Christ Refuses to Drink

💡Big Idea

Takeaways and Next Steps

📖Bible Passage

Matthew 27:33-34

When they came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull,” they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.

Points

• This detail might not seem important but it is.
  • Scripture says that Jesus was offered wine three times
    • once before He was crucified
    • twice while hanging on the cross
      • 1. Jesus was given a sponge which was dipped in wine, but He refused this also.
• This morning we look at the first time that Jesus was offered wine
  • Matthew 27:33
    • Who offered Him the drink? Most likely the Roman soldiers
    • It was intended as a mercy to Christ. The wine was a sedative for Him.
      • It was a custom in the Roman army to offer condemned criminals a final drink
      • v23
      • Proverbs 31:6-7 : Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish, and wine to the bitter in soul. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
    • Jesus refused to drink this wine
      • He refused it not rudely, or proudly, but firmly
      • He first tasted¹ the wine, but did not drink.
        • Why not? Wouldn’t He appreciate something that could lessen His suffering?
          • It was certainly not because He disdained this act of mercy and kindness.
            • Jesus graciously accepted previous kindnesses.
              • He accepted the water from the Samaritan woman at the well.
              • He accepted Simon of Cyrene’s help carrying the cross.
            • The answer is because Jesus chose not to have his senses dulled.
              • He chose to endure the full pain of the cross and God’s wrath.
              • He offered Himself as a living sacrifice, and this He could not do as unconscious.
              • Christ was both the sacrifice and the priest.
                • In the levitical law, priests were strictly forbidden from entering the temple while under the influence of alcohol.
              • Christ was also the sacrifice paying for the original sin.
                • Adam was conscious and willful of his sin and disobedience.
                • Likewise, Christ, the second Adam must suffer and pay the price of sin, conscious, sober and in full awareness of God’s wrath upon sin.
          • Even in the kindness of the soldiers, underneath it, was the schemes of Satan. For the devil was attempting to make Christ’s work on the cross unacceptable to God.
            • If Jesus was under the influence of the drink, He would’ve been delirious while on the cross.
              • We would not have heard the beautiful intentional things that Jesus said² while on the cross:
                • Jesus said to the repentant sinner: “Today you will be with me in paradise”
                • When Jesus quoted Psalm 2 on the cross.
                • When Jesus appointed John to take care of His beloved mother.
                • When Jesus declared it is finished
            • No criminal would have refused the sedative. It would have been a mercy (though small), which would make the punishment at least a little more tolerable.
              • Jesus hung on the cross, not as an incomprehensible babbler, but as a King.
              • Jesus: No one takes my life, but I lay it down willingly John 10:17-18
              • It is terrible to say, but in Hell, there are no sedatives or narcotics. Nothing to dull the pain of punishment.
            • Jesus took the punishment willingly, because we sinned willingly.
              • ❓: Have you ever sinned willingly, knowing that what you are doing is wrong?
            • But we, fearful of our sin, take on spiritual narcotics, distractions and vices to dull our sense of conviction, fear, and guilt.
              • We act as if God does not see our sin.
                • Psalm 50:21 But God sees our sins, and will rebuke us.
            • But God not only convicts us of our sins, He also provides for us the Savior, in Himself
              • Jesus: Should I not drink of this cup?
                • i.e. If I don’t drink of this cup [of wrath], then you must drink of this cup
• Jesus sacrifice was complete:
  • He did not blemish Himself and thus make Himself an unacceptable sacrifice to God.
  • He experienced all the fullness of human life and death
    • We sinners, might be tempted to say, “Jesus, doesn’t understand me and what I’m going through.” This is wrong.
      • Hebrews 4:15 : For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
      • Hebrews 2:17-18
    • We can rest assured knowing that our Savior is a friend, who truly does understand and care for our sorrows.

Application

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Further Study

• Was the sour wine given to Christ intended to be further mocking and ridicule, or was it meant to be a mercy to Him?
• What is the symbolic meaning of the wine given to Christ, given that Christ said that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine?

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💬Discussion Questions

Footnotes

Footnotes

1. Why did Christ taste the wine? Because He did not know what it was until He tasted it. But upon knowing what it was, He rejected it. ↩

2. the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross. ↩