Bitter Gall

      “The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.” Mathew 27:34

  I had wondered what bitter gall was, having an idea it might have been some sort of body numbing, mind numbing substance. Immediately after it was offered and refused Jesus was nailed to the cross. A quick check on Google confirmed that bitter gall is basically a generic name for medicines derived from specific plants or snake venom with anesthetic properties.

  Did the soldiers offer it to Jesus out of kindness? It seems at odds with their previous conduct: the mocking, the robe, the crown of thorns. Or was this offering of bitter gall just the standard operating procedure at a crucifixion regardless of who was being crucified?

  These are grim thoughts this morning.

  Crucifixion was a grim practice and, sadly, we mortals are very good at finding ways of inflicting pain and suffering.

  But I have to reflect on Jesus’ choice. He was willing to experience the full agony of one of the cruelest ways ever invented by humanity to kill our own kind. May God have mercy on us.

  Why? Why did He refuse? Was it because He needed to be completely Himself in order to be the pure sacrifice He was born to be?

  These words with their gory, gruesome imaginings have stirred my heart in a direction I find surprising.  You know something? God already has been merciful. His mercy is so great He allowed His Son to die.

  I have always known this fact intellectually. This morning my heart is beginning to experience the full on emotional responses to God’s choice of mercy.

  Maybe that’s part of what love is. It isn’t always a happy feeling. Love can contain sorrow, grief, or pain. Love can exist despite these things or do these things exist because of love?

 

  I have run out of time this morning or perhaps this is where I am supposed to stop writing. There is much to think about. Although, I now realize an important facet of the Beatitudes, God’s blessings, found in Mathew 5. Every single one of them is because we allow ourselves to love and be loved.

  Perhaps there are places in my heart where bitter gall has numbed my ability to love fully and freely. (Smile.) No, there is no "perhaps" about it but I can joyously say that is changing. AMEN!