Bitter Death

I listened to a Tim Keller sermon the other day and he brought up an interesting point. Dr. Keller said that Jesus was the only person ever to choose death. He admitted that there are, of course, many noble people who have died voluntarily, but they did not really choose death itself; they merely chose when they would meet death. For humans death is inevitable and unavoidable, so we have no choice in dying. Instead, we can only choose when we want to meet that end. For Christ, God incarnate, death is anything but inevitable and unavoidable, so death must be a deliberate and heavy choice.

Christ's death was wholly voluntary, and I believe that he embraced and experienced death to its fullest extent. There will never be another who will feel the most blatant experience of death in its truest form than he.

Matthew 27:34 says, "There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it."

This verse struck me, because it seemed inconsistent with the Jesus we are shown everywhere else in the gospels. In countless places Jesus reads people's thoughts, emotions, and even their pasts. So, in verse 34, are we really supposed to believe that Christ didn't know something as simple as the fact that the wine he was offered was mixed with gall? Did he really have to taste it to find that out?

My take on this is that he knew that the wine was mixed with gall. I think that this seemingly small occurrence speaks volumes about who Jesus was and what he did.

Now, I'm probably being a little speculative here, but I think that Jesus voluntarily chose to taste the bitter wine mixed with gall in order to fully taste the bitterness of death. Verse 34 displays his full and inexorable surrender and embrace of death and all its bitterness, to the point where he would physically taste its acerbity in order to fully "taste" death for himself, and maybe even to show us his steadfast willingness and commitment to this cup, which was not taken from him.

He could have easily refused the wine mixed with gall before tasting it and still accomplished the wonderful work on Calvary, but he still chose to taste it.

(This is a stretch, but could the wine and gall in verse 34 be figuratively related to the "cup" that Jesus references to in Matthew 25:42, where he prays "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done"?)

What Dr. Keller said and what verse 34 seems to tell me convey the same thing. They both amplify the truth that Jesus fully accepted his fate, his death, and our punishment. He really, truly chose death, and chose to taste it in all its bitterness, for us.

When I think about this, I really find myself at a loss for words.

On a related note, I just read what is now my favorite poem of all time. It's called The Ballad of Reading Gaol, by Oscar Wilde. It is quite long, but it tells a story of a man's impending hanging from the perspective of a fellow inmate. (Wilde actually spent two years at Reading Prison, and signs the poem "C.3.3," which was his prisoner identification there. You can read more about the background behind this poem here.) I like it because it uses some rhyming patterns, and the story moved me greatly. If you want to read it, you can do so here. (It's quite long.)

I will end this post with a few great lines (there are so many) from the poem which seemed fitting for the topic at hand.

Alas! it is a fearful thing
To feel another’s guilt!
For, right within, the sword of Sin
Pierced to its poisoned hilt,
And as molten lead were the tears we shed
For the blood we had not spilt.

The warders with their shoes of felt
Crept by each padlocked door,
And peeped and saw, with eyes of awe,
Gray figures on the floor,
And wondered why men knelt to pray
Who never prayed before.

All through the night we knelt and prayed,
Mad mourners of a corse!
The troubled plumes of midnight shook
Like the plumes upon a hearse:
And as bitter wine upon a sponge
Was the savour of Remorse.

. . .

Ah! happy they whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from Sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?

. . .

For only blood can wipe out blood,
And only tears can heal:
And the crimson stain that was of Cain
Became Christ's snow-white seal.