Cup

“if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” Matthew 26:39 

Cup – Our imagery of the cup of Christ has been tainted by the legends of the Holy Grail – the chalice Jesus used when he offered the cup of wine at the last supper.  But there is nothing mystical about this word.  It is the common word for drinking vessel.  The importance of this word does not lie in the object it describes but in theology it symbolizes. 

Jesus faces the cross.  That might suggest that the symbol of the cup is the impending agony of crucifixion.  But this would be a mistake.  Jesus does not fear the cross.  He understands perfectly that the cross is his purpose in life.  It is so important to him that he initiates the events that will lead to the cross.  Of course, there will be unimaginable suffering.  But Jesus is not a man who fears those who can kill the body.  He said so himself.  “Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul”  (Matthew 10:28)

The cup that brings spiritual terror to Jesus is the cup of God’s wrath.  As Jesus contemplates the purpose of the cross, he enters the emotional experience of becoming the sin bearer.  This will mean that for the first time in his life, he will fall outside of the presence of his Father.  He will become God’s enemy because he will accept the guilt and the punishment of all sin.  The cup of wrath is an Old Testament symbol of God’s rejection and destruction of what is evil.  Jesus does not fear death.  He fears separation.  “but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. 

Poterion is a most common vessel.  Nothing more than a clay cup for providing water to a thirsty soul.  But this most common vessel will now transport something that no thirsty man ever wants – divine punishment.  It is the cup of unquenchable fire, the cup of searing wrath, the cup of desolation.  It is the cup that cuts off men from their only true source of life.  This is the cup that we could never drink because we were not qualified to take it to our lips. 

Jesus voluntary sacrifice is far more than the choice to die.  Many men have given their lives for others.  This sacrifice is the choice to be removed from the presence of God – to truly die after the extinction of the body.  Jesus embraces hell in order to redeem those who hated heaven.  There has never been a greater sacrifice.

Today:  Take a cup to your lips.  Remember what Jesus drank for you.