WHAT WAS IN THE CUP?

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” .... Matthew 26:36-46 NKJV

Luke’s Gospel says in Chapter 22, verse 44, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” ....Luke 22:44-46 NKJV

Here is Jesus approaching the betrayal and the cross as he enters this garden to pray. You can’t help but sense the anxiety in His words. What is that would cause the very Son of God to sweat as it were great drops of blood? What is it that would cause the Son of God to return to that spot in the garden three times to pray the same words? I believe it might have been that which was in the cup that Jesus prayed to the Father about.  When we see Jesus in this garden we see him filled with sorrow and deep distress. I can’t think of anywhere else in scripture where we see the humanity of Jesus like we do in this passage. So, what caused such anxiety? What was it that Jesus saw in that cup?

It is possible that on the first stop to pray Jesus looked into the cup of the Father’s will and He was confronted with sin? Not just any sin, but the sin of all the world. Jesus looked into that cup He saw the sin of all the world from Adam… to the last sinner that will ever be present on earth. He saw all sin, past, present and future. But, why would that cause such sorrow and distress in the Son of God. I mean,…Jesus was familiar with sin,…only He Himself was spotless…he had never sinned. And now, He was about to become sin. That certainly must have caused Jesus anxiety as He looked into the cup!  But there was more. I believe he may have also seen suffering.

Jesus was not caught by surprise by the suffering, but I believe that when He was praying in the garden, it all became so real because now the hour had come. We all know that our life (if we live long enough) will be stricken with a certain amount of suffering. We will all be betrayed by someone we considered a friend. We will all face death in some form... some of which will cause a great deal of suffering and pain through disease or accident. My point is this…just because we know that suffering is going to come, it doesn’t make it any easier to handle when it actually happens. Jesus knew He would suffer and die. He told his disciples in Luke 9:22... “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”  But now that hour had come. He would face trumped up charges during trial,… he would be mocked, spit upon, slapped, beaten, and His flesh would be ripped to shreds. This is what Jesus saw as He looked into the cup. But, I think there was more. I believe he also saw sacrifice.

Jesus looked beyond the Sin, beyond the Suffering, and He recognized His role as Sacrifice. The Day of Atonement was not a pretty sight. It had to be an awful, awful bloody sight at the tabernacle on that day as the lambs would be slain at the altar. Imagine the small lambs, white without blemish, being slain as they stood helplessly. The blood must have overcome that altar! I know that it is an awful image to suggest, but that was the day that Jesus would face at Calvary. I believe Jesus saw his sacrifice in the cup! He would be the final, the once for all sacrifice. It was necessary because His was the only blood that would satisfy the righteous demands of God’s justice so that the wages of sin could be paid. And Jesus was that sacrifice. But, I believe there was more. There was also separation from the Father.

Jesus looked beyond the Sin, the Suffering, the Sacrifice... and maybe what led Him back into the garden the third time is what He saw toward the bottom of that cup. It was something that He had never experienced before. Perhaps this is what brought the blood drops of sweat dripping from his body…Separation! Matthew 27:46 records that it was about the ninth hour when Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" For the first time ever, from eternity past, the Son had never known separation from His Father. But now the Father laid the sin of the world upon His only begotten Son.

Now I know that people say it was my sin and your sin that put Jesus on that cross. And, I know that some say that it was Rome or the religious establishment of the Jews. But friends, when it comes to Jesus dying on that Cross….He was put there by the Father!  It has always been the plan of God the Father from the foundation of the world, to offer Jesus on that Cross. It was the Father’s will. And there on that cross, Jesus died; for my sin, for your sin, for the sin of the world...He died!  That is what Jesus saw in that cup.

You may wonder, if Jesus really saw all that was in the cup, then why did He go through with it? The cup was full of such bitterness and Jesus had a choice... so, why do it? Well, because there was more! You see, Jesus looked beyond the Sin,…the Suffering,…the Sacrifice…and even the Separation....and in the bottom of that cup was the one thing that turned that bitter cup into sweetness. It was….Salvation. He was and is… our only hope!

First of all, Jesus loves the Father and it was His greatest desire to do God’s will in God’s timing. That is why He prayed the same thing three times. But friends, Jesus loves you...and, He loves me...and that is why He looked beyond all that the cup had to offer and He got up from praying,…dusted himself off,…released the disciples from the weariness of prayer and surrendered himself to his enemies. All so that YOU may be saved today!

Maybe you haven’t received that precious gift of salvation from Jesus, and today is the day you want to say “Yes” to Jesus. On the right hand side of this blog is a prayer for you to pray under the title… “Do You Want to Know My Jesus”. Would you pray that prayer, and tell someone close to you that you have asked Christ into your heart. And please, will you let me know too?