The Cup Christ Drank (Luke 22:41-46)
On Thursday Night, Jesus prayed in the Garden with His disciples. Jesus knew what was about to take place. He knew that He would soon be arrested. He knew that He would soon be beaten, spat upon, mocked, and hung naked to die on the cross.
If Jesus knew all this. What then was He praying about on what we would call Thursday night. They would have reckoned it as Friday. But this was taking place, just before Jesus was arrested.
I say, what we would call, because that matters here. They counted days from sun up to sundown. This means that when the sun went down, the next day started. So, when Jesus was praying, they reckoned the day as already being Friday.
“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”” (Luke 22:41-46 ESV)
Jesus was about to undergo horrific pain and suffering through His crucifixion. The Romans could be cruel and crucifixion was just that. A person was hung upon a cross. Arms were stretched onto a cross beam. Nails were driven through the hands, what we would call the wrist. Again, this is a difference in the way we speak about things today versus in Jesus’s time. The wrist was considered part of the hand. And a nail was driven through His feet.
Before making it to the cross, He had already been flogged, and flesh was ripped away from the body. He had been beaten, mocked, and a crown of thorns was placed upon His head. Though He had committed no crime, He was punished horrifically.
But that is not what Jesus was praying about exactly.
Take note of His prayer. What is it that Jesus prayed for? What was in the cup that Jesus wanted removed from Him?
It is a cup that is mentioned throughout the Old Testament and even some in the New Testament.
“Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. … Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;” (Isaiah 51:17, 22 ESV)
Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. (Jeremiah 25:15 ESV)
he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (Revelation 14:10 ESV)
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. (Revelation 16:19 ESV)
What was in the cup? Well, the wine of the fury of God’s wrath was in the cup.
We see this in Romans 3:21-25.
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it– the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:21-25 ESV)
God Put His Son Forward
God “put forward” His Son. What we witness in the account of the crucifixion is God the Father putting His Son forward as the propitiation for sin. It means to “put before” or “display publicly”.
In the middle of this populous place, Jesus was displayed publicly on a hill called Golgotha.
And for what was the purpose of this?
God Put Forward His Son As A Propitiation
As I have repeatedly described, Jesus was the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a wrath bearing sacrifice. God’s wrath and justice rested upon us and it was placed upon Him.
Think about it this way, we rebelled against God and earned the punishment for sin. That sentence rested upon our own heads. But when God put forward His Son as a propitiation, that the justice that was to fall upon us fell upon Him instead. He bore that in our place.
When we put both of these things together, we see a beautiful picture of God’s grace and mercy toward us.
We rebelled against God and earned His punishment. We were headed for a place called Hell where we would face His justice and wrath forever. But God the Father put forward His Son as the payment for sin. God the Father put forward His Son as the propitiation for our sin. Jesus Christ bore God’s wrath and justice in our place.
We Receive This Salvation By Faith
We don’t earn forgiveness. It is a gift that is received by faith.
Faith is not something that you do. Faith is entrusting ourselves to Christ and Christ alone. Faith is not looking to ourselves or anyone else for our right standing before God. Faith is looking to Christ alone.
And that is how we receive this gift of justification.
There is a great hymn that is hardly ever sung anymore called “Not What My Hands Have Done”.
“Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul
Not what my toiling flesh has born
Can make my spirit whole
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God
Not all my prayers and sighs
And tears can bare my awful load.
They work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee
Can rid me of
This dark unrest,
And set my spirit free!
Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak;
Thy power alone O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work, save Thine,
No other blood will do.
No strength save that,
Which is divine,
Can bear me safely through.
I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and hear ,
I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt,
I bury in His tomb
My unbelief
And all my fear,
Each lingering shade of gloom.
I praise the God of grace,
I trust His truth and might
He calls me His, I call Him mine,
My God, my joy, my light
Tis He who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives
I love because He loveth me
I live because He lives!”
Horatius Bonar “Not What My Hands Have Done”
It is not our work that rids us of sin. It is the work of God alone. It is in Him that we find forgiveness. It is in Him that we find mercy. We earned His wrath, and His Son took that upon Himself for my salvation.
Conclusion
Jesus took what was in the cup. And He emptied it to the dregs. God’s wrath was poured out upon Him for the redemption of all those that would trust in Him.
Have you trusted in Him?
R. Dwain Minor