And immediately one of them running took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink.
και ευθεως δραμων εις εξ αυτων και λαβων σπογγον πλησας τε οξους και περιθεις καλαμω εποτιζεν αυτον
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Observe the arrogance, audacity, and folly on display. The evangelist remarks that they believed He was invoking Elijah, and without hesitation, they offered Him vinegar to drink. Another individual approached and thrust a spear into His side. What could be more malevolent and savage than this? Their rage has escalated to the point that they even take oaths over lifeless bodies.
It occurred that the prophecy was realized, ‘In my thirst they gave me a bite to drink’ - Psalm 68:22. Even now, those who reject the Lord's resurrection, including the Jewish people, offer Him vinegar, gall, and diluted wine, hoping to dull His awareness of their wicked actions.
He accomplished it similar to what they had previously done in derision, as if to ease His pain, or to amplify His anguish through the bitterness of the vinegar.
Who were those who proclaimed, ‘Elijah says’? One among them offered a drink to the Suffering One, and the Roman soldiers would not permit anyone to provide anything to the crucified. Yet, as St. John clearly states, the soldiers held a full container of vinegar from which they offered the Divine Sufferer a taste (John 19:29). Thus, it is evident that the soldiers remarked about Christ saying, ‘This Elijah says.’ This assertion is further validated by the fact that only the soldiers, not the Jews, would have been unable to comprehend the Syro-Chaldean words spoken by the Savior to the Father. The Jews believed that before the Messiah's arrival, the great prophet Elijah was to appear on earth as a servant of the Messiah.
He indeed manifested himself in the person of John the Baptist, as the Savior clarified (Matthew 11:14; Matthew 16:14; Matthew 17:10, 11). However, neither the scribes nor the Pharisees recognized the Messiah nor His Forerunner. Since the notion of Elijah was widely known among the Jews, it is reasonable that the Roman soldiers, situated among them, were also familiar with this belief. They expressed their view when they said, ‘This Elijah says, let Him be, so we may see if Elijah comes to save Him.’ Poor souls! As they attempted to mock Jesus as if He were an impostor, they only revealed their own ignorance; mistaking the prayer to the Father in heaven as a call to Elijah, they displayed their pitiable lack of understanding. Yet even amidst this crowd, one individual rushed to fulfill an act of compassion, eager to alleviate the thirst of the Suffering One on Golgotha. While he also uttered, ‘Let us wait to see if Elijah comes to save Him,’ this was an act of timidity responding to the boisterous jeers of his comrades. He urged them, ‘Let us wait for Elijah, and in the meantime, let us strengthen Him.’ However, this act of cowardice did not undermine the act of mercy. St. Mark and St. Matthew recount that after filling the sponge and placing it on a reed, he offered Him a drink. According to St. John, the sponge was set upon hyssop—an herb known for its bitterness and hollow structure. The vinegar, when touching the hyssop, would absorb its bitterness. In this form, it became a restorative remedy for the Suffering One. The stalk of the eastern hyssop, which can grow quite tall, might have served as the reed that carried the vinegar-soaked sponge. The compassionate soldier aimed to provide Jesus with a drink, not necessarily sweet but beneficial for one enduring thirst in death. This was the service rendered to the Lord Jesus when He declared, ‘I thirst.’ He yearned to fulfill the will of His Father in heaven, and in His moment of agony, He sought to open the floodgates of Grace for lost humanity; yet how did men respond? Should a poor sinner harbor resentment when those like him sometimes seem unrecognizable before the Lord, reciprocating blessings with malice instead of goodwill? Ah! This is certainly not the source of our indignation. Instead, we must consider what we offer the Lord in return for His favors toward us. What occupies our hearts—shouldn’t they blaze with love for His commandments that redeem us? O Divine Love, forgive our apathy and blindness. With Thy thirst, we implore Thee, quench in our hearts the desire for sinful pleasures, ignite in our cold souls a fervent zeal for our eternal salvation—a zeal for fulfilling the will of our heavenly Father, which You wish to ignite within us. Without this life-giving fire, without this thirst for heaven, our fate in eternity would be profoundly dismal. Amen.
The plea of the suffering Savior touched a soldier's heart. One soldier rushed over, took a sponge that had been soaked in vinegar, the sour wine the soldiers drank to alleviate their thirst in the sweltering heat, and filled it with this vinegar. Using a branch to elevate the sponge, since the Lord hung high above the ground and could not be given a drink directly, he offered it to Jesus, pressing the sponge against His parched lips. The centurion did not stop his subordinate from showing this act of compassion; instead, he was increasingly moved, yielding his admiration and reverence for the wrongfully crucified Just One with each passing moment.
Even in this moment, the adversaries of Jesus found a way to ridicule Him in His agony. When the soldier stationed by the cross heard Jesus utter something that seemed like a plea for water, he hurried to the container of sour wine, soaked a sponge with it, and approached Jesus. However, the chief priests intervened, instructing him, "Stop, do not give Him a drink!" The Gospel writer Matthew concludes his narrative with Jesus' lament, while Mark expands his account by detailing the soldier's reaction. Without pausing in his duties, the soldier replied, "Stop! Do not interfere…" After offering Jesus the drink, he added, "Well, if you wish, let's see if Elijah will come to rescue Him" (Mark 15:36).
At that time, Christ experienced indescribable torment, and, wearied by His suffering, He uttered with deep anguish, “I thirst.” One of those present took a sponge and soaked it in a mixture of sour wine and water, a beverage commonly consumed by Roman soldiers. He then placed it on a hyssop branch and offered it to the parched lips of the Suffering One, mockingly stating, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to rescue Him.”
A sponge, which is an object adept at absorbing liquids, was occasionally used to seal the narrow opening of the container holding the drink. The liquid in question was sour wine, the typical beverage for Roman soldiers, especially during periods of intense heat. To provide a drink to those crucified, who were positioned too high to be handed a drink directly, the drink was offered on a stick. This act came after the Lord proclaimed, "I thirst" (John 19:28). The agony of crucifixion created a profound thirst in those enduring it. Unlike earlier, when He had turned down the offered drink due to its potential to numb the senses, the Lord accepted this drink, as it did not possess that effect.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 17 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS