THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

 

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of the Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one of the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

- Matthew 27:32-44 

 

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

 

Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of the Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, / And for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one of the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  My study Bible comments on today's passage that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His own to take upon Himself our sufferings.  This He accomplishes, it says, by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is truly our humanity.  Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9).  Here St. Matthew teaches us about the two robbers who were crucified with Him:  my study Bible points out that although one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), at first both criminals mock Jesus.  

It seems almost impossible in a world such as we moderns inhabit in the West to consider what it means that God Himself came into earthly life in human form, and was subjected not only to that diminution in stature, but even to the scourging, mocking, beating, and finally humiliation on the Cross that we read about in today's reading.  Even His clothes are taken from Him, stakes in a game of chance. Thinking solely of the pain that Christ endured -- for crucifixion was the most torturous of punishments in the Roman system, reserved for the worst criminals -- it should have been unthinkable for One so exalted to endure such treatment.  In the ancient world the emperors ruled; there was a great sense of hierarchy.  Even today we still have kings and queens and dignitaries, Presidents and Prime Ministers, those whom we consider to be privileged and important in particular ways.  This is not limited to formal society but certainly exists as well in criminal hierarchies.  But where would we find One like Christ who was willing to be humiliated and suffering, subject to the most abject shame before all including His disciples and His mother?  No, our story is unique and remains so, despite the fact that many of us -- so used to the promises and even entitlements of democracy and values of equality -- are subject to constant demands and complaints about lack of privilege.  How is Christ even comprehensible -- in an ancient world, or even today's world?  This is the powerful story that is "a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks" and still remains so, no matter which political theory one may espouse or hear or find in a social order in this world.  This is not simply a Man who suffers for others, who suffers for us, but God who has subjected Himself to this suffering in order to bring His divine healing to us and to our world.  Today we worship other idols than in Christ's time; often these are sports stars, or movie stars, or even for some politicians or political activists of many stripes.  And like Barabbas, there are those who murder for social change.  But Christ remains a staggering testimony to love above even the best, for His compassion, condescension, and willingness to suffer so that we might all be freed in the cosmic sense of salvation offered to all, which is the meaning of "for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28).  The irony is present here in the name of the crime for which He is crucified, for it speaks the truth, and echoes the deeper, grander truth far greater than anyone can estimate on that universal and even cosmic scale.  He is the King who gives all for us, from love that calls us all.

 

 

 

 

Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him

 

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"   Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

 

- Mark 15:22–32 

 

 Yesterday we read that Pilate answered and said to the crowd again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.  Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

 

And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Golgotha is the Place of a Skull, the place of death.  This is the full human experience of the Lord, the author of life.  He did not take anything that would blunt His pain in being crucified.  He has the full measure of unjust suffering that is possible for a human being.  They divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take:  see Psalm 22:18.   In tomorrow's reading, Mark reports Christ praying this psalm, giving us its first verse as His cry from the cross (Mark 15:34).  Regarding the inscription on the Cross, my study Bible comments that what was intended as an accusation and a mockery became instead a triumphant symbol.  Pilate's act of giving Jesus this title (see John 19:19-22) is prophetic, showing that the religious leaders had risen against their own King, and that the cross was the means by which Christ established His Kingdom.

 

 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"   Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.  That Christ was crucified between two robbers not only fulfills the Scripture, my study Bible says (see Isaiah 53:12), but also shows He is completely identifying with sinful humanity.  Those who passed by blasphemed Him and the chief priests and scribes are mocking Him.  He has fallen to such a low place in the social order that even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him, even as His Cross bears the title KING.

 

What are we to make of this scene?  Christ is reviled even by those who are crucified with Him, mocked, derided.  The words of prophecy regarding His Resurrection are misunderstood and thrown back in His face as sadistic ridicule (see John 2:18-22).  Those who say these things to Him are no doubt taking pleasure in His pain, and what seems to be an ignominious end and failure of His ministry.  It seems to me to tell us many important things.  First of all, there is the appearance of failure.  Christ's "failure" is not failure, but prelude to triumph.  Imagine this scene, and then the impossible, unheard-of news that will come at the tomb, and later on as He makes appearances to His disciples.  The rest of the 2,000 year history of the Church will follow, but for now let us consider how the gospel message will spread throughout the Roman Empire and across the known world of the time through the apostles.  So the appearance of failure cannot be trusted.  On the other hand, it also teaches us that the "success" of this scheme is no success at all.  The apparent successes we see in life are equally simply appearances.  The engineering of this evil and cruel end, despite the terror of His great suffering and punishment under a system reserved for the worst of criminals, will achieve nothing of the desired ends of those who want Jesus dead.  Rather, to the country, it will be used by God as triumph, as clear indication that God's power prevails over that of human beings -- but more importantly, over evil.  But there is something more that comes out of this horrible scene, and that is its meaning personally for us and in our own lives.  The fact that our Creator has apparently (that is, to human eyes) "failed" so spectacularly is a message to each of us.  And that is a message of hope that always exists as a seed in every circumstance.  The appearance of failure, even the apparent triumph of evil, should never stop a faithful Christian from pursuing our faith, and our lives as we are asked by God to live them.  We understand through this scene that our world is not perfect, nor does our Lord proclaim it to be "perfect."  Rather, He lives the injustice and pain of the world.  As the prophet says, "He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted" (see Isaiah 53:4-6).  We can be assured that whatever we go through, and whatever happens to us in life, our Savior has been there before us, and has assured us that no appearance of failure, no cruelty nor injustice can define who we are in God's sight.  This is because our Lord has shown us that nothing that He went through defined Him, except to teach us of His love for us, His willingness to suffer for love on our behalf.  So not only should we look at this scene, even when we want to recoil from it, and see its teaching that our real judgment does not come from this world, but also we must be able to see the immense, unfathomable love of our Creator for us.  Whatever happens in our lives, we can be upheld by these two things, and this is the gift of our enormously suffering Creator who loves us.  It really does not matter what comes along in life, who rejects us or reviles us, who mocks us and ridicules us, what failures in worldly terms we endure:  for the faithful person our Creator is truly the last word.  He is the Word Himself, and He will indeed have the last word as Judge.  Ultimately it is His judgment alone which we need to take about ourselves and all things; it is His judgment that will define reality and our worth, and His judgment that must lead us in our lives, even after a spectacular failure or setback, and no matter what are our afflictions.  This is what we must take from the Cross, the great gift of God to us, and especially the meaning of our Lord and Savior Jesus, who loves us so much He was willing to suffer and die for us.  He is left at this Place of a Skull, a garbage heap for human beings.  But what it means is that even when we might find ourselves in such a place, either figuratively or even literally, He is there out of love, with us.  We who follow Him are therefore those who always have hope.  We just have to seek and find His way for us through all things, even through a human garbage heap, with prayer -- and even in those times when, unlike Christ, our failure might be entirely our own.  He remains the answer to whatever it is we need.

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

- Matthew 27:32-44

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all with the crowd, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.   Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."   The prophesy is from Psalm 22:18.  The entirety of the Psalm tells the story of Jesus' crucifixion.  Simon of Cyrene is possibly a pilgrim in Jerusalem for the Passover, or he is possibly there for other reasons and is not a Jew.  At any rate, he is compelled as one from a Roman colony.  Cyrene was originally a prosperous, cultural Greek city in eastern Libya.  He and his family would become known in the early Church, as Mark's Gospel refers to him as "the father of Rufus and Alexander" (Mark 15:21). 

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  My study bible tells us that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His won to take upon Himself our sufferings.  He accomplishes this by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is our humanity.  A note tells us, "Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9)."   We are told here of the two robbers on either side of Christ.  Although one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), Matthew tells us that at first both criminals mock Jesus.

Once again the Gospels give us a picture within a picture:  although Christ is mocked, the truth is here in the story.  It is here in the accusation:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Apollinaris of Laodicea (Bishop of Laodicea) comments that Jesus is now glorified while the day of the righteous is always mocked by the ignorant.  The world brings to Jesus in this scene all of its scorn and mocking, a projection of its hatred and destruction and condemnation.  Leo the Great (Pope St. Leo I) sees in Simon of Cyrene compelled to carry the Cross a vision of the faith that would come to the Gentiles, to whom the cross of Christ was not to be shame but glory. He writes, "It was not accidental therefore but symbolic and mystical, that while the Jewish rulers were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share his sufferings. Thus the apostle would say, 'If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him'" (2 Timothy 2:12; Romans 8:17).  It seems essential to understand how Christ stands in for us in this place of mocking and derision.  The cruelty of His extreme suffering becomes something to laugh about, to make worse through jeers and rebukes.  He is the One who is wholly innocent and without sin, and yet He takes on this sin and bears it for us.  But the irony is that it is sin being crucified so that we may be reborn without it.  This is the hour, contrary to the worldly appearance, that Christ calls His hour of glory (John 12:23).  Regardless of what is being done to Him, the true reality of Christ is one of glory and divinity.  The lies and injustice -- for injustice is also a form of a lie -- cannot truly touch the essence of Christ, His substance.  Through faith, this becomes our own hour of glory, as to be to crucified with Christ is to awaken to our own true nature as His children:  we may be reborn through His suffering to be "like Him," to take on and grow in His likeness, and to come to understand ourselves as creatures made in the image of God.  Is this a picture of humanity, made only for the lowest and most miserable existence -- or is it rather a picture of what we do, how we sin, what lies we tell ourselves, what suffering we cause or are made only to endure?  That particular picture of sheer misery is the "worldly" one, in which meaning and value are only attached to appearance -- a "material-mindedness" that subjects us to a valuation based on rank, competition, manipulation, a hierarchy of who can claim what.  But Christ's crucifixion turns that world upside-down, gives us a reality that transcends it and even more -- the reality that is present here transforms that suffering.  It takes the suffering and through it tells us the truth instead.  That truth is that God is love, who loves us and values us so that we are worth God's suffering -- even to give us life in ways we didn't have it before.  This is a picture of the eternal God who intersects our time in order to bring us the gift of life, even hidden in this picture of a gruesome and miserable death.  There are several here who will themselves be transformed:  the centurion and men who are with him, one of the robbers crucified with Christ, Simon of Cyrene and his sons -- and these are just the immediate beneficiaries we can name, for whom a new life begins at the Cross.  And there is even more to this story:  our faith may come to us even when we are alone and outcast, when the whole world seems to collaborate to tell us we are nothing but sin.  Leo the Great goes on to note that Christ is crucified outside the gates of the city; He is the new lamb slain not in the temple whose sacrifices will come to an end, but on the altar of the Cross once and for all -- and for all the world.   This transfiguring moment means that we are never alone, He is always with us in every hour and at all times of our lives.  His gift of life is waiting for our own suffering to be transformed in His image, if we live our own suffering with Him.  And in this understanding, nothing will ever be the same again.

They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS

THE KING OF THE JEWS

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

- Matthew 27:32-44

In our current readings, it is Holy Week and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He has been sentenced by the Council,  and delivered to Pilate.  We read also of Peter's denial of Christ, and also Judas' suicide.  With Christ brought before him, Pilate asked, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Knowing Christ was innocent, he brought Him before the crowds, as it was the custom to free a prisoner at the Feast, and offered to let Him go, but the crowds called for Barabbas.  Yesterday, we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS - THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.   My study bible says of today's passage that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His own in order to take upon Himself our sufferings.  His divine nature is truly united to His human nature -- and His humanity, as we read here, is our humanity.   It says, "He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 2:9)."  There are other personalities mentioned in today's reading.  Simon of Cyrene was most likely a pilgrim come for the Passover Feast from a coastal city in what is now Libya.  His two sons, Rufus and Alexander, would become missionaries known to the Church (see Mark 15:21).  This passage tells us that both robbers on either side of Christ "revile" Him with the same words used by the chief priests, scribes and elders.   One of them would repent (Luke 23:39-43).  The Scripture quotation is from Psalm 22, which is a description of the Crucifixion.

Today's reading describes our Savior brought low -- to the place where even the criminals being crucified mock and revile Him, as do the rest of the people here who represent the whole of the society.  There is no doubt of the abject misery of this moment.  Christ is in agonizing pain and absolute weakness, a state of helpless suffering and on His way to death.  Since we know this death is entered into voluntarily, what we're seeing here is the condescension of our Lord to the most humiliating treatment and position in His society as a Jew.  He has become truly looked down upon by everyone.  As a human being, He refuses nothing of the ills which could befall us.  Refusing the sour wine mingled with gall seems to be yet another indication of voluntarily suffering and experiencing the pain of such a state, as gall has been interpreted also to mean myrrh (see Mark 15:23), something perhaps to create stupor just before crucifixion.  Why this suffering?  Why this emptying of all the things human beings desire for themselves?  This is what life looks like at our most courageous, when everything else fails us and we continue in faith anyway.  It's His Passion that teaches us that emptying to God gives us divine or God-like qualities.  Here is Christ crucified, the One who became man for our sake, who dies for love even of all those who harm and torment Him.  One thing we can say that we are really seeing here is love, a love that surpasses everything else -- all desires and choices a human being can make.  The world here in this picture is truly upside down; it's a picture of victory although no one knows it.  It's the thing that evil could desire, the manifestation of the worst of the worst.  But love will conquer everything.  It is the love of God that is on display and that will triumph.  St. Athanasius said, "The Son of God became man so that we might become God."  Jesus shows us the way through His humanity, to be "like God" in our faith.  The answer is love, which starts with love of God, and thereby must also serve the world.  Everything depends on the state of our hearts, where our faith is, why we do what we do.  Don't let the picture fool you.  The greatest love of all is here, for us, and nothing will prevail against it.