Why did they give Jesus vinegar and wine with gall to drink?

Few people think about the answer to why the soldiers made fun of the Lord Jesus by giving him vinegar to drink and wine with gall, so I will answer the question that was asked to me:

Please tell me, why at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, when He said He was thirsty, was He given vinegar to drink, and wine with gall? 

This event is related in each of the four Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). In the Gospel of Luke it is written:

And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” (Luke 23:35-37 NASB)

The Roman soldiers who made fun of the Lord Jesus were mockers and did many things to humiliate Him. The vinegar and wine with gall that they made him drink were just part of a series of mockeries they did to the Savior. Here is what is written in the Gospel of Matthew:

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort to Him. And they stripped Him and put a red cloak on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they compelled to carry His cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine mixed with bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it. (Matthew 27:27-34 NASB)

But there is something more important! Even if the Roman soldiers could not even know, through them the messianic prophecy of the Old Testament was fulfilled, which we find in Psalm 69, where it is written:

They also gave me a bitter herb in my food. And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (Psalms 69:21 NASB)

The bitter herb wine and vinegar given to Jesus were a mockery at the time, but it was the fulfillment of a prophecy that was meant to show all the witnesses who knew the Old Testament that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world. It is a pity that so few of them took into account the message that God wanted to convey to them even through this mockery of the soldiers.

God still insists that the message of the gospel reach us today. This article you are reading now is also His way of leading you to Christ. If you have not yet entered into the New Covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, hasten to believe in Him wholeheartedly, repent of your sins, and be a true disciple of Him from now on. Stop sinning and start living for righteousness. Leave the wide path that leads to destruction and come to walk the narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven, for the Lord Jesus said that He alone is the way, truth and life, and no one comes to God the Father except through faith in Him. 

If you have other questions you can ask them through the form on the site or directly by email. God bless!

Translated by Didina Vicliuc