Gospel

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What Was In The Cup?

Mark 14 :35-36 ‘He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’

What was Jesus was feeling at this moment? Dread? Fear? Was the Lord ever afraid of anything? Could the King of kings and Lord of lords ever really fear what man would do to Him?

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew full well His purpose on earth. He had been telling His disciples for weeks but they could not understand. Just like us, they put all thoughts of death out of their minds….They fully expected Jesus to take over the Roman empire and be their earthly King in Jerusalem. They were only thinking about the here and now - or in their case, the there and then.

Luke tells us in chapter 22: 44 ‘And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.’ In a discussion recently someone said Christ didn’t willingly go to the cross - and that was why He went through such agony in the garden of Gethsemane. But, this person could not see the big picture. They were not looking at the scene with spiritual eyes.

Do we really think our Messiah feared the cross? No! That was His whole purpose for coming. He told Peter later he was to be crucified also. There have been millions of martyrs since that day who have willingly given their lives for the cause of Christ. Many have been crucified, burned alive, and tortured unmercifully while singing praises to God with their dying breath. Would Jesus expect His followers to be afraid?

If not fear, then what caused Him such agony to sweat drops of blood? What was in the cup that He asked God to take away so many times? It was the full wrath of Almighty God. Jesus became our sin. The only one who had never committed one single sin became sin in that hour. The bible says in Isaiah 53:12 He bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

God forsook His very own….His precious Son. But, did He turned His back because He could not look upon sin as I have heard it said.? God sees everything - good and evil, right?

Habakkuk 1:13 is talking about God when it says, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:" God’s very nature cannot allow Him to behold evil without punishing the guilty ones. There had to be a sacrifice, once and for all.

Isaiah 53: 9-10 says ‘And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.’

It PLEASED the LORD to bruise Him. God’s wrath had to be satisfied.

In Isaiah 54:5 He says “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Then in 54:9 he is still prophesying for the LORD when he says ‘For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.’

God had made a covenant to never again destroy the earth with water because of mans sin. But, there had to be an atonement for sin - Christ.

Jesus was in agony over the separation from His Father. Not from the cross, itself.

God loved us so much that He gave Himself as the sacrifice through His only begotten Son so we might not perish but have eternal life.

What was in the cup? The wrath of Almighty God. Jesus, the sinless Godman drank of it - all of it. He alone paid the sin debt for all of us, in full. Now, He sits in heaven at the right hand of His Father. It is finished.

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