The Cup: Willing Submission
Read Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39–42; Mark 14:35, 36; Luke 22:40–44). What is the essence of the prayer? What major element stands out in it regarding Jesus’ attitude concerning what He was to face?
While in the garden, Jesus used the metaphor of the cup to help us understand His inner feelings. The cup is used in the Bible to designate blessings received from the Lord (Pss. 16:5, 23:5) or the salvation He offers us (Ps. 116:13). But more often it refers to God’s judgment against sin and sinners (Ps. 75:8). This cup contains the wine of His anger against His enemies, His judicial wrath (Jer. 25:15, 16). It is to this cup that Jesus was referring when He asked the Father to let it be taken away from Him, if possible (Matt. 26:39, Mark 14:36). He was experiencing loneliness—the abandonment of the disciples and particularly the abandonment of God. He sought the company and support of the disciples but didn’t get it. And now, all by Himself, He asked the Father not to forsake Him. The answer that came back to Him from within the darkness of the divine silence was, “There is no other way to save the human race.” Jesus voluntarily acquiesced to the will of the Father.
When the mob came to take Him, Peter tried to protect Him. How do Jesus’ words to Peter (John 18:11) help us better understand Christ’s willingness to suffer for us?
Jesus came to this planet to die: “ ‘The Son of Man did not to come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ ” (Mark 10:45, NIV). God by definition cannot die, but in order for Him to accept our sin and its penalty He became a human, a creature, and creatures do not have life in themselves; they can die. In Gethsemane Jesus was ready to die, to surrender His life for undeserving sinners everywhere.
| When was the last time you purposefully allowed yourself to endure great suffering, purely on behalf of another person and with no personal gain for yourself? What can you learn about yourself from your answer? And what can you learn about Jesus from your answer too? |
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