They gave Him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink. Matthew 27:34
Those who seek to find contradictions in the Bible often point out that this text differs from the parallel text in the other Gospels which say the drink was wine mixed with myrrh. There is no contradiction, given that there were at least two separate occasions during the crucifixion when the soldiers offered Jesus a drink, given that the vinegar referred to soured wine, and given that the term gall refers to bitterness, which describes myrrh. Rather than looking for contradictions between the Gospels, we ought to consider why the Lord Jesus refused to accept the vinegar mingled with gall.
At this point, after a terrible night of unjust trials and brutal abuse by the Jews, the Roman soldiers, and Pilate’s scourge, Jesus must have been incredibly thirsty. Any liquid would have been welcomed by any other victim. But the presence of gall in the vinegar was intended to dull the senses of the victim, a small bit of mercy by the Romans to ease the sufferings of the person enduring the crucifixion. But the Lord Jesus was not on the cross just to pass through the terrible experience; He was there to endure the full extent of man’s rejection and of God’s full judgment against sin. That He could not do in a stupefied condition. And that He did not do! He endured the full extent of all that was heaped upon Him by men, and all that was poured out on Him by a righteous God. And because God was satisfied with what He endured (Isaiah 53:11), we can enjoy the reality that we need not suffer for our sins. We do not need to suffer to pay for our deliverance from sins, nor do we need to suffer the punishment for our sins. All is paid. That does not mean that Christians don’t suffer, but if we suffer, it is for our foolishness or for our blessing.
There was no easing of the suffering of the Lord Jesus, as His refusal to take the mulled vinegar declares. But for the Christian, suffering always has a limit, always has a degree beyond which it will not proceed. And many Christians are spared any amount of suffering. We can look back to the cross, and appreciate that our Lord and Saviour has taken it all upon Himself. And now we have the privilege of His company and His sympathy whenever we encounter rough waters or bumpy roads. In the reality that He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4), we find great comfort.
We are spared the worst of earth’s sufferings, because God spared not His Son. -Jim MacIntosh