Jesus has just cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” How you respond to that cry depends on your religious experience. And some of the Jews who were responded in what to us might seem a very strange way.

When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. – Mark 15:34-36

This is a fascinating episode. The background to this is that Jewish people of Jesus’ day believed that God would send Elijah to return to earth from heaven, before the Messiah was revealed. This was based on the prophecies of the Old Testament. When the people saw Jesus cry out, “Eloi, Eloi…” “My God, my God,” they misinterpreted this as him calling for Elijah. You see, these people know their prophecies.

So, one of them decided to keep Jesus alive a bit longer, because he could see Christ’s extreme suffering, and he wanted to see if prophecy would be fulfilled, and if Elijah would actually return. So he runs and gets Jesus a drink, to give Elijah time to make his grand appearance. What this man said after he had given Jesus the drink is truly shocking! He says, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes…” Here is someone who knows prophecy and loves to speculate about it. In fact, he’s holding onto his own interpretation of prophecy so tightly, that he is content to leave Jesus alone for the sake of seeing if his understanding is right or not.

What is your attitude to prophecy? Are you fascinated more by the events of prophecy than by the man of prophecy – Jesus Christ? Because if the first coming of Christ teaches us anything about prophecy, it’s that God always fulfils prophecy in unexpected ways!