“they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when He
tasted it, He would not drink it.” – Matthew 27:34
"Often times, when I read the Bible, I find myself filled with questions about the events that took place, the locations, and the people who were involved. More than anything, I find myself questioning the reasoning and significance for the acts that took place. In this particular reading, my question arose from Jesus’ reaction to the wine/gall given to him by the Roman soldiers in Golgotha (which means place of a skull). Not only was I interested in finding out Jesus’ reasoning for not drinking the mixture, but I also asked myself questions like, “Was it offensive to drink that particular drink?” “Did it just taste bad?” “Why they offered him wine instead of water?” “Were there any anesthetic purposes associated with the wine being offered to him?” “What were the intentions of the Roman soldiers?”Perhaps, he ended up not being as thirsty as he thought.
I wanted to find out exactly what wine gall is so that I may better develop reasoning on exactly why Jesus did not drink it. I knew to begin with that the mixture could not be good if Jesus blatantly refused to drink it. The word gall alone was used quite frequently in the Old Testament. According to Strong’s Concordance, the word gall comes from the Greek word chole which means poison. That definition alone speaks volumes and gives rise to one reason why Jesus did not want to drink the mixture. Jesus had perfect reasoning for not drinking the gall because he knew it was poisoning that had a very bitter acidic taste that could potentially harm him worse. Ed Oettel argues, “Perhaps the person that mixed the gall with the wine was trying to end Christ's suffering as soon as possible --- it doesn't say for sure. But Christ knew that His blood would have to be shed in order for Him to become the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, and He refused to take the easy way out of it.” Luke 23:36 states, “They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of Jews, save yourself.” This verse implied that the wine laced with gall was given to Jesus at his crucifixion was another method of torture by the Romans. The intentions of the Roman soldiers were an additional strong point of interest that led me to research this particular question. The Roman soldiers were known for having a great amount of dislike for Jesus and his followers. They did not respect the doctrines of Christianity because they had their own system of beliefs but even their own leader said in Mark 15:14, “Why? What crime has he committed?” Pilate, who was the Roman governor, was willing to release Jesus from bondage but all of the soldiers were screaming to crucify him. Many Biblical scholars and researchers spoke of how the Romans did not necessarily hate Jesus but they were more so afraid of Him and all of the powers they possessed. Therefore, when the Romans offered Jesus the wine gall their intent was to relieve a little of the pain so that they could witness him suffering. One of my sources leaned more to the viewpoint that the wine was given to Jesus for anesthetic purposes of reducing the pain. So, it seems it had only been in accordance with the Roman custom that our Lord Jesus Christ was offered sour wine and gall to reduce His agonizing pain. It is worth noting that the timing of offering the sour wine and gall to our Lord was of significance and hence utmost importance. This source argued that the offering of wine myrrh was much routine so that his crucifixion would be somewhat bearable. Therefore, the wine mixture was not offered to speed up his death, but this was offered so that the soldiers could witness him suffering longer as opposed to him just being hung and dying right away. I developed that Christ had such a reaction of refusal to the mixture because he knew that it was poisonous and it had a terrible taste and that he did not want to be drugged as he made his body a sacrifice so that people would not say he did not feel the real pain of being crucified.
tasted it, He would not drink it.” – Matthew 27:34
"Often times, when I read the Bible, I find myself filled with questions about the events that took place, the locations, and the people who were involved. More than anything, I find myself questioning the reasoning and significance for the acts that took place. In this particular reading, my question arose from Jesus’ reaction to the wine/gall given to him by the Roman soldiers in Golgotha (which means place of a skull). Not only was I interested in finding out Jesus’ reasoning for not drinking the mixture, but I also asked myself questions like, “Was it offensive to drink that particular drink?” “Did it just taste bad?” “Why they offered him wine instead of water?” “Were there any anesthetic purposes associated with the wine being offered to him?” “What were the intentions of the Roman soldiers?”Perhaps, he ended up not being as thirsty as he thought.
I wanted to find out exactly what wine gall is so that I may better develop reasoning on exactly why Jesus did not drink it. I knew to begin with that the mixture could not be good if Jesus blatantly refused to drink it. The word gall alone was used quite frequently in the Old Testament. According to Strong’s Concordance, the word gall comes from the Greek word chole which means poison. That definition alone speaks volumes and gives rise to one reason why Jesus did not want to drink the mixture. Jesus had perfect reasoning for not drinking the gall because he knew it was poisoning that had a very bitter acidic taste that could potentially harm him worse. Ed Oettel argues, “Perhaps the person that mixed the gall with the wine was trying to end Christ's suffering as soon as possible --- it doesn't say for sure. But Christ knew that His blood would have to be shed in order for Him to become the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, and He refused to take the easy way out of it.” Luke 23:36 states, “They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of Jews, save yourself.” This verse implied that the wine laced with gall was given to Jesus at his crucifixion was another method of torture by the Romans. The intentions of the Roman soldiers were an additional strong point of interest that led me to research this particular question. The Roman soldiers were known for having a great amount of dislike for Jesus and his followers. They did not respect the doctrines of Christianity because they had their own system of beliefs but even their own leader said in Mark 15:14, “Why? What crime has he committed?” Pilate, who was the Roman governor, was willing to release Jesus from bondage but all of the soldiers were screaming to crucify him. Many Biblical scholars and researchers spoke of how the Romans did not necessarily hate Jesus but they were more so afraid of Him and all of the powers they possessed. Therefore, when the Romans offered Jesus the wine gall their intent was to relieve a little of the pain so that they could witness him suffering. One of my sources leaned more to the viewpoint that the wine was given to Jesus for anesthetic purposes of reducing the pain. So, it seems it had only been in accordance with the Roman custom that our Lord Jesus Christ was offered sour wine and gall to reduce His agonizing pain. It is worth noting that the timing of offering the sour wine and gall to our Lord was of significance and hence utmost importance. This source argued that the offering of wine myrrh was much routine so that his crucifixion would be somewhat bearable. Therefore, the wine mixture was not offered to speed up his death, but this was offered so that the soldiers could witness him suffering longer as opposed to him just being hung and dying right away. I developed that Christ had such a reaction of refusal to the mixture because he knew that it was poisonous and it had a terrible taste and that he did not want to be drugged as he made his body a sacrifice so that people would not say he did not feel the real pain of being crucified.
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