The Cup That Passed
The following is a presentation of scripture evidence that the cup Jesus stated was ‘the cup which my Father hath given me, ‘ and ‘the cup that I drink of, ‘ representing experiences prophesied concerning him, was not the cup he asked if possible might pass, (John 18:11; Mr 10:38) but that the cup he asked might pass was the mental conflict and agony of Gethsemane itself.
In the Bible a cup is used both in the usual sense, and in a figurative sense. In the figurative sense it may represent something good or blessed, as in the 23rd Psalm, ‘My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’
More often a cup represents experiences of a more difficult nature, as indicated when Jesus asked two of his disciples, ‘Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? ‘Jesus then refers to his sacrificial life as a baptism and a cup to be drunk – his Father’s will for him. (Matthew 20:22,23,28)
From Old Testament scriptures Jesus knew and accepted in advance those experiences which would come to him in the drinking of this cup. As an example he stated, ‘After two days is the feast of the passover and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified’. (Matthew 26:2) He also quotes from Isaiah 53:12, relating it to himself being ‘numbered with the transgressors,’ and further states ‘that this that is written must be accomplished in me’. (Luke 22:37) The entire 53rd chapter of Isaiah was prophetic of him.
All of these things Jesus knew of in advance and accepted, as we read, ‘Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth’. (John 18:4) He asks with obvious answer, ‘The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?’. (John 18:11) Again his words, ‘Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause I came unto this hour’. (John 12:27) Jesus was fully dedicated to the doing of his Father’s will even where it entailed ignominy, suffering, and death; this he made very plain. He was willing to drink the cup the Father had given him.
In view of this, what then was the cup, the particular cup, which he prayed the night before his death, that his Father would ‘remove,’ ‘take away,’ let ‘pass’ from him? This request was in connection with his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
‘LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME’
Surely this cup which Jesus prayed might be removed is not the same cup concerning which he professed his willingness to drink. Nor can we suppose that he was now changing his statement, ‘that this that is written must be accomplished in me,’ to a request that it not be accomplished in him. After asking those two disciples if they were able to drink of ‘the cup that I shall drink of,’ was he now asking that he himself not be required to drink it?
From this it becomes quite apparent that an entirely different cup is what he asked might pass – be removed. We believe the concern, the fear, the deathly mental agony, lest he had failed – constituted the cup he prayed might pass.
We do not believe it was the fear of suffering, but rather a fear lest in some way he might have failed in his mission which caused the excruciating intensity of the agony and anguish which he calls a cup he would have removed, and concerning which he was ‘heard in respect to that which he feared’s (Hebrews 5:7, Young) Literal Translation).
The terrible excruciating intensity of the mental anguish which Jesus experienced in Gethsemane is fully attested by the Gospel writers. Matthew 26:37,38 – and Jesus ‘began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then said he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death.’ The Diaglott translates Matthew 26:38, ‘My soul is surrounded with a deadly anguish.’ How reasonable to request that if possible such a ‘deadly anguish’ pass from him. We feel this was the cup which passed.
Clark’s Commentary, on parts of Matthew 26: ‘Began to be sorrowful,’ from a Greek word, to dissolve – exquisite sorrow, such as dissolves the natural vigor and threatens to separate the soul from life. ‘And very heavy,’ overwhelmed with anguish – this word is used by the Greeks to denote the most extreme anguish which the soul can feel, excruciating anxiety and torture of spirit. ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful (or is surrounded with exceeding sorrow) even unto death.’ My soul is so dissolved in sorrow; my spirit is filled with such agony and anguish, that, if speedy succor be not given to my body, death must be the speedy consequence.
There are scriptures which seem to indicate that Satan himself may have been involved in the garden trial of Jesus. After the Devil unsuccessfully tempted Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, we read that then ‘he departed from him for a season’. (Luke 14:13)
Though he was not now returned at the final hour to say ‘If thou be the Son of God,’ perhaps he came to tempt with doubt and to suggest failure. This might seem to be implied in Hebrews 12:3,4, where we are asked to consider Jesus and what he endured who ‘resisted unto blood, striving against sin.’ It is interesting to note that the Greek word for striving denotes to struggle against, strive against, to contend with an adversary. Where but in the Garden of Gethsemane was ever such a ‘striving against [the very personification of] sin’?
Jesus had come to earth to show God’s love, to glorify his heavenly Father, to provide redemption and salvation for the human race. God’s divine plan of the ages was centered in him and the work he had come to do. Was there a chance he had failed? Had he fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Law and carried out all of that which had been written beforehand? If he had failed in any particular, then the glory of God, the salvation of the human race and even his hope of a resurrection would be involved. No wonder he wished the cup and all uncertainty to pass, and that he might receive reassurance from his heavenly Father.
Happy we are to learn that he ‘who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death (eternal) was heard in that he feared,’ or in the thing that he feared. The Greek word for ‘heard’ signifies favorably heard or answered, and so is shown from the four times this word is used in the New Testament.
It seems quite logical that the most imperative time for Jesus to have some assurance regarding that which concerned him would be this last day. Is this not in harmony with his teaching to take no anxious thought for the morrow? But now the crucial hours were upon him. Could he go through what lay ahead (the cup he would drink of) without assurance of his faithfulness to this point?
It was this fear of possible shortcoming, intensified by all the arts and cunning that the adversary was able to bring to bear, that now weighed upon Jesus and undermined his confidence. This must be allayed in order for him to retain his inner peace and joy. If the cup of which Jesus asked to be relieved and to have pass from him was as here suggested, then he did not ask amiss, nor did its granting call for the change in anything in the Divine Mind or plan, being quite compatible with God’s will for Jesus.
Let ‘this cup’ [of Gethsemane’s anguish] pass’ seems shown to have passed by the after composure, confidence and fortitude of Jesus as he drank yet of the cup the Father had poured for him.
– Martin Mitchell