“Take This Cup”

by David Kidd

Have you ever wondered why Jesus prayed, ā€œFather, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be doneā€ (LukeĀ 22:42, NKJV; authorā€™s emphasis)?

AtĀ the Lordā€™s SupperĀ we often emphasize the terrible physical aspect ofĀ the cupĀ of Jesusā€™ sufferings (the brutal cup): the floggings, the crown of thorns, the nails through Jesusā€™ hands and feet, and the excruciating pain of hanging on the cross.Ā The word we use today to describe the worst kind of pain is excruciating. Itā€™s interesting how this word has a link with the wordĀ crucifixion. Charles Spurgeon writes:

We know that the greatest . . . pain that the body can endure, is that arising from a bone out of its place. . . . Now when the Lord was raised up upon the cross, and his sacred body hung in the air from the nails, all the joints began to give, so that the bones were parted the one from the other so visibly that, in very truth (as David had prophesied [in Psalm 22:14, 17]) they might tell all his bones, and thus, throughout his whole body, he endured acute torture (The Treasury of David, Vol. 1, p. 343).

We canā€™t be 100 percent sure why Jesus prayed for the cup to be removed, when the cross was always His destiny. But if we turn our eyes also toward the non-physical aspects of the cup, we might better understand the horrible extent of the agony Jesus was experiencing. For example,Ā the cupĀ was also:

  • anĀ undeserved cup: Jesus suffered as an innocent man for others;
  • aĀ treacherous cup of rejection: Peter, Judas, all the disciples, His own nation, and His creation deserted and disowned Him;
  • aĀ cup of spiritual warfare: The cup involved Jesus fighting the forces of darkness arrayed against Him (LukeĀ 22:53; ColossiansĀ 2:15);
  • aĀ sin-filled cup: Imagine the agony for the holy Christ to take the sins of the world on Himself (2 CorinthiansĀ 5:21);
  • aĀ cup of Godā€™s wrathĀ and a curse against Him (Isaiah 53:4; GalatiansĀ 3:13);
  • theĀ cup of the forsaken: Compare Jesusā€™ cry of being forsaken with the martyrs who were singing as they burned at the stake. They had the comfort of God and the love of God shed abroad in their hearts. Jesus felt the terror of being abandoned by God.

Glory be to our Lord who never wavered in His willingness to do His Fatherā€™s will.

 

David Kidd serves the Adelaide, South Australia church.

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“Betrayed!” “Through His Eyes”

Written By

David KiddĀ lives in Tauranga, New Zealand, where he was born and where he and his wife, Angella, recently moved as part of a church-plant effort (seeĀ www.churchofgodslove.com). David enjoys the outdoors and playing tennis. He runs his own law publishing business from home. He has a combined Law/Arts degree and recently obtained a Certificate in Bible Studies from LifeSpring School of Ministry.

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