NR 26
November 26
Matthew 27:33, 34. Golgotha.
At length the drooping Savior arrived at the spot appointed for his crucifixion—Golgotha, or the place of a skull. It is supposed that near it were caverns filled with the bones of crucified malefactors. Such places were detested by the Jews, who were forbidden to enter the temple if they had touched a dead body. This was the loathsome spot on which the innocent Lamb of God was to be sacrificed for the sins of men.
But there was a hidden reason why God led men to select this polluted place for the Redeemer's execution. He had commanded the High Priest, once a year, to sprinkle the blood of a bullock and of a goat upon the mercy-seat in the Holiest of Holies, to make atonement for sin. The bodies of these beasts were taken to a place outside the camp, or city, and burned. Their blood represented the precious blood of Christ, which pleads for us in the presence of God. Because his blood atones for sin, therefore his body was taken to a loathsome spot outside the city of Jerusalem. This divine mystery is explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews, (13:11, 12.) "For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the High Priest for sin, are burned without the camp; wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."
Before he was crucified, the soldiers gave him vinegar mingled with gall, a bitter draught, which he just tasted, and then refused to drink. In the gospel of Mark it is written, (15:23,) "And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he received it not." Was this cup of wine, the same as the cup of vinegar, (which is weak wine,) or was it a different cup? Most commentators think they were different cups.
The wine mingled with myrrh seems to have been a stupefying draught, given to criminals before they were crucified, to render them less sensible to pain. Of this alleviation of his anguish the Savior refused to accept.
The vinegar mingled with gall seems to have been offered by the soldiers in a spirit of mockery. Some executioners by their compassion have imparted comfort to innocent sufferers. They have turned away and wept as the blood flowed from the open wounds. When Wishart, the Scottish martyr, was led to the stake, the executioner, kneeling down, said, "Sir, I pray you forgive me, for I am not guilty of your death." But the men who surrounded the Lord were of a more ferocious disposition—they felt no pity, they showed no mercy; therefore it is written in the Psalms, "Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Ps. 69:20, 21.)
When we have been laid on beds of suffering, how differently have we been treated! Kind friends and faithful servants have administered to our needs, and have anticipated our wishes. Many a dying believer, when a cordial has been presented to his parched and quivering lips, has thought of the vinegar mingled with gall, which his Savior tasted in gloomy Golgotha.