I recently saw a short video that claims to provide the backstory to the stick with a sponge soaked in vinegar that Roman soldiers offered Jesus while He was on the cross.
The claim is that the Roman soldiers used a latrine stick to deliver the vinegar to Jesus on the cross - as a further form of humiliation.
This is my rebuttal.
First, there appear to be two separate drink episodes.
The first one, before the crucifixion:
wine + bitter ingredient (gall/myrrh) -> Jesus tastes it -> refuses it.
This is recorded in Matthew 27:34 and Mark 15:23.
The other one occurs later, while Jesus is actually on the cross:
sour wine -> sponge -> Jesus' mouth.
Sponges were common, practical objects in the ancient world and had many uses. So the mere fact that a sponge was used at the crucifixion doesn't tell us that it was a latrine sponge.
Public latrine sticks (tersoria) were used in Roman urban toilets and bathhouses. But Golgotha was an execution site outside the city walls. I doubt soldiers took latrine implements with them to Golgotha. And there is no ancient source identifying the sponge used at Jesus' crucifixion as a tersorium.
In John's account, a sponge is placed on a stalk and raised to the lips of Jesus, who was hanging on a cross.
John's account also states that a vessel full of sour wine was at the site. This was very likely posca — a cheap sour-wine drink commonly associated with Roman soldiers.
Note that John is also very specific about the stalk used:
“After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of sour wine was sitting there. So they soaked a sponge in the wine, put it on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished.’ And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.”
The hyssop detail is significant.
At the first Passover, the Israelites were commanded to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood of the Passover lamb, and apply it to the doorposts (Exodus 12:22).
Passover lamb -> blood -> hyssop -> deliverance
And Psalm 69:21 says:
“They gave me gall for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
John then has Jesus receive the sour wine and say:
“It is finished.”
There is no doubt that Jesus suffered humiliation.
Though I really doubt the implement used to deliver the wine to Jesus' lips was a latrine stick.
