Chapter 11.15
Cup of Christ
Separated
from His Disciples – Separated from God the Father
Betrayed
- Abandoned – Blind folded – Beaten – Beard torn out
Spat
upon – Crown of Thorns - Whipped; the Cat of Nine Tails
Hematidrosis;
sweating drops of blood – Nailed to the Cross
In AGONY
His sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling
down upon the ground.
First Word
I usually like to study
something that is controversial, but this one just grabbed me in its
simplicity. Jesus is in the Garden of
Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives wrestling with THE CUP that is about to be poured out on Him. As He is in prayer to God the Father, He takes
three of His inner circle to be with Him, Peter, James and John.
He tells them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death; stay here and keep watch with
me.”[1]
When He said to keep watch, He knew that
His time was near and impending danger was almost upon them and desired that
they also pray so that when it all unfolded, they would not fall into
temptation; to doubt His teachings and abandon Him.
Jesus’ was in great agony and began to sweat GREAT drops of blood.[2] Three times He asked His closest friends to
stay awake and PRAY.
Even though their spirits were willing
to continue in prayer, their bodies were weak and they went to sleep.[3] In His Prayer, He wrestled with THE CUP that was about to be poured out. IMPORTANT remember this; Having NO ONE
to encourage and comfort Him, the Father God sent an Angel
from Heaven to strengthen Him.
The Cup is a hyperbole, a figure of
speech that evokes strong feelings and creates strong impressions about things
to come, which begs the question: What was in THE CUP that Jesus was struggling with that He
already knew about, but wanted so much to see pass by?
The Wrath of the Cup
As Jesus was in prayer, He struggled
with what would be poured out of this terrible, dreadful, mournful CUP of horrors;
not only on Him, but also on His followers.
SCRIPTURE
REVEALS SEVEN THINGS HE SAW as He raised THE CUP to His lips to drink.
1)
He understood He would be BEATEN with elm and birch rods;
whipped with “The cat of nine tails”; the dreaded flagellum,[4]
a short handled leather whip with many leather lashes that had pieces of bone
and lead plaited into its thongs
that were meant to rip the victims flesh. Traditionally He would have been
stripped and tied to a low pillar so that His back was bent upward. Two men would stand on opposite sides bringing
down the whip on the shoulders, back and legs… The skin on His back would be
left hanging down in ribbons… This would leave Jesus a bloody pulp with deep
gashes probably exposing His bones and entrails.
2) He saw they
would blindfold Him, pull out His beard,[5]
spit on Him[6]
and beat Him with their fist.[7] He felt the “Road of Torture” carrying His own
cross[8]
and the CRUSHING AGONY of a lingering
death, dying with a crown of thorns pressed down into His forehead[9]
and with nails driven into his hands and feet.[10] Secured by a rope, He would push up, gasping
for air… His mouth would become dry and He would THIRST.[11]
3) He felt the
agony of the heavy burden of the WORLD’S SINS
BEING DUMPED ON HIM. For three
hours, an almost never ending line of overflowing SIN
LADEN train
hopper cars unloading and dumping on Him, one right after another, load after
load of crushing SIN.[12]
4) He would be all ALONE feeling their CONTEMPT. While today many offer the middle finger to show contempt; they WAGGED
their heads, jeered and hurled insults at Him as they passed by…
“He saved
others, let Him save Himself”[13]…
“Come down
and we will believe”.
5)
He felt the heartless cruel ENMITY of the Church leaders; Priests,
Pharisees, Scribes, and the Sanhedrin SEPARATING
THEMSELVES from
Him,[14]
declaring Him to be blasphemous to God and worthy of DEATH.
6)
He saw Himself BETRAYED by a man who
was in a covenant relationship with Him,[15] a
man who He called His Friend.[16] He would feel Himself SEPARATED
FROM HIS DISCIPLES;[17] hurt by their denial
and desertion. The Book records
all of the Male followers and Disciples had abandoned Him;[18]
only the WOC; Women of the
Church remained faithful at the Cross of Christ.[19]
7) He would feel
for the first time ever, the SEPARATION FROM
THE FATHER GOD, as the Father God turned His back on all the boat loads of SIN
that was being dumped on His Son. He
would not only suffer in the physical realm, but in the spiritual realm as He enters Hell.
Doctor Luke, one of the
chosen twelve disciples reports from a medical perspective
that the great agony of Jesus was causing His capillary veins to rupture
and was sweating GREAT drops of blood;
it has a name; hematidrosis,
DEATH BY INTERNAL BLEEDING; Jesus could prematurely die before He even got to the cross
Jesus prophesized that He would suffer and
die, but now for the sake of all the others that would also feel the same
immeasurable suffering and torture and be killed because of His name; in His
humanity Jesus
the Messiah shrank back from the
awful intensity of agony and asked IF IT WERE POSSIBLE for all this
suffering and agony to be taken away from THEM; He was asking WAS THERE
ANOTHER WAY to save humanity from their Sins?[20]
The Father God’s answer was NO,[21]
but the answer came with a ministering Angel healing the hematidrosis with the gift of
strength to be able to drink from the cup all the way to its dregs. Jesus submitted to being OBEDIENT to God’s Plan even unto His own death.
His example in His prayer to God is the openness
of His own emotions of humanity which teaches us that we too can pray in our own humanity and frailty openly out
of our heart, our own feelings and emotions, without hesitation.
The
Take Away
What we have just witnessed is a Word
picture of Jesus who was all MAN and all GOD. We cannot separate His humanity from His Deity.
God cannot get hungry, thirsty, tired or
scared, but Jesus in His humanity could.
What He suffered was infinitely beyond what anyone could possibly
imagine, understand or describe.
Did you see it? He sweat GREAT drops of blood and could have died prematurely before He
even got to the cross, so an angel was dispatched to heal Him… It’s in the Book…
His example to us was His submission
to God, even
unto His death.
Jesus prophesized and understood the cup was full of God’s wrath &
fury against ALL types of sins; lies, careless
words, dishonoring thoughts, sexual rebellion and unspeakable crimes
just to name a few. This is THE CUP that HE CONSUMED FOR US; the sinless Son of God, BECAME SIN for us.[22]
Men have searched for the Holy Grail, the cup that
Jesus drank from at the last supper and is said to be the one that JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA used to collect the blood of
Jesus at His crucifixion and has become the object of legends and movies. Even though none of this is portrayed, nor
presented within the scriptures, it is said to have miraculous powers that provide eternal youth, happiness and an infinite
abundance; but it’s NOT in the Book.
The searchers do not realize that the real Cup while
in “greatness”
is also a bitter cup of suffering and self-sacrifice,
service and love…
and those that choose to OWN IT and drink from it could also experience suffering
as well as the joy and peace.
The Book demonstrates to
us that we too could be faced with difficult situations that will give us a CHOICE to be obedient and live in submission
to God; OR NOT.
God gave Moses the “Book of the Law” which required
blood sacrifices of animals that temporarily covered over our sins; they were
only a foreshadow of the FINAL and LAST SACRIFICE of His Son
Jesus the Christ. His sacrifice on the
cross did not just cover up our sins, but did away with the Sins completely.
As Believers we become sinless in His sight because now when
God sees us, He sees Jesus.
YOU MUST GET THIS; we were ALL born in Sin, separated from our God and subject to drink of the Cup of His wrath all the way to the bottom[23]…
yet while we were still sinners, He sent His only begotten Son to provide us THE WAY back to Him.[24] Jesus took our place on the cross as THE FINAL SACRIFICE FOR SIN and received in
Himself THE CUP of God’s wrath
toward sin.[25]
(The
followers of Jesus were a sect known as THE WAY… not A way, but THE Way.) [26]
Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath so that He
could extend THE CUP of God’s Mercy and fellowship to us. While it may include suffering, it does not
include God’s
wrath
anymore, it contains the ETERNAL
FELLOWSHIP with
Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. This
same cup is extended today and
offered to those who don’t yet know Him.
This NEW CUP offered may come with some suffering, but it is full of
God’s mercy,
grace and eternal fellowship.
For the
Un-believer and Make Believer,
THE CUP is still full of
God’s Wrath and horror[27] poured
out in full strength on SIN, separating
the Unbeliever from God the Father for eternity.
For the Believer, the cup is full of God’s mercy, grace, blessings, salvation and eternal
fellowship with Him.
At the last supper of Christ there were FOUR CUPS of wine that
were taken, Jesus set aside THE FOURTH CUP and said He would drink that cup with us
when we see Him in Glory.[28] This is the expectation of the resumption
of the “MESSIANIC BANQUET” in the Kingdom
of God with Jesus Christ at the head of table.
This is where ALL believers will drink with Him THE FOURTH CUP.
It is finished… It’s
in the Book
[1] Matthew 26:36-38 – Jesus became ANGUISHED and DISTRESSED. He told them, “MY SOUL IS CRUSHED WITH GRIEF to the point
of death.
Stay here and keep watch with me
[2] Luke 22:43-44 – In agony His sweat become GREAT DROPS OF
BLOOD -- Luke
22:43-44 – SWEAT, WRUNG FROM HIM LIKE DROPS OF BLOOD, POURED OFF HIS FACE
[3] Matthew 26:40-41- His closest friends went to sleep
[4] John 19:1 – Jesus is whipped with a lead-tipped whip
[6] Matthew 27:30 – Spit on Him; beat His head
with a stick -- Mark 15:19 – Struck His head and spit on Him
[7] Mark 14:65 – They blindfolded Him, beat
Him and spit on Him -- Luke 22:63-65 – Jesus is mocked, insulted and beaten
[8] John 19:17 – Jesus bore His own cross to Golgotha -- John 19:34 –
A spear pierced His side
[9] Matthew 27:29 – A crown of thorns was
press into Jesus’ head; “Hail! King of the
Jews!”
[10] Luke 24:39 – SEE (the holes in) MY HANDS AND MY FEET -- John
[11] John 19:28 – He would thirst for water
[12] 1 Peter 2:24 – Jesus carried our sins in His body
on the cross so that we can be dead to sin -- Galatians 3:13 – Jesus absorbed ALL our
sins becoming the curse and nailing it to the tree
[13] Luke 23:35 – Let Him save Himself if He is
the Messiah
[14] Luke 5:21 – Pharisees and Teachers separated themselves
[15] Matthew 26:49-50 – Jesus called Juda his Friend; a covenant name
[16] Mark 14:10 - Judas betrays & separates himself from Jesus
[17] John 21:3 – The Disciples ABANDONED Jesus and went fishing
[18] Matthew 26:75 – Peter denies and separates himself from Jesus
[19] John 19:25 – Disciples deserted; only the Women Of the Church remained; the three Mary’s
[20] Matthew 26:39 – Let this cup of suffering pass away from me AND THOSE THAT FOLLOW ME.
[21] Matthew 27:46 – God separates Himself from Jesus & the Sins: MY GOD, MY GOD; WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?
[22] Matthew 20:22 – Do you want to drink from the Holy Grail, ARE YOU ABLE TO DRINK FROM THE BITTER CUP OF SUFFERING Matthew
20:17-19 – Jesus prophecy of his Agony and death; CONDEMN TO DEATH, MOCKED, FLOGGED, CRUCIFIED
[23] Isaiah 51:17 – Wake up America; the Lord’s fury is coming; THE CUP OF THE LORD’S
FURY.
[24] Romans 5:8 – While we were still SINNING;
Christ died for us
[25] Romans 6:6 – ALL our sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus, Past, Present and Future
[26] Acts 24:14 – Jesus’ followers were known as “THE WAY” -- John 14:6 – God provided THE WAY through His Son; “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. No one can come to the Father except through me
[27] Isaiah 51:17 – The cup contains the Lord’s fury and
terror -- Revelation 14:9-10 – Contains
tormenting wrath of fire & burning sulfur
[28] Matthew 26:29 – I
WILL NOT DRINK THIS CUP UNTIL THAT DAY WHEN I DRINK IT NEW WITH YOU in my Father's kingdom
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