Today is
Memorial Day and I hope you have extra time to study today. Today's devotional
is a little longer than normal, but it is probably one of the most important
things we can study as I believe it has the potential to really catch a fire in
our hearts and testimonies that can have long reaching affects. I am currently
reading a book on the Unquenchable Fire that I downloaded for free to my kindle
this weekend. The author goes into a lot more detail than I do here today and
so this lesson and Scripture is very, very timely for me today. May it give us
a deep passion to share the love of Christ with others especially as we may
have opportunities even today around the various gatherings we may be apart of
today.
Today's Devotional is from Matthew 26:31–56
“ … He fell
with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this
Cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Observation: It
is easy to gloss over and skim over and read the words of the Garden of
Gethsemane account, but these words are too important to just skim over. What
was happening is important to your salvation and mine.
Stephen Dray
points out that Luke was a doctor. In his account of the Garden of Gethsemane,
he said that drops of blood from Jesus fell to the ground (Luke 22:44). This is
a medical condition that only happens with extreme pain of the emotions and of
the mind.
In the book I am currently reading about revival the author suggests that these drops were almost clot-like in nature and his garments would have stained with blood as He knelt down on the ground praying. It says in verse 39 He had his face to the ground.
Picture The Master rising up from prayer, His face is blood stained, tears streaked and there is dirt from the Garden mixed with the blood and tears on his forehead and cheeks. This is not the picture we normally see. My grandmother used to have a picture in her living room of Jesus kneeling by a rock in Gethsemane. The light of the moon is shining on him like a spotlight. He is gazing into heaven, hands cupped together praying in his white garment with a blue sash, but Scripture paints a very different picture. That white garment, if he indeed was wearing white, would have been bloodied. He was sweating not only drops of blood, but perspiration, and he probably not only looked wounded, but smelled of blood and sweat and dirt.
Paul and many others describe being beaten and thrown into prisons and suffering many of the same things that Jesus was about to face. Paul and others described these things as “light and momentary afflictions”. Jesus was not in anguish over what was about to take place physically. He was in anguish because the Father was showing Him The Cup of Wrath that He was about to “drink” or that was going to be poured out on Him.
What is in this “cup”? Jesus asked earlier in Matthew 20 this question, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” (Matthew 20:22) Stephen Lee from Desiring God says this, “Greatness in the kingdom of God is obtained along the path of love — the path of sacrifice, service, and suffering.” He goes on to say, “The people of Jesus are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus — who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
To get a fuller picture of The Cup you need to read from Jeremiah 25:15, Isaiah 51:17, Psalm 11:6-7, Psalm 21:9, Psalm 75:8 and Revelation 14:9-10. Revelation gives the fullest picture I think when it describes The Cup as, “poured full strength into the cup of his anger”. Can you imagine even having to drink the tiniest of cups of God’s full strength of anger? But for three long hours Jesus hung on that cross while all of God’s anger from the beginning of time until the end were poured out on Christ (Romans 2:5). This is what Jesus got a glimpse of in the Garden. He looked inside of that Cup and saw all of the sin and the wrath and judgment of God and in that moment Jesus had to decide, “Will I go through with this or not?” It was so painful for Him that He wept and sweat great drops of blood and he cried out in LOUD cries (Hebrews 5:7-8).
I’ve given birth to three children. The second one came so fast there was no time for an epidural. I writhed in pain, twisting and turning in the bed. I wanted the baby out because I knew when she was fully delivered the cramping of the contractions would end and my “light and momentary troubles” would be over. This is NOTHING compared to what Jesus experienced. Some people have said that giving birth is like feeling the pain of 20 bones breaking at the same time, but even this is so pale in comparison to what Christ experienced for us even though it is some of the hardest pain I have ever personally experienced. Some of you have experienced mental anguish over a loss or a really hard trial, but again this is still very pale in comparison to the mental battle Jesus faced in the Garden that night. When the Scripture says He can relate to our trials, surely He can! (Psalm 56:6, Hebrews 2:18)
There, at Golgotha, our Savior drained God’s cup of burning anger down to the dregs. God poured out his wrath, full strength, undiluted, onto his Son. Paul summarizes the meaning of this great event, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21), but in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus caught a glimpse of that Cup and this is what made that night such a time of prayer and anguish. Matthew describes Jesus as “sorrowful and deeply distressed” (v. 37) and verse 38 tells us He was almost at the point of death. Have you ever been this close to the point of death?
Application: Where is the Good News in all of this “bloody mess”? Andrew Hebert of Christian Living writes this, “Ultimately, the Jews didn’t put Jesus on the cross. Nor did the Romans. Nor did you and me. As the prophet Isaiah tells us, “It pleased the LORD to crush him” (Isa. 53:10). God put his own Son on the cross. If you are united to Christ by faith, God has no wrath left for you. As Paul declares, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Jesus drained the cup of condemnation for us. We have life because Jesus drank death.
Whenever you feel abandoned by God, therefore, you can know it’s just a feeling. Your Savior was abandoned on the cross so that you would never have to be. Your acceptance before God isn’t based on your performance but on Christ’s. If you feel guilty because you haven’t “done enough for God,” Christ has come to lift that burden. The gospel isn’t about how much you do for God but about how much God has done for you. This should elicit deep thankfulness for and joy in what God has accomplished for us.”
In the comments below, write one thing that you learned today about The Cup. This isn’t a message that I’ve heard talked about a lot, but it is one I think we would do well to study more and to reflect on more. I think it might take the average, mediocre Christian and bring him/her to a more passionate Christian that speaks of and spreads the gospel like wildfire.
Prayer: Father, forgive me for glossing over or not taking enough time to meditate on “the cup of wrath”. I thank You for helping me to get a fuller and deeper understanding of this cup. We focus a lot on the cross where the work was done, but I haven’t heard a lot of people talking about the message of the cup of wrath that You took and drank for us. I pray we would take this message seriously and teach it to others around us. Even today let us talk about it to those we may be gathered with today, both those who know you and those who don’t. Bring revival through this message. Our world needs Your revival today! May our hearts catch the fire of Your Great Love that drank this awful cup for us. Seer it in our minds and hearts so that the fire would never ever burn out. Through Christ, the One who drank the cup for me, I pray, Amen & Amen.
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