The Via Dolorosa, Station 11, cont.

There must have been, even for the most calloused of Roman soldiers, a certain awkwardness surrounding their crucifixion duties. Perhaps I’m mistaken. But it would seem that anyone with an ounce of humanity would really have to suck it up to begin pounding nails through the flesh of another human being. This is not some distant shot with an arrow. This is a horror show taking place within a few inches of the screaming victim.

We know from history that compassion was not altogether lacking from those who pulled the crucifixion assignment. Once the order to execute was a fait accompli, the soldiers could shorten the duration of suffering in one of two ways. They could break the legs of the victim, which sounds violent and harsh, but the collapse of that support would bring asphyxiation in short order. They could also run a spear through the victim. These were no doubt severe mercies, but in light of the inevitable death, mercies nonetheless. We also know that the Romans allowed a certain group of women to prepare a potion of wine mixed with gall. According to an old tradition, respected women of Jerusalem provided a narcotic drink to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain.  ~William Lane, The Gospel of Mark, p.564 The wine was no prize winner. It had aged to the point of tasting like vinegar. But mixed with gall it was effective at numbing the pain.

So, what was gall? Scholars believe that gall was derived from the poppy plant. Opium, heroin and morphine all share the poppy plant as a source thus making gall a powerful sedative. Another reference, given to us in Hosea 10:4, suggests that it might be hemlock. Regardless of whether it was a powerful drug or a powerful toxin, the offer was welcomed by the condemned. Death would come sooner.
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As the soldiers reached for their hammers and their spikes, Jesus was offered the tranquilizer: They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ~Matthew 27:33,34 

Why? Why not drink the juice? Because his  ministry was not quite finished. There was one more soul who needed to hear the good news. And, there were his tormentors who needed to hear a word forgiveness. For their sakes and for ours he endured the pain to its utmost.