by Tad Lindley
Did you know that Jesus was tempted to use painkillers? No, nobody came up to him with a sheet of tinfoil, a lighter, a hit of Oxycontin, and a ballpoint pen casing, but they did try to get him to use opiates. In fact, Jesus was tempted to do any and everything that you and I are tempted with. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we. (Hebrews 4:15)
When they offered Jesus drugs
Sometimes when I think about Jesus being tempted in all points just like us, I run different scenarios through my mind. “I bet nobody ever walked up to him and offered him a Pall Mall cigarette.” “I bet nobody ever tried to get him to play 4-5-6.” “I bet Jesus never heard of Oxycontin.”
Although Oxycontin did not exist in Jesus’ day, they did have painkillers. And in fact, one of the last temptations that Jesus faced was the temptation to use pain meds: And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. (Mark 15:22-23)
Myrrh in this case was a painkilling drug, not unlike heroin, oxycontin, alcohol, or “medical” marijuana. No doubt the temptation to take the wine and the myrrh was overpowering. He was already in extreme physical pain, and they were about to drive spikes through his ankles and his hands to fix him on the cross. Not only that, Jesus was under extreme emotional pain, having been rejected by the human beings that he created. And yet in the face of this overwhelming temptation, Jesus refused to get high.
Jesus said, “No”, to drugs, because we couldn’t
We might wonder why Jesus said, “No” to a little alcohol laced with Vicodin. Surely it would have made the humiliation and the pain of the cross a little bit easier to bear. The Bible gives us a glimpse of what was going through his mind when he refused the medication. Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). “The joy that was set before him” is the chance to bring victory to those of us who could not say, “No”, to drugs.
Going from hopeless to dopeless
If you have watched your life slowly slip through your hands, because you are an alcoholic or a drug addict you probably often feel hopeless. Maybe you have tried switching from oxy to heroin or from Budweiser to smoking buds (that’s just like switching seats on the Titanic). You can go from hopeless to dopeless. Jesus said “No” to drugs so that someday, men and women could also rise up from the ashes of addiction and also say “No” to drugs.
Calling all tin foil heads
Jesus is calling you. On that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38) If you are struggling with any addiction, it is because you have a thirst in your soul. The problem is, you can’t drink enough Pabst Blue Ribbon to satisfy it, you can’t smoke enough oxy to pacify it, and you can’t shoot enough black tar to make it go away. We all have a thirst that is a Jesus size thirst: only he can satisfy it. Notice he said, “If any man thirst”. The requirement is not for us to be sinless or perfect; the requirement is for us to be thirsty.
If you are thirsty for a better life, you can have it. Throughout the New Testament times, men and women turned away from sin and gave their lives to Jesus. The Bible calls this “repentance”. When men and women in the Bible believed on Jesus and repented, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins (see Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5, 22:16, Galatians 3:27), and the received the gift or the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This same power is still available to you today. Jesus said “No” to drugs. Will you say “Yes” to him?
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
