Matthew 27:34
“Free Band-Aids for
amputees” seem to be a lot like the sedative offered to Christ, having gone
through what He had already endured. This strange appearance of humanitarian
concern is not as it seems. After what they had done, why would they bother
with painkillers? The answer lies in understanding the sequence here.
Verse thirty-five says: “When they had
crucified Him.” It is in verse thirty-four that He is offered the sedative. The
purpose of the sedative had nothing to do with pain. The purpose was to stupefy
the victim so that he would not fight the executioners as they nailed Him to
the cross. It is estimated that the Romans had crucified more than thirty
thousand criminals by crucifixion at the time Christ was crucified. To them,
His death was just one among many. Long before His crucifixion, society had
become numb to the infliction of pain.
Jesus refused the offer. He had declared
in the garden that He would drink the entire cup that the Father would deliver
to Him. In Matthew 26:39, He had earnestly prayed that the cup might be
“passed” from Him. If the cup would be delivered, He would drink it. In John
18:11, He asked Peter: “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not
drink it?” Jesus, as all righteous men saw,
encounters life with chance all but squeezed out by the hand of His Father
guiding Him. His steps were ordered from
above; His obedience kept Him secure.
We live in a world of wine and gall. The
avoidance of pain is among man’s highest concerns. Pharmaceutical companies
have taken over television and are encouraging us to ask our doctors for drugs.
There is a pill for just about everything. Unfortunately, there is nothing in
your medicine cabinet that can enable you to bring God pleasure. That must be
done through a surrendered will.
From a simple aspirin to pure heroin,
pain relief drives our society. Pain is a subjective issue. Some individuals
have a very high level of pain tolerance, while others have seemingly none.
Pain, we ought to realize, is not a bad thing. It is an unwelcome intruder that
announces a bad thing. There is no
value in an unnecessary bed of nails to sleep on, since once we get the message
and work on a proper solution, there is no reason to continue in pain.
Jesus felt the weight and pain of the
world’s sin. Its intensity must have been a vivid reminder to Him of the
magnitude of the gift He would soon deliver to the redeemed. The load He
carried is directly proportionate to the gift He offers to you by grace.
Devastated by the hand of Providence, the
now childless sufferer Job can be heard saying above the sound of the scraping
of his boils: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord.” We live in a fallen world. Should we expect less than suffering at
times? The issue is not what befalls us, but rather with Whom do we stand?
Matthew 27:34
INTRODUCTION
Gall Mixed with wine
INSTRUCTION
Why bad
things happen to good people
1.
C
2.
F
3.
F
4.
T
5.
F
6.
A
7.
U
B. Dealing with pain
1.
P
2.
S
3.
G
4.
R
5.
T
6.
G
7.
P