Christ refusing any Alleviation of His Sufferings.
Standing before the scene these words picture, I would ask, devoutly and earnestly: What does it mean? What light does it shed upon Christ? What help does it render us in life? I think it illustrates:
I. The source of the moral majesty of the Son of Man. In this brief occurrence I read at once the greatness, and the origin, of that majestic character which raises Jesus so immeasurably above all others of the sons of men. He refused to receive a balm for His agony; in that He exhibited a moral strength utterly unparalleled, and in that very refusal we learn from whence His strength came. He received not His strength from man, and from the relief man offered Him He turned away; He received His might from God, and the secret of that might lay in perfect submission to His will.
II. What was the meaning of the consummation of Christ's sufferings? It has been truly remarked that He drank the last drop of His cup of agony by refusing that which would alleviate its final pangs. We have said that He did not do that for the mere sake of enduring, but in surrender to the will of Heaven. The question comes, What means that will? Christ died, not to reconcile God, nor yet to compensate for so much evil; but to restore the loving spirit of man to the eternal Father. For that restoration two things were requisite; man must learn the majesty of God's law; and he must be drawn by love to the Divine One. Both these receive glorious illustration from the words before us.
III. We learn, too, from this history, the clearness of Christ's vision of death. He resolved to die with His mental vision clear and calm. In full self-possession He went to face death's horror. There is a deep significance in this, in relation to the manner in which Christ conquered death for every man.
IV. The duty of Christ's disciples. When suffering meets us in the path of obedience, we must not shrink back from its approach; but, trusting in Christ's strength, calmly, resolutely, fearlessly face it.
E. L. Hull, Sermons,2nd series, p. 213.
References: Mark 15:23. Spurgeon, Evening by Evening,p. 233.Mark 15:23-32. H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man,p. 366.