We find similar scripture in the books of Mark and Luke: ". . . Then He (Jesus) took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." " (Mark 10:32-34) " . . . The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."" (Luke 9:22) The Bible tells us Jesus knew He would die and be raised again from the dead: "So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?""Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." "Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said . . . " (John 2:18-22) Was Jesus human enough that He was afraid to die? I don't believe He was afraid, because He came down to the earth for this purpose. Why then, did He agonize over this cup? What was the cup Jesus agonized over? Let's go back to the scripture in question where Jesus is praying to the Father about a certain cup: "Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.""He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." "Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." " (Matthew 26:38-39, 42) What could be in this cup that Jesus dreaded so much? Was it the CUP OF DEATH or was there something else in the cup that Jesus dreaded drinking? At this point I'd like to quote from Nelson's Commentary of Matthew 26:36-39 : "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful is found in the Greek Septuagint version of Psalm 43:5. The prayer for the cup to pass is not due to Jesus' fear of death, Jesus questions the will of the Father as to the necessity of drinking the cup. While this may refer to death ("he tasted death") it is more likely that the cup represents the wrath of man's sin-bearer. In the awful anguish of that moment, the sin of the world was poured on Christ and He became "sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Thus, the Righteous One dies a substitution death for guilty mankind." Was it the contents of the cup that Jesus dreaded? Notice Jesus' words in the book of John: "So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?"" (John 18:11) There is a cup that is reserved for the wicked. It is a dreadful cup, one that no one would want to drink, yet it was a cup that we ALL would have had to drink, had not Jesus drank it for us. Let's go to the Psalms: "For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart."The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals, fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup." (Psalms 11:2, 5) Also notice in the book of Psalms: "But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down." (Psalms 75:7) If the wine is red and full of mixture it means it is still in the fermenting process and it would be poison to drink. Notice Solomon's words about drinking wine that is not ready for consumption: "Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper." (Proverbs 23:31-32) What made Jesus sorrowful BEFORE his arrest? If Jesus didn't agonize over death itself then what was it that made Jesus so sorrowful even BEFORE he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane? The cup Jesus dreaded -- the cup He drank for His people -- was the cup of God's wrath against unrepentant sinners and the wicked. By drinking from this cup Jesus became sin for us. In Isaiah we find: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, every one, to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. " (Isaiah 53:4-6) Because of Christ's action, we do not have to drink of God's wrath. As a matter of fact, we shall be protected from it. Notice Paul's words in Romans 5: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Romans 5:8-11) Paul also writes the church in 1Thessalonians: " . . . and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." (1Thessalonians 1:10) "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . " (1Thessalonians 5:9-10)
In the book of Matthew we read John the Baptist told the Pharisees: "But when he (John the Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?' " (Matthew 3:7) So there is no doubt that if it were not for Jesus WE would all be facing the wrath of God. In drinking the cup of God's wrath, Jesus not only took our sins away, He opened the door for our future to be spent with Him in the Kingdom of God: "And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals. For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God. And we shall reign on the earth.' " (Revelation 5:9-10) In closing, here's a quote out of Roger Rusk's book The Other Ends of the Earth: "Who died on the cross? The Blessed God, the God of Splendor of Genesis 5:12-17, who came down teaching that his death would bring comfort to the despairing. Who died on the Cross? The smoking furnace and the burning lamp who walked between the pieces of death pledging his life as a surety for the promises of Abraham. Who died on the Cross? The Husband-Redeemer of Israel, who loved his adulterous wife so much, that he desired to transform her into a chaste virgin whom he could marry again. Who died on the Cross? The Born Child whose name is Wonderful Counselor. The Son Given, whose name is the Everlasting Father. Who died on the Cross? The Mighty God who bared his strong arm in the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth have seen his Salvation. Who died on the Cross? The Coming Prince of Peace." |