The Cross and the Cup
In Gethsemane we hear Jesus boldly pray, “Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Jesus is resolved to accept his Father’s will, but he hints that he might rather not drink the cup set before him. I don’t think it wise to suggest Christ has a begrudging spirit – he simply knows how bitter the cross will be. Anyone a little too eager for such suffering could be considered unstable. Jesus’ response seems just right.
Jesus’ description of the cross as a cup he is to drink has a rich biblical background. He most assuredly has in mind the cup of God’s wrath described in Jeremiah 25 and Isaiah 51. The reference from Gethsemane found in Mark 14, however, is not Jesus’ first use of the metaphor. In Mark 10 Jesus uses the image of cup drinking as a synonym for what James and John labeled, “in your glory.”
The Sons of Thunder make a bodacious request, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” What a moment in the story of the Apostles! Their petition is a Peter-esque foot swallowing, and Jesus response is so on target, “You don’t know what you are asking.” He then follows with a question, “Can you drink the cup I drink…?” The brothers assure him they can, but Jesus informs them the seats they request have already been assigned.
This conversation makes it evident the phrase in your glory means different things to Jesus and his apostles. They envision a political triumph of apocalyptic proportion; Jesus envisions the much more humble, sinner redeeming work of the cross.
The connections all seem clear to Mark, the gospel writer. On cue, he describes the crucifixion and reports, “They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.” It is good that we all know hindsight is 20/20 – this fact keeps us from being too hard on James and John. Yet, we often miss it ourselves, even though literarily speaking, the connection between the cup, the cross, and Christ’s glory could not be more apparent. When Jesus dies on the cross, he drinks the cup of God’s wrath and thereby unveils his glory.
If the concept of a wrathful God is a concept that bothers you, this is an event in the life of Christ with which you will surely struggle. In addition, to call an act as gruesome as the cross a moment of glory may also seem a bit much to some. But, the link between the two in the mouth of Jesus seems inescapable. You must, furthermore, remember that God is not capriciously angry at humans. The wrath in the cup is judicial in nature. We have transgressed his law, and God can never be accused of being an indulgent Father. The cross is necessary for justice. Otherwise it might be said that God looked at the sins of his people and blinked.
It was also necessary for Christ to suffer on the cross because of God’s love. We must never pass over the unity between Father and Son in their trinitarian relationship. “For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son,” may never be construed as a hint of discord between the two. The Son of God labored in perfect harmony with the Father, for he is the one who said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
In his dying Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for the purposes of justice and love. Too often we miss the multiple purposes of Christ’s consumption of the cup of wrath. When Jesus satisfies the wrath of God against sin, there is a simultaneous manifestation of justice and mercy – righteousness and love. Because God’s righteousness and love are demonstrated by Christ, we are moved to surrender to God’s wisdom and perfection. He knows best and does what is best. He does for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Thanking God Jesus drank my cup,
Pastor Andy
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