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Author: Stephen Weller
715 words, 4 minutes read time.

Remove This Cup

Scripture: Matthew 26:37-38; Mark 14:35-36; Luke 22:42

In the previous lesson Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and wait for the party to come to arrest Jesus. In this lesson we will find Jesus praying in agony over the suffering that he is about to enter.

^{Mt 26:37} And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ^{Mk 14:35} And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. ^{Lk 22:42} If you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

In our previous lesson it sounded like Jesus left the eleven disciples at one place and then he went to another place to pray, but from our verses of study we find that Jesus took three of his disciples, his inner circle made up of Peter, James and John, and went to another location a short distance away, and while walking there, Jesus began to be sorrowful and troubled over what lay ahead for him.

As they walk a short distance, they stop at a spot and Jesus said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” These three disciples were chosen to go with him to the Mount of Transfiguration and now they are chosen to share this extremely difficult time with Jesus. He tells them to do two things: (1) stay there; don’t wonder off, and (2) watch with me; be alert and pray that they may not fall into temptation; that they will not leave Jesus when he is arrested.

Jesus then goes a little farther away from them and falls on the ground and prays. Falling on the ground is a posture of abject humility and in that position, he then lays his life before his Father in complete honesty and surrender. Jesus is facing the most severe temptation of his life at the very moment when the time is at hand for him to accomplish the culmination of his life’s ministry, and he needs strength to continue.

Jesus prays that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him, but he was sent to do the work of this hour. He needed to bear the sins of the world which would bring the wrath of God upon him. He must drink the cup of wrath to finish his work. (A short powerful video of this cup can be viewed at this link.) Jesus continues in prayer and prays, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.” If only there was another way and if the Father would remove this cup from him because he knows that when he drinks the cup and becomes sin in our place God would have to turn away from him.

This cup is a metaphor for Jesus future suffering. Based on Old Testament texts, taking of the cup denotes that Jesus is taking upon himself the wrath of God. For example: “Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it” (Jeremiah 25:15 ESV), and “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering” (Isaiah 51:17 ESV).

Conclusion

Jesus prays to his Father, “If you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” We can’t begin to imagine the suffering Jesus would endure when he drinks from the cup. We can, maybe, grasp his physical suffering, but not the wrath part. How can Jesus, the Son of God, endure a broken relationship with the Father? We will see that played out on the cross.