Reconciliation, and the purity and sobriety of Jesus Christ upon the cross are in view, today. The cross is to be seen as a depiction of offering and sacrifice to GOD from mankind as well as the deliverance of divine judgment against sin. The Savior did not become delirious, faint, hallucinate, or pass out upon the cross. Christ appeared in the earth to accomplish a work of cosmic proportion that would impact the entire Creation and universe for eternity. He was to die, be buried, be raised from the grave, and appear before the throne of divine judgment. Not only would he endure condemnation upon the earth for a divine covenant partner, Israel, he would be judged on behalf of the entire Temple community (priests, Levites, scribes, beggars, etc.) as well as for all the sin of Adam with his children as heirs and offspring of GOD. In their despair of life, hysterical fear, and weakness, many who are untrained think it an act of love (or mercy) to share illegal and prescription drugs that should be administered only by health professionals, perform euthanasia, and provide assisted suicide to family and friends. Many believers understand that Jesus was challenged and tested while on the cross, and refused to drink a mixture that might have dulled his senses. As one living out the vow of a Nazarite, Jesus would avoid strong drink. Thus, instead of being given a testimony describing such remedies, believers have been given accounts of the exalted work of our Savior upon the cross to transform the meaning and value of death through resurrection, and the continuous, voluntary acceptance of divine will.
Psalm 69: 20-22, King James Version (KJV): 20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
Jeremiah 8: 13-15, KJV: 13 I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. 14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. 15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
Jeremiah 9: 12-15, KJV: 12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? 13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; 14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
Jeremiah 23: 14-16, KJV: 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
The fighter at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “Dangerous Mr.” (Level 7 with 62,504 points, a member since May 20, 2012) posted the following:
Why wouldn't a loving god give his only begotten son some opiates while his son was hanging on the cross?
THE GOLDEN ARROW: And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. (Matthew 27: 33-43, KJV)
THE DOUBLE DAGGER: The Cross Must Occur? (02/23/2016); The Scale of Salvation? (12/13/2015); (To Express the Fullness of GOD? 07/09/2015); Gall Refused on the Cross? (03/20/2015); The Agony of Death? (03/22/2015); Divine Purpose? (01/08/2015); The Passion at Gethsemane (03/28/2013); According to the Eternal Purpose (11/20/2012); Henceforth, Of This Fruit (11/21/2012); Unexceptional Beginnings (11/22/2012)
“Dangerous Mr.”, for many mature Christian believers, through operations of the Holy Spirit, blood and truth from the cross are flowing despite time and space to here and now, making possible the answer below:
(1.) At Gethsemane, Jesus realized the work of the cross would be beyond comprehension for created beings and living creatures despite the careful plan of divinity appearing and abiding upon the earth in flesh (we say, Incarnation). Both a revealing of divinity and the sacred potential of humanity was being required. There would have to be total authenticity, completeness, legitimacy, purity, and sobriety for what would be displayed to the living (both those in heaven and upon the earth). Christ approached the cross somewhat in the same way many professional athletes approach their season, the playoffs, and the final championship game. They demand the best from themselves and each other. They would despise one another, and know their careers have lost all meaning and value were they to deliberately “throw the big game,” or foolishly become the cause for losing. Only showing their own true excellence is genuine and real are sufficient to satisfy the demand of the inner desire and hunger to attain the highest levels for unforgettable victory. 2nd Corinthians 5: 20-21, King James Version (KJV): 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
(2.) On the cross, Jesus was to demonstrate the inadequacy of all mankind’s finite tools and responses intended to enable endurance and repel the overthrow by death of human awareness and self-will. Apart from the sacred operations of divinity, there is no practice or preparation for completion of ones mortality. Sin routinely operates through features of the flesh that include appetite (e.g., hunger, thirst, sexual cravings), sensation (e.g., hearing, seeing, tasting, touching), and emotion/mind (e.g., anger, fear, imagination, intellect, instinct, recall). Conscience, discernment, inhibitions, restraint, self-discipline and vigilance are vital aspects of full exercise for what men know as “the will to live.” Jesus demonstrated that along with existence, the things pertaining to life from divinity also are sacred law, longsuffering, divine love, and eternal purpose. 1st John 4: 9-11, KJV: 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
(3.) Once he began his “full-time” prophetic ministry, the duty of Jesus Christ as the Son of Adam and the Son of GOD was to unselfishly minister to others in accordance with their needs, not his own. This required accountability, alertness, constancy, and vigilance. Throughout his time upon the cross, Jesus remained ready to receive a word from the Father; and did minister to John and his own mother. Matthew 20: 27-28, KJV: 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
There is far more to be said, understood, and spiritually apprehended. (For example, (4.) Jesus was to establish access to divinity while serving upon the earth not having all the things of divine authority and GODhead. Like others who appeared as prophets and spokespersons of GOD, he would receive and share sacred knowledge, yet, would have to endure growing and waiting for fulfillment as well as separation from GOD and man because of his character, nature, and works that included dying on the cross. Philippians 2: 5-11, KJV: 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.) I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith.
THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC
Today, additional points are shared (below) on Christ accepting death on the cross, and refusing gall mixed with wine. Through the ministry of Jesus Christ, mankind is no longer challenged to accomplish salvation with victory over death, pride, and sin having only the finite tools of emotion, muscle, and thought. A fighter at thoughts.com using the ID “GoldenPig2012” commented on (03/20/2015) Gall Refused on the Cross? posing the following question:
So, what are you saying? We humans should or should not refuse pain relieving medicine?
THE BATTLE AXE: Gall Refused on the Cross? (03/20/2015)—(5.) The death of Jesus of Nazareth by crucifixion has to be understood as both a natural (we say, human, in the flesh, physical) and sacred event (we say, divine, in the spirit, miraculous, spiritual).
(6.) Christians also acknowledge divine diversity revealed through various devices for managing and ending physical pain. Included are acupuncture, amputation, cold and heat, drugs (that block and force change in regular body functions), exercise, faith, herbs (that assist and unblock regular body functions), meditation, rest, and death.
(7.) In the same way human use of anesthesia and pain-killers in surgery and medicine is different by purpose from use of the noose, electric chair and lethal injections, the suffering of Christ upon the cross is different by sacred operations, eternal purpose, and divine substance from that of the two thieves executed at that same time and place.
(8.) All carnal creatures upon the earth now must complete or “pass through” the condition of mortality—we say, must die, or be made immortal and incorruptible (transformed) at the Second Coming of Christ in glory. While angels are not immortal, they are not mortal, and do not “die”. For humans, the agony of death is experienced on multiple levels all at the same time. For death is emotional, material, mental, physical, psychological, and spiritual. In addition to pain there may be anger,anxiety, bereavement (loss, separation), bitterness, condemnation, despair, disgrace, doubt, fear (we say, torment), feeling betrayed, grief, humiliation (we say, shame), impotence, regret and sorrow.
(9.) The sting (we might say, barb or hook) of death is sin. The barb enters a person smoothly, without effort, and attaches to establish a fixed bond. When attempts are made to reject and retract the connection to death, the hook grips and holds more tenaciously; and the more one struggles against it, the more their flesh is damaged and torn. So to speak, the more violently the victim thrashes about and resists the pull of death, the more they lose strength, and are drained of their life’s blood. Consider again 1st Corinthians 15: 54-56 King James Version (KJV): 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
There is far more to be plainly said, correctly understood, and to get a proper grip upon. (For example, (10.) Jesus Christ demonstrated the higher possibilities (e.g., cleansing, forgiveness, healing, inheritance) for human life upon the earth through covenant with divinity. Because the Lord endured the agony of death on behalf of all mankind, the completion of mortality for his chosen now signals new access to Deity through resurrection that will seal the righteous in eternal life, and allow completion of divine judgment against the wicked. Men are to live in continuous acknowledgment of GOD, not to exist in permanent darkness, then die.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith.
THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC
Today, some points are shared on the choice by Jesus to reject a pain-killer (we say, drug) while suffering upon the cross. Believers will understand how this is another example of the temptation of Christ by Satan. In refusing the gall mixed with wine that was offered to him, the Lord was also refusing defilement through appetite that would make his blood unfit and unclean for sacrifice and atonement. The gall of Rome compared to the leaven of the Pharisees, and represented both lust and worldliness. Christ was to be made the figure of all sin by a surrender to the Father, not by self-promotion and operations of his own will. Thus, believers are made to be the same righteousness of GOD that appeared within Jesus, not by their own will, by their surrender to Christ. The fighter at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “Nigel” (Level 1 with 200 points, a member since May 10, 2012) posted the following thrust:
Christians- when Christ was on the cross, why did he refuse the drink the romans offered him (I think it was called gall)?
Was it not enough that he was dying already? Why would he refuse something that would diminish his suffering just a little? Could he of been trying to be macho in front of an audience? What does his refusal say about the Christian God?
THE GOLDEN ARROW: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2nd Corinthians 5: 17-21, KJV)
THE DOUBLE DAGGER: Resurrection from the Dead? (04/23/2014); Not A Matter Of Opinion? (04/24/2014); Resurrection Sunday (04/19/2014); Jesus Scourged (04/05/2014); Brothers, Not Equals (04/06/2014); Everything a Lie? (10/05/2013); Sacrificed and Risen? (10/06/2013); Assurances of Salvation? (10/07/2013); Henceforth, Of This Fruit (11/21/2012); Unexceptional Beginnings (11/22/2012)
“Nigel”, here are a few points that are now being shared among Christian believers as we are approaching the remembrance of Resurrection Sunday:
(1.) “Gall” is thought to have been a poisonous herbal substance from the poppy plant; and has also been described as hemlock, myrrh, and opium.
(2.) Death was first introduced to mankind in Adam as sleep, at the removing of his rib to fashion the female. Adam endured no agony by her separation, and rejoiced when she was presented as “bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.” It was necessary that Jesus endure the full agony of death on behalf of all mankind to seal and secure the possibilities for rebirth, repentance, resurrection, and sanctification.
(3.) Correctly understood as a sacred operation, death breaks communion and exchange between Deity (i.e., the dead praise not GOD) and the material beings and living creatures put forth from divinity. Death and the completion of mortality are more than the mechanical process visible to us determined by characteristics of the flesh such as aging, decay, and growth. In physical death, all awareness is removed along with the essential gift of self-will.
There is far more to be plainly said, correctly understood, and properly apprehended. (For example, (4.) When a person dies they can no longer commit (we say, is released from) sin. However, challenges, consequences, and obstacles from their living actions and attitudes may continue indefinitely. The death of Jesus upon the cross did not end sin. Yet, multiple mechanisms were put into place for divine atonement that releases men from sin and death, including forgiveness, rebirth, and endowing sinners who come to Christ with fresh sacred content (we say, the imparted Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith and meekness (i.e., willingness to be taught through the Holy Spirit).
THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC
