“They offered Him wine drugged with myrrh but He refused it.” (Mark 15:23 NIV)
Friday has finally come. After Jesus was arrested in the night, He was paraded from high priest to Pilate to Herod and back around to Pilate once more. Then, He was been beaten and whipped and stripped and mocked and made to wear a crown of thorns. Jesus arrived at Golgotha in brutal condition: bruised and bleeding with already infection setting in. In the moments before His body would be tacked to that tree, His captors offered Him myrrh mixed with wine to take the edge off of His crucifixion. Our Savior refused to partake. Let’s consider why.
Jesus was not impervious to pain. Being fully human, His skin tore and bled and agonized just as we do. The wine and myrrh would have provided a momentary dampening of the pain raging through His flesh. But, I suspect Jesus was absolutely set on maintaining His faculties.
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, lest we forget. We might even say it’s the antonym of inebriation. We drink to forget. Jesus abstained to remember. See, He was well-acquainted with the mechanics of the human body, you might even say He had a hand in the original design. 😉 Jesus hadn’t eaten in hours: a little wine and myrrh would go a long way. Yet, Jesus was unwilling to risk His hard-fought for self-restraint. He had wrestled the night away with His Father, looking for another route around the cross and when none was found, Jesus met His betrayer with steely resolve.
What’s more, Jesus knew He had angels awaiting His summons. The Prince of Heaven could call for divine backup at any point. And so, the Son of God refused to take any risk of a drunk dial in His last hours. He would not chance undermining the plan that had been in motion since Eve bit into the apple. Jesus knew the cross would require His full focus, not a numbed-down version of Himself. He abstained with us in mind.
I so appreciate this little detail being included in the gospels. There was a time in my story where everything was overwhelming. When my dad died and his estate become my ordeal and my severely handicapped brother came into my care: well, it was brutal. I felt as though my real life had been eclipsed by this new and terrible nightmare that I could not awaken from not matter how hard I kicked at the covers. Day after day, the phone rang, the pressure mounted and my joy withered. It seemed like I would never get to fully return to my calling, my children, my husband or hobbies. The Buddhist pillar endlessly promoted by my college art professor seemed to ring in my ears: “Life is dukkah.” I fought the lie daily in my quiet time through prayer and worship. The tedious and terrible dragged on and on and depression nipped on my heels as I drug myself through.
One day, several months into that awful estate business, I was at the local grocery store where my son worked, mind you. It was a small town and I rarely got through with my selections without bumping into someone I knew. That day, I was just about finished with my shopping when I passed the second to last aisle where the baby items and alcohol were stocked. Historically, I had no business with either entity and avoided it’s shelves altogether. But that day the baby-beer aisle called out to me like a siren of the sea. “I can help you forget your problems. It can all go away for a while.” I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to slowing my buggy at the end of the aisle and considering it. The draw was so strong, the desire to forget was nearly irresistible. In the end, I stuck to my values. Those values had been decided in a season sunshine and clear-headedness. I was going to trust their compass through the fog of my feelings.
I wonder if this was just a teensy taste of Jesus’ temptation when He was offered wine with myrrh or when it was suggested He call down the angels. Our Savior held fast to the values He and His Father had set long before the pain and suffering rolled in and clouded His view. I’m convinced His commitment to Kingdom amidst His suffering has implications for our own seasons of sorrow.
“And the God of all grace, who called You to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong and steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever.” (1 Peter 5:10 NIV)
Lord, we don’t like to hurt, but when we do, help us suffer with our wits intact. Embolden us today to make choices about substances and crutches, while the world is right side up and we can see straight. When we hurt, gift us the instinct to flee temptation with every fiber of our being. Make us strong and steadfast in our hour of need. May we produce the fruit of self-control and to fight to protect it’s harvest in our lives. Amen.