Daily Wisdom..."Bitter Sweet Saviour"

 “And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.”  Mk 15:36

It was an act of cruelty, not comfort that we see recorded by Mark in the last minutes of Jesus life. In Mk 15:33 he records some of the final words Jesus spoke: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?  Mark records Jesus words in the Aramaic, because that is exactly what Jesus spoke and translated for us, “My God, My God, why hast thou forshaken me?  Jesus was quoting from Psalms 22:1, when David uttered the same words.  This was a theologically rich moment, those knowing the Hebrew Scriptures should have been putting the pieces together and exposing truth. But, the most misunderstood man in the history of the world was once again misunderstood.  The bystander thought he was calling out to Elijah; so what does he do in response?  Here, have some sour wine.  The bystander rushes to soak a sponge in sour wine place it on a reed as if an offering of concern.  What was the motive?  The wine was bitter and of no help and yet he had no idea scripture was being fulfilled; Psalm 69:21 “…they gave me vinegar to drink.”   There was no kindness or concern involved here, it’s was mockery of Jesus.  The righteous sufferer, during His moment of agony, was given sour wine. Besides the mockery and ridicule there is a more rationale motive for why the bystander offered the sour wine.  It’s quoted in Mk 15:36 “…Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.” Even though Jesus was breathing His last breath, the bystander wanted to wait, but why? For one more opportunity for Jesus to offer some glitz or new miracle by seeing if Elijah would really show up.  The bystander was not hoping for a rescue, he was waiting for more dazzle. He was not interested in a suffering saviour, he was interested in spectacular stunt. He really was not interested in what Jesus offered, but simply in what He could do!

Are you a Christian “bystander?”…Are you more interested in the gifts, than the giver; wanting the stuff of salvation, not the One to whom you are saved. If so, only a miracle can change that – Which is what Jesus does.  Jesus can make us see past the gifts, the goods, the glitz and even the sour wine so we can truly see the SAVIOUR!

HSAY…Todd