Sunday Sermons
Let This Cup Pass
Let This Cup Pass
And He came out and proceeded, as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. And when He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done." Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:39-46).
The Price of Our Salvation
As we read Luke 22:39-46 and see Jesus in agony, we need to remember that such personal agony is part of the cost for our salvation and it is also the price that He paid for our sins.
The Cup
McGarvey believes that this “cup” includes all that Jesus would undergo from that time until His resurrection. That it embraces all His mental, moral, physical, and spiritual suffering. Some see Jesus here praying that since the Father has a limitless range of power that the suffering ahead of Him be removed if God’s purposes can be fulfilled in any other way. “If there is a way consistent with My mission whereby man can yet be saved” (Fowler p. 719). This cup would include the hour when the full force of Satan would be unleashed upon the Son of God in the ultimate clash between good and evil at the cross and the events surrounding it. The word “cup” can refer to one’s destiny, lot, or portion in life (Psalm 23:5), and Jesus had spoken of a cup (of suffering) that He would drink (Matthew 20:22-23). In addition, when Peter tried to defend Jesus with the sword, Jesus objected noting that He would drink of the cup that the Father had given Him (John 18:11).
“If Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me”
Seeing that Jesus never sinned (1 Peter 2:22), we know that the above was an acceptable statement to make. Allow me to make the following observations: 1. Is it not wrong to humbly petition God that a trial might pass or be avoided. 2. Jesus faced up to the reality ahead of Him, He did not go into denial, and He understood what dying on the cross meant for Him. In like manner Paul would pray that a thorn in the flesh that he was experiencing might be removed from him (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). 4. Jesus never questioned God’s wisdom nor complained when the trial came upon Him, He was willing to accept whatever answer God would offer. 5. “If Thou art willing” is rendered “If it be possible” in Matthew 26:39, and “All things are possible for Thee” in Mark 14:36. This statement expresses great trust in God’s ability to do all things (Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God”). Jesus knew that the Father has the entire universe at His disposal, and it also reveals absolute trust in God’s goodness and righteousness, that if a trial must be endured, then there is a good reason why (Romans 5:3-5). He knows that God is not a fan of senseless suffering (Ezekiel 18:31-32). 6. We should be encouraged by the fact that Jesus was not immune from pain and neither did He relish dying on the cross (Hebrews 12:2 “Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross”). This means that Jesus’ attitude towards our suffering is not “what’s the problem”, but rather, “I do sympathize with what you are experiencing” (Hebrews 4:15). When we approach Jesus with our worries and fears (1 Peter 5:7), we know that we are not going to experience a cold shoulder from Him, but rather, He knows exactly what it is like to face something fearful and dreadful. 7. Some might be troubled by the fact that God in the flesh was not eager to be tortured, but this prayer demonstrates that in Jesus the human and the divine were perfectly matched together. God actually did become flesh (John 1:1; 1:14), and in that fleshly body God would actually experience all the pain and horror of a man being crucified. Being God did not tone down the experience. God actually allowed Himself to be tortured for our sins! “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried” (Isaiah 53:4). “He was crushed” (53:5); “He was oppressed and He was afflicted” (53:7).
Why?
Someone might ask, “Why was Jesus in such agony concerning going to the cross, if He knew that everything would work out in the end?” Besides the obvious intense and agonizing suffering endured by one who would be scourged, abused, mocked and then crucified, allow me to offer the following considerations:
In Jesus we see God mocked and abused by the hands of rebellious and sinful men, “You nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). Jesus interacted with sinners because He was trying to save them and many did express an interest in the truth (Luke 15:1). Yet imagine what it would be like for a holy God to allow Himself to be abused and spat upon by selfish, ignorant, sinful, and hypocritical individuals? How nauseating and disgusting it must have been to allow Himself to be subject to their evil and unmerciful whims.
In Jesus we also see where God allowed Himself to be abused by the devil. In the book of Job God allowed Job to be tested but clearly limited Satan’s power and prevented Satan from taking Job’s life (Job 2:6). Yet Jesus did not put any limits on Satan’s evil against Him. Jesus knew that He was walking into a situation where everything that the devil could physically do to Him would be done (Luke 22:53 “but this hour and the power of darkness are yours”).
We also tend to forget about how humiliating this experience must have been. “In humiliation His judgment was taken away” (Acts 8:33); “despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). 1. Jesus had created mankind (John 1:1-3) and He had faithfully
cared for the nation of Israel (1 Corinthians 10:4), and now this nation was putting Him to death—think of the momentary laugh that this provided the devil. 2. Crucifixion was a humiliating experience. It was reserved for the worse criminals, for those whom society regarded as the dregs of humanity. 3. A holy and righteous God, the Creator the universe, who deserves reverence and respect will allow Himself to be mocked, and to become a laughingstock (John 19:1-5; Luke 23:35-36). We should not be surprised that Jesus was revolted by the thought of what was ahead of Him, for in the Old Testament God was often revolted by the evil that men would perform. Often God would use the term “abomination” when describing something sinful (Proverbs 6:16), and this term means that which is loathsome, disgusting and repugnant to God.
“My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death”
This statement is recorded in Matthew 26:38. Mark adds that Jesus began to be very distressed and troubled (14:33). In like manner, these statements should remind us that the human emotions associated with grief that we experience came from God. In the Bible we often find God grieving deeply (Genesis 6:6 “He was grieved in His heart”), especially with the nation of Israel(Hosea 11:1-4; Luke 19:41-44). Yet, Jesus’ experience in the Garden was not the last time that God was grieved by man’s rebellion. God is still grieved when people rebel against His wisdom, ignore His plan for their lives and proceed on a road to self-destruction and eternal misery (Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…”).
“And His sweat became like drops of blood”
This is what we would expect if God Himself took upon Himself a body of flesh (Philippians 2:5-8). This tells us that the human body that enveloped Jesus was completely tied into all His divine emotions. In the Garden this body must have been subjected to handling the most intense emotions that any human body has ever experienced. God is going to die for the sins of the entire human race, the eternal destiny of every man and women who has ever lived and would ever live depended and rested upon the shoulders of this one man who was praying.
“He was praying very fervently” (Luke 22:44)
Jesus dealt with the fearful agony of the cross using the same tools that we have in battling any temptation which we face. If the Son of God needed prayer to face this trial—then how much more do we! We should notice the change between Jesus praying that the cup might, if possible, pass and the Jesus that arises and tells His disciples, “Arise, let us be going; behold the one who betrays Me is at hand!” (Matthew 26:46). Pouring out His heart to the Father, and completely trusting in the Father’s wisdom forearmed Jesus to encounter with courage the worst assault that any man has experienced. In all honestly, like Jesus, we can anticipate some of the temptations that we will face, and do we pray fervently prior to a trial? (Hebrews 4:16)
“Not My will, but Thine be done”
Our salvation rests upon this attitude expressed by Jesus in the garden (Hebrews 5:7-9). Are we willing to adopt this same attitude and take the gospel to others that they might also be saved?
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41)
Admittedly the apostles were exhausted and emotionally upset by the time they reached the garden (Matthew 26:43; Luke 22:45 “sleeping from sorrow”). Yet, this exhaustion and shock they were experiencing did not remove the responsibility to be watchful. The devil knows when we are vulnerable; He did not seek to tempt Jesus until the end of Jesus’ fast (Luke 4:3). We tend to excuse ourselves for being irritable or unfaithful when we are tired, upset, or discouraged, yet this is the very time when temptation often strikes. Be impressed that it takes more than a “willing” spirit to overcome temptation. The flesh, which includes in this context the body, the emotions, and the will, must also cooperate. It takes more than a good attitude or good intentions to be successful against sin, we must “buffet our body” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Too many people excuse themselves from spiritual battles by saying, “Well, no use trying if I don’t feel like it”. Jesus did not feel like dying on the cross! We must learn to take control of our passions, our fears, and our worries, and push ourselves to do what is right.
“In an age where even religious activities are geared to stroking our feelings and coddling our sentiments in order to make us feel good in our sins, we must look to Jesus! In a day when we are instructed to find a life-style that feels good, we must remember that He could say ‘No!’ to His impulses in order to save us from our certain destiny. When, in order to assuage our sense of guilt, sentimental songs of self-congratulation take the place of God-centered hymns, when chummy pep talks feebly supplant life-changing messages that exalt the living God and stir us to responsible action, we must look to Jesus! He did notfeel like going to the cross for anyone. It is to this role model that we are called (Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6; John 13:15)” (Bible Study Textbook Series, Matthew IV, Harold Fowler, pp. 727-728).
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
