Mixed Drinks

“Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.” Mark 15:23

I know that I have read the account of Jesus making his torturous walk to the cross many times but somehow this statement escaped me. There isn’t one verse in the Bible that doesn’t demand our attention and this one is no different. I discovered that wine mingled with myrrh was something offered as a sedative to lessen His pain. Every action of Jesus serves as an example of how to walk out our story in this fallen world of sin and suffering. He was offered temporary relief, but He knew His sacrifice was to relieve mankind of sin and their separation from God…so ‘He did not take it.’

We all have had seasons of suffering…suffering like never before…suffering that brings images of past or present seasons bearing down on us. One of the seasons for me is the 8 years Bruce and I didn’t know the outcome of our daughter’s life. Eight years weighted down by the burden of fear, despair and disillusionment. Somewhere along the way, the world offered me wine mingled with myrrh but unlike Jesus I did drink it. In an effort to numb my pain I began making purchases with money I didn’t have. I would wake up in the morning with the reality that the nightmare was still there. My mind would immediately turn to some activity that day that would involve my mixed drink of wine and myrrh… spending in secret. It would take my mind off my pain for a few hours or so, but a suffering heart has a perfect memory. Although the burden of my daughter’s choices was placed upon me, I created my own burden of sin within me. Because Jesus obeyed all the way to the cross, thankfully and humbly I received the benefit of forgiveness.

We all have our own temptations of saying yes to the mixed drink of wine and myrrh as we bear the weight of our crosses. The world provides a full menu of offerings to numb the pain in our despair… alcohol…drugs…spending…infidelity…anger ...workaholic escapes. But Jesus knew what we need to know. He fully understood that through His raw pain there would be healing…there would be atonement…there would be freedom. We also need to know that this morning. We need our hearts to believe that what Jesus set in motion through His death and resurrection is our beautiful snapshot of temporal suffering being replaced with eternal joy. There are beginnings and endings to our seasons and through it all we are the beneficiaries of the supernatural power of God. May we meet our burdens head on with the mixed drink of prayer and God's power.

“At the cross, he drank the wine of his Father’s wrath down to its very dregs so that we might enjoy the wine of his Father’s love, join him, and live redeemed forever in the glorious presence of the one who took no shortcuts in saving us.” David Mathis, Executive Editor for desiringGod.com.