Water became wine. The sea was calmed. Sermons preached. The lame were healed. A rich young ruler was sent away, and a sinful woman found living water. The crowds had been fed. Parables explained. Palm branches trod upon. Feet were washed. He’d done everything the Father had given him to do. One last act of obedience remained: a cup to drink.
A cup forged from the first crunch of Adam’s fruit. A cup foreshadowed by a million Passover lambs. The very cup that stood before Him from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8).
Here in the garden, Jesus faced the cup. Praying over it turned his sweat to blood (Luke 22:44). We’re not told any angels helped him endure the cross; yet, here in the garden he is strengthened by one (Luke 22:43). In agony and distress, he asks his father to remove the cup from him, to let the hour pass (Mark 14:36). Then he spoke the seven words that infused his every breath on this earth: “Not my will, but yours be done.”
The cup did not pass. He drank every drop.
What exactly was in that cup? Those covered by his blood will never really know. Those not covered will know for all eternity.
The Old Testament shows us:
- It’s the cup of the wicked: Psalm 75:8 says, “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine…all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.”
. - It’s the cup of staggering: Jeremiah 25:15-16 says, “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. They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”
. - It’s the cup of wrath: Isaiah 51:17 says, “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.”
. - It’s the cup of shame: Habakuk 2:16 says, “the cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!”
. - Finally, it’s the cup of torment: Revelation 14:9-11 “If anyone worships the beast …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. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest….”
This cup of shame, torment, and staggering was mine to drink. I earned it by my sinful birth, by falling short of the glory of God. The wages of my sin filled this cup, and I was supposed to drink it. Yet the lamb drank it for me.
He drank it for his Father.
He drank it because of me.
Are you covered in Christ? Did he drink the cup for you, or will you drink it yourself for eternity? Today is the day of salvation. Respond to Him.
For God so loved the world, he sent his only son.