He Refused

They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

When I read this passage I wondered why Jesus refused to drink when offered wine mixed with gall, but later asked for a drink.

I researched a bit and read that this particular drink would have numbed or dulled Jesus’ senses a bit, and Jesus was not finished “actively obeying” his father’s plan.  He still had a thief to forgive (the one hanging by him) and he still had to intercede for you and me, and he still had to willingly give up his life and say aloud, “It is finished.”

The fact that Jesus was still actively obeying in his dying hours is amazing and pulls at my heart.

How often do we obey God, but passively?  Circumstances dictate that we learn to obey, and so we do, but it’s because we are made to do so.

Remember, Jesus could have called angels to take him away at any time.  He chose to stay the course and obey his Father, down to the last minutes before his death, and he didn’t want any drink to desensitize him at all.

What an awesome Savior we have.

Do you know him?