Place: UnrecordedScripture Reading: Matt. 5:39-41, 44; 27:33-35; Luke 23:33-34; Acts 7:54-60; Rom. 12:14, 20; 1 Cor. 4:8-16; 11:16-29
Before the Lord was crucified on the cross and the soldiers divided his garments, He was scourged before the Jews and Gentiles and judged by the rulers. Then He took up the cross and went to Golgotha to suffer punishment, and the executioners nailed Him to the cross. At this point two things occurred. The first was recorded in Matthew 27:34: "They gave Him wine to drink, mingled with gall. And when He tasted it, He would not drink." The second was recorded in Luke 23:34, where the Lord prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
What is the purpose of wine mingled with gall? Crucifixion is very painful, and the law allowed soldiers to give wine mingled with gall to the crucified man in order to relieve some of the pain of crucifixion. It functioned like the anesthetics we have today. Others would take it, but our Lord Jesus would not drink it. Human crosses have wine mingled with gall, because with human crosses there is always the sense of pain.
The cross of Christ shows us that if there is the cross there is no need of wine mingled with gall and that if there is wine mingled with gall there is no cross. These two things cannot exist together. The Lord's cross did not have any wine mingled with gall, and there was no need for it. It was not used, but not because it was unavailable. It was available and indeed very convenient. If one used it, he would be relieved of some of his pain. It was not used, but not because it was useless; it was not used because He refused it. Why did the Lord reject it? It was rejected because even though the cross could generate much feeling in others, it could not produce any feeling in Christ. (This, of course, does not refer to His physical feelings.) If there is a genuine bearing of the cross, there should not be any feeling or reaction. If there is any feeling or reaction, it means that it is only an act of a martyr, not a genuine bearing of the cross.
Today there are many Christian "martyrs," but there are very few cross-bearing Christians. Many people go through this and that kind of suffering. Although they do not say anything, their faces tell others that they are suffering. It would be better for these Christians not to suffer at all! The kind of cross they are bearing is a cross of wine mingled with gall.
When the Lord was crucified, He refused the wine mingled with gall. Luke tells us that He prayed for those who crucified Him and asked the Father to forgive them. This is the cross that has no wine mingled with gall. The Lord suffered all kinds of pain on the cross, but He did not feel mistreated. He did not murmur in His heart, saying, "Look at you people! You are too evil! Do you know that one day I will judge you for these things?" The cross the Lord went to was a cross without wine mingled with gall. Wine mingled with gall may not be a complete anesthetic, but those who are conscious of their own suffering have the need to drink of it.
My burden is not to expound the Bible here. There are many Christians today who are telling others by their words and attitude that they are "martyrs"; they give no impression that they are rejecting the wine mingled with gall. They may have been rebuked by their wives at home. They may have received a cold shoulder in return for hard work at the office. They may have been mistreated in the church and by the brothers and sisters. Their faces tell others that they are martyrs. If a person is truly bearing the cross, there is no feeling of pain. Those who need wine mingled with gall are saying that they are suffering in heart. But a true bearer of the cross has no need of wine mingled with gall.
You may find this hard to understand. Let me try to state it another way. Matthew 5 contains many precious teachings, but how many Christians in the church are practicing them? When I was young, I was once a class-leader at school. I was good at my studies, and none of my classmates were my equal. After I became a Christian, six classmates came to test me. They wanted to find out whether I practiced the teaching of Matthew 5. It was relatively easy not to retaliate when I was slapped. But it was difficult to turn my left cheek after the right cheek was slapped. When I was slapped that day, I could not maintain my Christian composure any longer. I wished in my heart that the great white throne would come quickly. After they left, I was happy that I had not hit back. But when I went to the Lord in my prayer, I could only confess my sins. I realized that there was bitterness within me. The outward suffering may be the same, but whether or not there is bitterness within makes a big difference.
There once was a brother in the Middle Ages by the name of Goils. He was a good brother, and he worked as a cook in a monastery. Every time there was a conference in the monastery, men would come from many places, and he would prepare beef, lamb, chicken, duck, and vegetables for them for ten days. The monastery was situated on a mountain, and it was not an easy task to prepare so much food and carry all the foodstuffs to the monastery. He wanted to listen in on the conference, and he was unwilling to lose the opportunity to listen to the sermons and just cook for the others. The more he considered, the more he could not sleep at night. Eventually, the Lord shone His light on him and showed him that the cross is a matter of giving and not receiving and that everything was under God's sovereign arrangement. He realized his own mistake and repented. After he repented, he realized that the abbott's voice had become hoarse. He felt sorry for the abbott and prepared some special porridge for him when he came back from his work at midnight. Here is a man who was bearing the cross. He turned his left cheek to the others. Eventually, he became a blessing to many people through his knowledge of God.
If turning the left cheek to others was merely a matter of performance, even unbelievers could do it. The issue is not about being slapped on the cheek, going the extra mile, or yielding the cloak; rather, it is about the ability to love from within and to be free from hatred.
What is the cross? The cross is the place where hatred disappears. There can only be love, not hatred. This is why there is no murmuring with the cross. Christ prayed for those who persecuted Him because there was no hatred in Him; there was only love. This is why He refused the wine mingled with gall.
Do we see many Christians suffering today? Surely we do. I have seen many suffering wives, suffering fathers, suffering sons, etc. But I have also noticed the difference in their expressions. Some do not say anything at the time of suffering (this is the most common case), yet behind one's back they murmur a great deal. If we find ourselves murmuring after something is over, it means that there is a feeling of suffering. The only reason we would need wine mingled with gall would be because we do not know what the cross is. Another group of people do not murmur or make any noise, yet they weep. There may be blood on the cross, but there should be no tears on the cross. A person weeps because he pities himself. There was no self-pitying on the Lord's cross; there was only pity toward others. Francis Havergal was a person plagued with sickness, but he often said, "Everyone pities me because of my sicknesses. Yet I never pity myself, because Christ has borne all my sicknesses."
Only those who are beneath the cross weep. Those who are on the cross do not weep. If a man feels that he is wounded, he is not on the cross. As soon as some people suffer a little, they feel that they are being martyred. But this is not the cross. What is the cross? The Lord said, "If I be lifted up from the earth..." (John 12:32). Every one who is crucified is one who is lifted up. A crucified person is one who is on top. If you feel that you have been taken advantage of, that you have been slighted, you are a downtrodden one. If you are truly crucified on the cross, you will not feel wounded. The minute you feel wounded, you are not on the cross. The genuine cross only leads to silent prayers in the heart; there is no murmuring and no self-pitying. As long as there is the feeling of suffering, there is the need of wine mingled with gall.
The first thing we notice about Christ on the cross is that there was no murmuring. If one encounters certain circumstances and feels pain, it proves that he does not have the cross. Wherever there is the feeling of pain, there is wine mingled with gall. Do not think that a smiling face indicates that people are bearing the cross. Of course, neither does this mean that a weeping face indicates that people are not bearing the cross. A person who is genuinely bearing the cross has no feeling of suffering whatsoever.
The Lord's word on the cross was a prayer for His enemies. He loved His enemies. After Paul and Silas were scourged, they were thrown into prison and their feet were secured in the stocks. They were in much tribulation, but they did not take wine mingled with gall. They did not murmur against others, and they did not pity themselves. Their prayer and singing were genuine. When Paul saw the jailer drawing his sword to kill himself, he shouted, "Do no harm to yourself." This proves that he loved the jailer.
Some people first tell long stories about their suffering and then pray. Such prayer does nothing except pour cold water over our heads. Some wives come to tell me how badly their husbands have treated them, and how they have endured. However, I am afraid that such endurance has arrogance mixed in with it. It is a good thing to be joyful and to love, but if the joy is artificial, we should condemn it.
There were two Christians who were sisters in the flesh. One day the older one offended the younger one. The younger one kept her mouth shut, but she would sing every time the older one passed by. Her singing was saying, in effect, "See! You are defeated. You have offended me, but I do not take this to heart. I am victorious...." She did this to make the older one feel bad. This is the Pharisee's prayer — praying in an unnatural way and taking revenge by pretending to be happy.
What is the cross? Simply put, if I am one who bears the cross, there should not be any feeling of suffering in me. It is not something performed but something spontaneous. The prayer of Paul and Silas and the cry of Stephen all showed that they were men without need of wine mingled with gall.
The real bearing of the cross is not in any outward act, such as turning the left cheek, yielding the cloak, or walking the extra mile, but in the heart. Today many Christians are performing these three outward things, but the cross is not there. Bearing the cross is inwardly refusing wine mingled with gall. There is no jealousy, vexation, or revenge. Instead, there is genuine prayer, blessing, and love.
Paul put it well in Romans 12: "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head" (v. 20). The spontaneous love that flows from you will heap a fire upon others. Pretentious love will not burn anyone.
In order to understand Paul, you have to read his Epistles to the Corinthians. Today there are some Christians who are like the Corinthians. If Paul praised them, they would say that Paul was taking them by guile. If Paul spoke a frank word to them, they would say that Paul was persecuting them. Under such circumstances, it is extremely difficult for anyone to say anything for himself. This is why Paul said, "I speak...as if in foolishness....I speak in foolishness" (2 Cor. 11:17, 21). "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I myself do not burn?" (v. 29). Although many criticized Paul, he was not concerned. His mouth was still open to them, and his heart was enlarged (6:11).
Those who need wine mingled with gall are exercising pity on themselves. They can easily be provoked, and they scorn others by pretending to be happy. They are not actually bearing any cross. In reality, if we are bearing the cross, our cross is not a cross. Only the cross that Christ bears for us is the cross. When trouble comes and things bother us, the only way to avoid a total physical and mental collapse is to give the burden to the spirit — turning it over to the spirit — because our body and nervous system cannot bear it without feeling its effects. The cross is really very good for our nerves and our health. If it is not the cross, however, it is a studied course of action. The love that is rooted within, that originates from the cross, is a love that is mingled with Christ's love and flows into others. This love surmounts everything. There are many Christians who find it difficult to be Christians because it is all an outward practice, a striving to follow the outward principles of Christianity outwardly. This compulsion of oneself invariably leads to a breakdown.
It would be cruel of God to only give us Matthew 5 if He did not also give us the cross. When we know that it is no longer we who live but Christ and that we live by the faith of the Son of God in us, we find that there are no repercussions because He receives the blows, not us. We are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. We escape it all — His right hand upholds us so that we do not collapse, and in the spirit we are carried through in Him.
Without a deep knowledge of the cross, trials and sufferings only bring reaction and collapse. But when the cross operates, there is only love. There are many things, in fact most things, that we can experience only in a limited way, but not love. This and only this can be fully experienced now. God has given all His love to us in His Son — we have seen the proof of this on the cross, and we have all of His love.
Being crucified and being wounded are two different things. When you are crucified, you have no wound. When you are wounded, you have not been crucified. I hate the feeling of a "martyr" — many have this feeling because they do not know the cross. They know tears, but they do not know bleeding. They are always seeking sympathy and pity for themselves on the plane of self-pity, not on the high plane of being seated in the heavenlies, reigning, and being able to forgive largely, freely, and regally like a king. You are great spiritually if people can crucify you but not wound you. Suffering and being wounded are one thing, but being crucified is another thing.
We hear people say, "So-and-so has experienced the cross deeply. For years she has borne the cross." But this is not true if there have been many tears; she only has the feeling of a martyr. Really knowing the cross is dying a kingly death like Stephen, quietly with perfect control, committing his spirit to God and praying for forgiveness for his slayers. We cannot pity him; we can only respect and honor him and worship the Lord. Those who truly bear the cross do not pity themselves; they do not need or want the pity of others. We look to the Lord to lead us into more knowledge of the cross.
Prayer: Our Lord, we come before Your presence to ask for Your forgiveness. How easy it is for us to be wounded or to boast or murmur in our suffering. May You cause us to love from the bottom of our hearts and to forgive without any pretense so that we may experience spiritual reality in our family life as well as in all of our circumstances.
