Suffering unto the end
Mt. 27:34; Mk. 15:23
Our Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering must have been great. The Maker of heaven and earth was beaten, scorned, scourged, slapped, spat on, and humiliated by the soldiers. A crown of thorns was placed on His head. He was forced to carry the cross. How humiliating! He suffered not because He sinned, He suffered because He carried our sins.
Being in so much pain, he was offered Him wine mixed with myrrh. He refused.
Such drinks were often offered to people to ease their pain. Following Proverbs 31:6, the practice was to offer such drinks to people undergoing extreme pain to dull their senses. It is also said that respected women would offer such drinks.
Our Lord refused. He was ready to go all the way, from the highest to the lowest, for us. He was not willing to dull His senses as He suffered our sins.
- How many times would we have escaped sufferings or humiliation in our Christian life just because we do like to suffer, even though we are going against God’s will? Yes, there will be times of happiness, but there will also be times of suffering. Looking at Christ, the perfecter of our faith, let us move on according to His will.
- Jesus was offered. He refused. Many of us offered ourselves to drinks; and that too, for our enjoyment. What a contrast! We pay to drink, to humiliate ourselves. Many have destroyed their families because of this. What an irony. Or, are you so desperate and distraught? I don’t think so.
- Just think of the love of God. He obeyed unto death. He did not look to ease His sufferings, or to dull His senses. He loved us to suffer our death.
- Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). Do we think of the future glory? Or do we not? Do we believe in it? Are you even saved? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe these are the reasons why many ‘Christians’ refuse to suffer today. Are you a ‘Christian’ at all.
Just think
