Sermon Tone Analysis

In the Beginning...

Hebrew then English: In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.

After creating all of the plants and animals to live in and on the earth, He made mankind in His own image, male and female.

They were given every plant in the Garden of Eden for food except one: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Man and woman He made them.

And it was found to be good.

He rested on the seventh day.

Some time later, while she was alone, Eve was approached by the serpent, who tempted her to take of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Man followed her example and both were no longer able to live in the presence of a holy and sinless God.

But he prophesied for them while cursing the serpent:

– And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

And thus began God’s plan to reconcile humanity to Himself, so that a race that was once free from all sin and temptation could return to that state.

The plan’s penultimate turn required a sacrifice that could not be fulfilled with an animal.

It required the death of God Himself.

But in the story of the Lord’s Passion, we see the story of all salvation history.

I Thirst...

Ever been thirsty?

Like, really really thirsty?

It was a nice day in Jerusalem, that early day in April, 33 AD.

But Jesus had been beaten within an inch of His life.

And he was making the 650 yard trip from Pilate’s court to the hill that he’d be crucified on.

Some scholars argue that Jesus was carrying the crossbar, which only weighed 80-110 pounds, but this is highly unlikely as Jesus had only been sentenced to death a few minutes before this, so there was no way that they would have been prepared ahead of time to execute Him.

This means he was carrying the full 300 pound cross.

Even in 60 degree weather, you are going to get hot and sweaty from this.

Add to that the fact that He’d just been beaten within an inch of His life with a metal and stone tipped leather whip, and was wearing a crown of thorns that had been pressed into His head.

Even with the help of Simon of Cyrene who was drafted into helping, this would have been an excruciating ordeal that would have left Him drained.

Before they put Him on the cross to nail Him to it, someone, probably trying to help, offered Jesus some wine with myrrh mixed in.

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).

23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.

Scourge

If you think back, when the magi were visiting Him, He was given gifts of gold, to mark Him as King, and frankincense, to mark Him as God incarnate and our High Priest, and myrrh, to indicate that His ultimate fate was to die.

Usually, myrrh was used in the embalming process.

In this instance, myrrh is used to dull pain and as a mild sedative, making death that much closer and easier to attain.

Jesus, knowing what He had to do, refused this and chose to endure the full brunt of the suffering and humiliation that the cross had to offer.

He was not going to cop out of what He had to do.

If you think back, when the magi were visiting Him, He was given gifts of gold, to mark Him as King, and frankincense, to mark Him as God incarnate and our High Priest, and myrrh, to indicate that His ultimate fate was to die.

Usually, myrrh was used in the embalming process.

In this instance, myrrh is used to dull pain and as a mild sedative, making death that much closer and easier to attain.

Jesus, knowing what He had to do, refused this and chose to endure the full brunt of the suffering and humiliation that the cross had to offer.

He was not going to cop out of what He had to do.

So the first wine (mixed with myrrh) was designed to dull Jesus’ pain, to keep him from having to endure the cross with full consciousness.

This wine he refused.

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain.

This is the wine Jesus drank.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain).

But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

This is the God

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain.

This is the wine Jesus drank.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain).

But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain).

But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).

23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.

Scourge

So the first wine (mixed with myrrh) was designed to dull Jesus’ pain, to keep him from having to endure the cross with full consciousness.

This wine he refused.

But Jesus was offered another drink later on, in :

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”

which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”

36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain.

This is the wine Jesus drank.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain).

But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

This is the God

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain.

This is the wine Jesus drank.

According to one scholar, the sour wine vinegar is mentioned in the OT as a refreshing drink, and in Greek and Roman literature as well it is a common beverage appreciated by laborers and soldiers because it relieved thirst more effectively than water and was inexpensive.

The Gatorade of the first century.

The thought, then, is not of a corrosive vinegar offered as a cruel jest, but of a sour wine of the people.

The people who offered it to Him wanted to see what else would have happened or what else He would say.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain).

But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

This is the God who we serve; the one who would go the distance to save us from ourselves.

The Temptation

Isn’t it ironic how Satan continues to try the exact same techniques to seduce the people of God into committing sin.

From the very beginning Satan has tried to contradict the word of God and use it to his advantage.

If you eat from the tree you shall not surely die… immediately… Sadly, humanity fell to the temptation offered by Satan.

Similarly, Satan tried to get Christ to fall to the same temptation.

In we get an understanding of the devil and his trickery aimed at Jesus.

In this story we see Jesus, freshly baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

We see a dove descend down from heaven and we hear a voice exclaiming the Christ is the Son of God.

Jesus has just recieved conformation that He in fact is the Son of God and immediately after this, Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.

4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil.

And he ate nothing during those days.

And when they were ended, he was hungry.

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’

” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.

7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God,

and him only shall you serve.’