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“They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink” (Matthew 27:34).
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst…and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth” (John 19:28-29).
It seems that the Lord Jesus was offered vinegar twice; once just before He was crucified, and once just before He died. Gall was a bitter poison they had mixed with vinegar, and was offered to Him in mockery, although some feel that it was intended to lessen his sufferings. The Lord Jesus tasted it but would not drink it. Later, at the end of the three hours of darkness, He asked for a drink, and this time they offered him vinegar again. This was a kind of sour wine that the soldiers drank, but would not quench His thirst. This had all been prophesied in the Old Testament, for we read in Psalm 69:21, “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
All this shows the heart of man, who added to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. Yet His love kept Him on that cross, until the work was finished.
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