Sunday, March 7, 2010

Let This Cup Pass!


Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.(Matthew 26:38-39)

When our Lord Jesus finished the traditional Passover meal He took His disciples out to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. Now Jesus and His disciples had been to the Garden of Gethsemane many times before to pray and meditate on God’s word. But this time was different, because our Lord was preparing Himself to finish God’s plan of Salvation for all of mankind.

As the eleven disciples of our Lord followed Him into the garden, they could tell that our Lord was troubled. Jesus turned to His disciples and said to them, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” (Matthew 26:36). Jesus then took Peter, James and John and walked a little further into the garden. This was the third time that Jesus singled out Peter, James, and John to accompany Him for a specific purpose (see the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1–13 and the raising of Jairus’s daughter in Luke 8:49–56).

Jesus then releases the anguish that was building up inside of Him as He told the three, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” Jesus was in great anguish over his approaching physical pain, separation from the Father, and death for the sins of the world. His agony was worse than death because He paid for all sin by being separated from God. The sinless Son of God took our sins upon Himself to save us from suffering and separation. Because of the anguish Jesus experienced, He can relate to our suffering. Jesus’ strength to obey came from His relationship with God the Father, who is also the source of our strength. Our Lord was asking Peter, James and John to stay awake and pray for Him and to give Him comfort in His time of need.

Jesus then walked a little farther (About a stone’s throw.) and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” When Jesus said, “let this cup pass from Me”, it was not the impending physical suffering, as terrible as it would be, that caused Jesus to pray this way; it was the reality of the sinless Son of God bearing the sins of the world and facing separation from His Father (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 2:24). The word "cup" is a figure of speech for wrath in the Old Testament (Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17). Jesus became a curse for us and took the brunt of God’s righteous wrath against all the sin of mankind (Gal. 3:13).

In the Book of Matthew (22:43) our Lord Jesus is comforted and given strength by an angel from heaven. Our God is so loving and full of mercy that He sent an angel to comfort and strengthen Jesus so He could accomplish the Father’s will.

Jesus prays for about an hour, then He walks back to where he had left Peter, James and John who were suppose to be praying for Him. Jesus tells Peter and the other two disciples, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." All three disciples, who swore that they would die for our Lord, were asleep. Jesus woke Peter and the other two up, then went back and prayed the same prayer two more times. Each time Jesus walked back and found Peter, James and John sleeping. Peter, James and John all swore that they would die for our Lord and drink the cup that our Lord drank, but they could not even stay awake for one hour when our Lord needed them the most.

All of mankind is guilty of sin and stands condemned before the tribunal of God; into every man’s hand the deadly cup is put, and he is required to drink of the poison—Jesus enters, takes every man’s cup out of his hand, and drinks of the poison, and thus tastes and suffers the death which every man otherwise deserved.

Lord Jesus, thank you for taking my cup and dying for me on the cross.

3 comments:

Chris Weigand said...

So excellent. We all need to read and embrace this. Jesus suffered and died for us so we could live free of sin. He gave all for us, the least we can do is give back to Him through our love and service.

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

Thank you Chris for your visit and comment. Every time I read how our Lord suffered at Gethsemane and then on the cross just for me, a sinner, the tears swell up in my eyes. Dying for me was the most He could do. Living for Him is the least I can do. God bless, Lloyd

Nikki (Sarah) said...

Hi Lloys, I just wanted to come by and say thank you....thank you for your support and kindness. Sarah