Christian Living
“Drink Ye The Cup Of Christ”
By
Calvin J. Moss
St. Matthew 20:20-23 says: Then came to him the mother of Zebedee`s children with her sons worshipping him and desiring a certain thing of him; and he said unto her what wilt thou? She saith unto him grant that these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy Kingdom. But Jesus answered and said ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, we are able; and he saith unto them, ye shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. My exhortation to every believer is drink ye the cup of Christ.
When Jesus says drink the cup he is referring to the bitter cup of sorrow. The baptism he mentions is the baptism of suffering (Mark 10:35-40 New Living Translation).
If we are to be Disciples of Christ we must be willing to drink the cup. The cup is not a pleasant tasting drink for it is hard on the flesh. St. John 6:63 says it is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. In verse 39 of Matthew 26, Jesus said O my Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Verse 42 mentions that he went away a second time and prayed saying O my Father if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. Jesus` cup was the will of God, to the die for the sins of the world and rise on the third day (death, burial resurrection). It was his passion, yet he was in agony.
Our cup may not be to die on a cross but it will include death. That death will be to sin but life to righteousness in a sinful world. A process indeed but the Lord`s will be done. Second Timothy 3:12 says: yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. We must be willing to suffer for Christ because he suffered for us. When everyone else is calling out sick and are not sick, you have to come to work even though you want to call out sick but you`re not sick. When your co-workers have sexual conversations and ask you questions you say I`m a Christian, I don`t have those type of conversations then they say you`re stuck up behind your back. Second Timothy 2:12 says if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
Many of Jesus` disciples were not willing to drink the cup especially when they heard the “hard sayings”. That is why many of them no longer walked with him (St. John 6:60,66). In many nation of the world, especially the far east Christians endure sorrow and suffering on a daily basis. They are burned and beaten. The women are raped and children are threatened and disowned for announcing their faith in Jesus Christ.
We here in America may not suffer like that but we will suffer something. A spouse telling you you`re in a cult, the marriage is over or perhaps Christianity doesn`t take all of that just to name a few. Phillipians 1:29 states: for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but to suffer for his sake. This world is not our home. The bible says blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (St. Mattew 5:10). No matter what we go through, Christ suffered first for all of us. Amen.
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