnow if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Why did the soldiers take the time to mock Jesus? Was it just for "sport" or was there some purpose behind it?
2. Did Jesus drink some wine (as reported by other gospels)? If He did, what about His statement to the disciples that He wouldn't drink it again until His return?
3. Why did the priests and Pharisees show their faces after doing this highly illegal act?
My 2 cents on question #1:
ReplyDeleteI can't find any article addressing why this was done. So I'm going to speculate what I think is a good possibility. Pilate's goal was to not condemn Jesus to death. In one of the gospels (at least), the mockery and whipping occurred before Pilate's final plea to the crowd to let Jesus go.
I think it's possible that Pilate wanted to completely discredit Jesus before the Jewish leaders so that they wouldn't feel that He had to die anymore. By removing the threat (by so publicly humiliating Jesus), Pilate may have thought that he could save Jesus from the death penalty.
http://www.biblestudy.org/question/why-did-jesus-refuse-to-drink-wine-with-gall-while-on-cross.html says on question #2:
ReplyDeleteWhy did Jesus REFUSE to drink a mixture of gall and wine just before he was put on the cross?
Jesus was offered a wine and gall mix to drink after arriving at Golgotha, but before the Romans nailed him to the cross.
The English word "gall," in the New Testament, comes from the Greek word chole (Strong's Concordance #G5521) which literally means poison. All the Old Testament verses that use this word (Lamentations 3:5, 3:19, Jeremiah 8:14, 9:15, 23:15 and so on) have a common definition of something that tastes bitter and is (many times) poisonous.
A mixture of wine and gall was commonly given to criminals before their execution in order to ease some of their suffering. He did not want to die from poisoning or have his senses numbed while on the cross. He knew that He had to shed his blood in order for Him to become the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all man, and He refused to take the easy way out of it.
The offering of this concoction by the Romans, however, was a fulfillment of a prophecy given by King David. While in the depths of a painful trial David cried out to the Eternal that his enemies gave him only something bitter to quench his thirst (Psalm 69:16 - 21).
Although refusing what the Roman guards initially offered him when he arrived at Golgotha, Jesus later did take some sour wine when he was on the cross (Matthew 27:48). This was acceptable for his thirst because, though it had a sour taste, he knew that it was not poisonous.
http://bekahcubed.menterz.com/blog/2012/20120328-9187.htm on #2:
ReplyDeleteWhen Jesus said that he wouldn’t drink again of this fruit of the vine, was he saying that he wouldn’t drink grape juice or wine again until heaven? I think many would answer yes.
This interpretation of Jesus’ words results in some confusion when, only a chapter later, Jesus is given a sponge filled with sour wine to drink (Matthew 27:48). Note that this is NOT the wine mixed with gall that Jesus refused to drink a few verses earlier in Matthew 27:34. This time, Matthew makes no mention of whether or not Jesus drank the proffered wine. But John’s language in his account of the same incident suggests that Jesus did consume the sour wine: “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished.'” (John 19:30)
So, if Jesus’ statement was NOT saying that he would not consume any more liquid derived from grapes until paradise, in what way did Jesus mean his statement “I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom”?
I believe that Jesus was referring specifically to the Four Cups of the Seder–and that he was announcing that this was not his ultimate (last) Seder, but his penultimate (next-to-last) Seder. Jesus stopped with the third cup, the cup whose symbolism He would fulfill the very next day. He announced the meaning of the cup of redemption and stopped there, for his disciples to meditate on its meaning as they watched the events of the next few days unfold.
The fourth cup, the cup of rejoicing, Jesus saved for later–for the final feast, where the final promise of Exodus 6:6-7 would be fulfilled:
“I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.”
My 2 cents on why the priests showed up:
ReplyDeleteThe priests just spent the night breaking a number of laws in condemning Jesus. Usually people who break that many laws would keep their distance. So why were the priests there?
I can't find anyone who addresses this, so I'm going to speculate myself. I think the priests were so full of hatred towards Jesus that they couldn't help but come out and crow their (supposed) victory.