"And when they were come to the place, which is called Golgotha, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not." St. Matthew mentions the vinegar and gall; St. Mark, the wine and myrrh. Some people have thought that both mean the same thing; but it is most probable that two separate mixtures were offered to Christ at this time. The Jews always gave wine, with myrrh in it, to the criminal about to be executed, to stupefy him, and make him less able to feel pain. The first draught of vinegar and gall was probably offered to Jesus in mockery. Any one expecting the usual stupefying draught, would be disappointed at getting another instead. Jesus submitted for our sakes to every suffering and insult inflicted by His persecutors, therefore He tasted the mixture; but when the stupefying draught was offered, "he received it not"; for He would do nothing to lessen His appointed sufferings, nor to render Him less able to pray to God. "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left, and Jesus in the midst." "And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, And He was numbered with the transgressors." Crucifixion was not only a most painful death, but it was also looked upon as a very shameful one; only to be awarded to the vilest criminals, in order to show contempt and hatred. Sometimes the criminal was merely bound to the cross with ropes, and there left to die of hunger and exposure. But our Saviour was actually nailed to the cross, according to the words spoken by King David, one thousand years before, "they pierced my hands and my feet." The manner of crucifixion was as follows: the cross of wood being laid upon the ground, the poor victim was laid upon it; and his arms being stretched out along the cross bar, a great nail was driven through the hollow of each hand into the wood: the feet were then crossed over each other upon the perpendicular part of the cross, and then a very long nail was forced through both into the wood beyond. There appears to have been under the feet a small ledge of wood, just to support them. The poor victim being thus made fast to the wood, the cross was raised up, and placed upright in a hole already prepared to receive it. The torture felt by the unhappy sufferer was most intense: the ledge beneath the feet did not prevent the weight of the body hanging from the hands, nailed to the upper part of the cross. The agony of such a position was beyond all that we can conceive; and this agony often lasted many hours, before death put an end to suffering.