Pass This Cup from Me: Jesus

Usage of the term "cup" in scripture has many meanings and theologians comments are various about the meaning of the "cup". Of course it has a literal meaning. It's to contain liquid which is to be consumed. As such, especially in Mosaic Law, it's to be clean! However, God uses common items which we can all understand to represent hidden meanings. As an example if it is said "He shot back as a bullet." , some may say that a gun was fired at someone. However, from context, it's clear that it refers to a "fast temper". The use of the term "cup" as similar inferences. Let's see what!

What did Jesus mean when he said this:

Matthew 26:38 "Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

God was to make a sacrifice of his only son. Salvation must be by blood:

 Hebrews 9:22  "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."

Of course when one is saved their sins are forgiven, but there must be a sacrifice for forgiveness. It was by blood under The Law and still is under the Dispensation of Grace.  The sacrifice was made once and for all by Jesus. Blood saves! If one recounts the story of the Passover the Tenth Plague was death of the firstborn son. Jesus, likewise, was the first born. At the Passover the Hebrew firstborn was saved from death by the shadow of death by the sprinkling of blood on the door posts. The Passover was a picture of the salvation offered by God. The firstborn son is Jesus. The sprinkling of the blood represented the saving blood of Jesus and the doorposts represented the Cross. It's no coincidence that the crucifixion was on Preparation day for Passover.

On Preparation day all the utensils for use in the Passover Sedar were cleaned as were the Hebrews themselves. The primary utensils for the Passover ceremony were the "cup" and the "charger". The cup was for holding the wine and the charger (or platter) was for holding the "matzo" which was a thin dry unleavened bread. The platter may have held other things, but the matzo was the main ingredient and at the Last Supper only the bread was eaten.

Wine represents the blood of Jesus. The cup is what held the wine. Therefore, it appears that "the cup" to which Jesus referred was his body. But you may say that the "bread" was a representation of the body. That's true, but the cup was the entire container consisting of mind, body and spirit. Rather than Jesus dying only bodily, he died spiritually for us as well. By taking all our sins upon himself, it was necessary that he face total death! If you're remember Jesus cried out on the Cross:

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Jesus wasn't concerned with his physical death, but for a time, God took away his Spirit. Jesus died in totality for us all for all our sins. Jesus died in mind, body and Spirit and that was the "cup" of which he was speaking. His agony was being excommunicated by his own Father for a spell.  He did that for us!

He was for a time forsaken on the Cross. His words were "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? which were the first verse of the Twenty-Second Psalm which follows:

Psalm 22 1 "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
 2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

To get the full meaning of this we can look more at Hebrew worship.

2 Kings 2:11 "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
2 Kings 2:15 "And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him."
Kings 2: 2:20 "And he said, Bring me a new cruse (cup), and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land."

In preparation for the Passover the Hebrew people celebrate the taking away of Elijah. The Hebrews use "Elijah's Cup" in the "Passover Seder" which is always on the first night of Passover.  The cruse (or cup) used by Elisha when he assumed the role which Elijah had held, carried the salt with which he "healed these waters" and "there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land".

So it would appear that for Elisha the cup represented the assumption of Elijah to heaven where he still resides because he never died! There was power in that cup. In this instance it carried the salt which defeated death. Compare this to the "cup" Jesus relinquished which defeated death for all time. It's no coincidence that Elijah's cup was used for the Passover and the crucifixion of Jesus was held at the Passover.

Matthew 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with:

"My cup" here is the propitiation of Jesus' own body for our sins. It was the entire Jesus which was sacrificed: mind, body and Spirit. He died a real death, just as we would if we were crucified. Jesus didn't wait until the judgment day to be resurrected! It was with immediacy. His body laid in the tomb for a portion of three different days, but his spirit was alive immediately, just as ours will be when we face death!

Jesus was "the cup". His "being" contained the flesh, his mind and his Spirit. Pharisees were a little different. They had not drank of the cup of Jesus, hence their cup contained only mind and flesh. The soul was spiritually empty. It's easy to see that the "cup" of the Pharisees was the body, which they ceremonially cleaned. But what is the platter? The platter held the bread which represents the body of Christ. It also held the head of John the Baptist. The platter was for showing what was holy. The Pharisees showed their holiness by their deeds. They prayed for all to see and were first in the synagogue. Perhaps their platter held their own showbread. It was their obtuse worship; a worship of the head only, not the heart!

Matthew 23:25 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."

The Pharisees were told to clean the inside of the cup and platter first. They did this by taking the cup of Jesus; believing in him! Once the inside of their cup (body) and platter (mind) was clean, then they would be clean on the outside too. Their soul filled with the contents of the cup of Jesus would clean the cup and platter too! In a sense their soul was empty, but by drinking of the cup represented by Jesus, their soul would be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 26:26 "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

 Yes, Jesus body was the bread. In fact it was the "bread of life"! The cup containing wine was held symbolically his blood. Likewise, the body is the container for the blood. To overcome this difference, early church fathers sopped the wine from the cup using the bread. After doing that the wine was transferred to the bread and the bread became the cup so to speak. Hence, the bread did represent the body and so did the cup.

What's the point? It's difficult to understand the deep meaning of "the cup of Jesus". My contention is that the "cup" represents the entire entity of Jesus, not just his flesh. When he was crucified God took "the cup" from him with all it's contents! Jesus died for us with his mind, body and Spirit. He gave up his personhood and relinquished his Spirit so that we wouldn't have to ourselves. It was a terrible moment for him! He took on all the sins of mankind and his soul was emptied of spirit as his mind and body died. As Adam died spiritually so did Jesus!

Romans 5:11 "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"

That's a spiritual death that all men received and also as we can all attest, we all must suffer physical death as well. However, by Jesus making the blood atonement for us by sacrificing "his cup", he too suffered a physical and spiritual death; but both were short lived! He's alive today! By drinking of his cup we're a new person. Our own cup is filled with his spirit (we become a temple for it) and death is defeated. The Christian becomes somewhat like Jesus who is eternal. Our cup will never pass because his did!