What is the meaning of Matthew 27:34? They offered Him wine to drink – Jesus has just reached Golgotha, exhausted from the scourging and the weight of the cross (Matthew 27:32-33). – Roman soldiers customarily gave condemned men a drink to dull pain; Proverbs 31:6 notes, “Give strong drink to one who is perishing.” – Mark 15:23 records the same moment, showing consistency among the Gospel writers. – The offer highlights human attempts at mercy contrasted with the divine plan that required Christ’s full consciousness. mixed with gall – “Gall” is a bitter substance; Psalm 69:21 foretold, “They poisoned My food with gall and gave Me vinegar to quench My thirst.” – The bitterness emphasizes the cruelty of the moment and the fulfillment of prophecy. – Mixing gall (or myrrh, Mark 15:23) with wine created a crude anesthetic, but it also made the drink repulsive—a picture of sin’s bitterness that Christ was bearing. but after tasting it – Jesus puts the cup to His lips, signaling He is not rejecting out of ignorance but by deliberate choice. – He “tasted” yet did not swallow, mirroring Hebrews 2:9 where He “might taste death for everyone.” – The brief taste separates this offered drug from the later sour wine He will accept to fulfill Scripture (John 19:28-29). He refused to drink it – By refusing, Jesus chooses to experience the full agony of the cross with a clear mind, willingly bearing sin’s penalty (Isaiah 53:5). – His earlier vow at the Last Supper echoes here: “I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25). – John 18:11 reminds us He was determined to “drink the cup the Father has given,” not an artificial, man-made substitute. – The refusal underscores His obedience, sovereignty, and the perfect fulfillment of every prophecy concerning the Messiah. summary Matthew 27:34 shows Jesus offered a merciful-seeming, pain-numbing drink. Prophecy required bitterness (Psalm 69:21), and compassionless soldiers supplied it. Yet after a brief taste, Christ refuses. He will endure the cross fully alert, choosing to bear our sin without shortcuts, keeping His promise not to drink again until the Kingdom is realized. The verse reveals His conscious, prophetic, and sacrificial obedience, assuring believers that our redemption was accomplished with nothing less than His undiminished, willing suffering. |
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