A Sponge of Vinegar

Now the well of Bethlehem was probably too far removed (some 15 miles) for anyone to bring of its refreshment to the One who was presently in such dire need. Perhaps someone, however, with heartfelt compassion would rise to the occasion and defy the authorities to respond to that plaintive request, "I thirst." Again it was not to be. Oh, there was a response; it came from Satan's emissaries, and soon a sponge of vinegar is pressed to our Savior's lips.
What a contrast is seen in the heart of man and in the heart of the Lord Jesus. The One who had said, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (John 4:14), is now given bitter vinegar to drink in His thirst. So it must be; the One who was called the Man of Sorrows must be acquainted with grief to the very end. Thus we begin to understand that He whom God will highly exalt, and bear the name above every name, and to whom every knee shall bow, must first become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross with all of its shameful indecencies.