WWUTT 2112 Let this Cup Pass from Me (Matthew 26:36-46)

The Cup of God’s Wrath in Gethsemane

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, Father, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me, not as I will, but as you will. What is this cup that Jesus was referring to when we understand the text?

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everyone. In our study of Matthew's gospel, we've been in chapter 26, where Jesus goes with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray in the hours just before he is about to be arrested and put to death.

Let's pick up where we left off yesterday. Starting in verse 36, I'll read to verse 46 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. Then he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me.

And he went on a little beyond them and he fell on his face and prayed saying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, so you men could not keep watch with me for one hour?

Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again a second time and prayed saying, my father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done.

And again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. And he left them again and went away and prayed a third time saying the same thing once more. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting?

Behold, the hour is at hand and the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us go. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. Now we refer to this place where Jesus and his disciples come as the garden of Gethsemane.

You might've noticed that the word garden doesn't appear here, but it does in John 18, refers to it as a garden. So that's why we tend to call it that. This is at the base of the Mount of Olives. It's just outside of Jerusalem.

And Judas most likely knew that this was where they were going. This was the plan that Jesus had said to his disciples. After they finish the Passover meal, this is where we're gonna go and spend some time praying.

So he goes with his disciples there. And this is where Judas will bring the mob to arrest Jesus. We'll get to that portion tomorrow. But here as Jesus prays three times that a cup would pass from him.

What is this cup that Jesus is referring to? And it's really when we consider the words that Jesus prayed that we understand exactly what was going to happen when Jesus died on the cross, what he would fulfill and accomplish there.

So let's come back to verse 36. Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. So recall all of this is happening right after they have eaten the Passover meal, Jesus gave them the Lord's supper, taking the bread and saying to them, this is my body, taking the cup and showing that it represents the new covenant, his blood that has been spilled for the forgiveness of sins.

And all of this he's giving to them before he's about to go and fulfill it. He's not yet died. His body has not yet been pierced. His blood has not yet been spilled, but this is what Jesus is about to go and do.

And so he gives them this as a remembrance, this bread, this cup, so that they would remember what Jesus fulfilled by his death. And so the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, whenever you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

So we remember what is represented in that bread and that cup when we partake in communion together as a church. This is what makes us the church. We are a called out assembly of people, called out from the world to Christ by his body and shed blood.

And so we continue to remember those things, knowing also as Jesus had said to his disciples, I will not drink of the fruit of this vine again until I drink it with you in my father's kingdom. So we also have that hopeful expectation of the glory that awaits us in Christ.

So after this meal, they sang a hymn. Jesus had told them that he was going to be struck, fulfilling the prophecy, and that all the sheep would be scattered, that the disciples would run away. And they refused, they were indignant.

Peter especially saying, even if they all fall away, I will never fall away. And Jesus has to tell Peter, before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times. But here they come to the garden. Jesus has the 11, and it's probably more than the 11 in verse 36, where he says, sit here while I go over there and pray.

We know there were other disciples besides the 12. We read that periodically throughout the gospels, but also consider that in Mark's account of these things, when Jesus is arrested, Mark mentions a young man who runs away naked.

He's so afraid that he runs right out of his cloak and runs away naked from the scene. This was not one of the 11 disciples who were with Jesus, but it would have been another. So there were other disciples there.

They weren't part of that core 12. And then even from among the 12, of course, 11 here, because Judas has gone away, but even among the 12, there were three others that Jesus held closer to him than even the other nine.

And they were Peter, James, and John. Those three got to see Jesus transfigured before them on the Mount of Transfiguration. And so he even takes from them in verse 37, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, who were James and John, the brothers, and Jesus began to be grieved and distressed.

And we talked a little yesterday, what might've spurred on that grief, even singing Psalms together, Psalms that prophesied that Jesus was going to go and die. And Jesus knows what is about to come upon him.

He is about to do something no man can do, and no one has ever done or will ever do. Only Jesus could do what he did, fulfilling the required sacrifice with his death on the cross, the required sacrifice as an atonement for sins.

The Atoning Sacrifice Only Christ Could Make

What do I mean by this? Well, let's keep going here. So verse 38, then Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death, remain here and keep watch with me. Now that is truly a heartfelt invitation.

What Jesus is about to go and do, only he can do, and no one else can do it with him or for him. Only he can do this. This is what he was sent for. The father had sent the son to die and be an atoning sacrifice for sins.

So when he is on the cross, he will literally be alone there. Even if all of his disciples had remained with him and had stood there at the foot of the cross as he was being crucified, yet he would still have been alone on that cross, for he would be going through something that no one else can endure, no one else can fulfill.

Only the perfect son of God, who is the spotless lamb, the Passover lamb, who is about to be sacrificed, only he can do what is about to be done. And so as he is about to go and do this thing that the father has sent for him to do, and Jesus is in submission to the will of the father, giving his own life for his sheep, his soul is troubled, it is grieved because of what is about to happen.

And the disciples surely don't even understand this. Like they didn't even get earlier when Jesus said, I'm gonna rise from the dead and go ahead of you to Galilee. They didn't even get that much. So they don't understand what is about to take place.

And so in verse 39, Jesus went a little beyond them and he fell on his face and prayed saying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will, but as you will. I have a friend named Jack, he's a great evangelist and a very heartfelt preacher.

He's really like a Paul Washer with, I think, even more intensity. You might think, how do you have more intensity than Paul Washer? But yeah, I think more on the, he's a little more on the gruff side than Paul Washer is.

But Jack had spent some time in prison when he was younger. I don't know that he ever told me why he was in prison. I know it had something, I think it was something political. He was involved in some sort of political protest or something like that was what ended up in, what caused him to end up in prison.

And he read this book and it was a terrible book. I won't even mention the title of it. Whenever he gives his testimony, he doesn't mention the title either because he doesn't want anyone going and finding this book.

But still through the book, he found a presentation of the gospel. Even though the rest of the theology was bad, there was a presentation of the gospel there. And it pierced him to his heart and he was grieved over his sin and became a Christian while he was in prison.

Well, it was also while he was there that he picked up a Bible and began to read it. And when he reads in Matthew, as he's reading through the gospel, because I have to get to know this Jesus guy, so Matthew's the first gospel, I'm gonna read that one.

As he's going through the gospel and he gets to this part where Jesus is going into the garden to pray and he's weeping and he's grieving over what's about to take place. This was Jack's take on this as a brand new believer, having just heard the gospel for the first time and realizing, well, I need to get to know this Jesus guy.

So he's reading through Matthew for the first time. And his take on this was, Jesus is wimping out. Here he is born to die. He's come to be the sacrifice for us, for our sins. And yet here, before he's about to go to the cross, he's trying to get out of it.

Father, let it be something else. Is there another way to do this thing? And so as this gruff manly guy, who's even having to endure prison with other gruff guys, Jack is reading this in his jail cell and he's unimpressed.

He's going, what's happening with Jesus here? It's like he's trying to get out of this thing. Later on in Acts, the disciples, they're persecuted for their faith and they rejoice over it. Why is Jesus crying here in the garden of Gethsemane?

And what Jack would later go on to share when he shares this testimony and when he preaches about this, what he would go on to find out is that Jesus was about to take the wrath of God upon himself. That's exactly what Jesus is referring to when he talks about this cup.

Let this cup pass from me. What is the cup that Jesus is referring to? Well, in Psalm 75, beginning in verse six, we read, for one's rising up does not come from the East nor from the West and not from the desert, but God is the judge.

He puts down one and raises up another. For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh and the wine foams. It is full of his mixture and he pours from this. Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.

God's wrath being described here as being a foaming wine in a cup and God is gonna pour it out and the wicked will drink it down to the dregs. In other words, down to the last drop. There will be nothing left of it.

God's wrath that he pours out on the wicked is total and complete. And this is what we all deserve for our sin. We all deserve the wrath of God, but Jesus who will go to the cross and die for the sins of those who believe in him, he is about to drink that cup.

The wrath of God is going to be poured out on him and he will drink it down to its dregs for all those whom the father has given to the son to redeem. This is a harrowing, harrowing thing to think about, being under the wrath of God, receiving the wrath of God.

Not just being under it because as John 3, 36 says, all who do not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. So in other words, those who are not followers of Jesus are already under the wrath of God.

It's not yet being poured out on them. That won't happen until after they die and then face judgment. As said in Hebrews, it is appointed for a man once to die and after that comes judgment. This is the judgment that we all deserve.

For our sin, we deserve God's wrath to be poured out on us. And Jesus is going to go to the cross and satisfy the wrath of God with his sacrifice. This is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system that we had been seeing all through the Old Testament.

And over and over again in the Old Testament, we see that a sacrifice will be offered and then God's wrath will be abated or he will turn back his wrath or his wrath will be satisfied. Just think about the sacrifice that Noah lifted up after the flood waters receded and Noah and his family and all the animals came off the ark.

Noah offered a sacrifice to God and it says that God smelled the sweet aroma and said, I will never again curse the ground because of man. So there's a sacrifice that is being offered there that satisfies the wrath of God.

Now, Hebrews says that the blood of bulls and goats never would have been enough to take away a man's sins. All of these things were pointing to something greater that was to come. Even Noah's sacrifice in Genesis 8 was pointing to a greater rest.

Noah's name meant rest, by the way, but Noah was not the one who was going to deliver man from the sins of the world. Even Noah himself was pointing to one who is greater and that is the Christ who was to come, who fulfills all of these types and shadows that we saw throughout the Old Testament.

As Romans 3 says, God in his divine forbearance passed over former sins and to show his righteousness at the present time so he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Even in the sins that man had committed before Christ came, God looked past those things to Christ who was going to die for them and his death on the cross satisfies the wrath of God for people before Jesus died and even after Jesus died.

So those who were alive before Jesus' death, they were looking toward the cross, were looking back at the cross to see what was fulfilled there when Jesus went and was a sacrifice for us. This is what Jesus is about to go and face.

This is why he is so grieved because the wrath of God is about to be poured out on him. We read about this in Isaiah 53 and you know what? It is by providence that we are in Isaiah 53 at the same time that we're reading through this account in Matthew's gospel.

On Thursday, we're in Isaiah 53. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we've been reading through Matthew and it's in Isaiah 53. I could not have timed this better. It is just by God's providence. We happen to be reading both of these chapters at the same time.

But of course, in Isaiah 53, it is said that he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds, we are healed.

Verse 10, it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. And when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

And Hebrews 12 even tells us that Jesus looked beyond the cross to the joy of the Lord. What a grievous thing to have to go to the cross and endure what Jesus was about to endure. But he did all of this to the glory of God, the Father.

Philippians 2 .11. And so let's continue on, verse 40. He came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, so you men could not keep watch with me for even one hour, keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation.

This word watch indicates that there are greater trials that are coming. Do not be taken by surprise when they come. So hence the word watch. It's necessary for us to be on our guard and then pray, seek aid from God through supplication that he would give you the strength and the help to endure what is about to take place.

Remember, Jesus had just said to his disciples, the shepherd's gonna be struck and you're all gonna run away. And the disciples are going, no, no, no. That would never happen. Peter's saying, even if they all run away, I will never.

I will die with you. And yet here they are not praying. So confident they were in themselves, in their own ability that they don't even seek God for the strength to endure what is about to happen. Jesus says to them, the spirit is willing.

Yeah, you might be really willing in your spirits to go with me and to die with me, but your flesh is really weak. The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. And we need to take a lesson from that and recognize that our ability to resist temptation is not to be in our strength.

It is to be in the strength of God. If we are tempted, turn to Christ, ask Christ to give you the strength to resist that temptation for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So Jesus goes on, verse 42.

He went away again a second time and prayed saying, my father, if this cannot pass away until I drink it, your will be done. Jesus prayed much longer than this, of course, but you have the disciples falling asleep.

What all could they hear of what Jesus was praying? And so this is what we have recalled by the disciples here of what it was that Jesus prayed. I'd be curious as to what other words that Jesus said. We know according to Luke 22, 43, that there were angels that came to him and were ministering to him there in the garden.

But beyond that, what Jesus prayed is not for our knowing, at least not now. One day when we join with him in glory, we will know what else Jesus prayed for in that garden. But for now, continuing to petition the Lord, if there is another way, if there's another way, father, for this to happen, then for what I have to go to the cross and do, let's do that instead.

But yet Jesus saying, it is not what I will, it is what you will in submission to the father's plan and design for the atoning sacrifice to be paid. Verse 43, again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy and he left them again and went away and prayed a third time saying the same thing once more.

So whatever other words Jesus was praying, we know that the nature of the prayer all three times was father is there another way. And then he came to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting?

Behold, the hour is at hand and the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up and let us go. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. Earlier, it was in chapter 20, when the sons of Zebedee's mother, so Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and said, please grant that in your kingdom, these two sons of mine may sit one on your right and one on your left.

And Jesus said to her, you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? And they said to him, we are able. And then Matthew 20, 23, Jesus said to them, my cup, you shall drink.

Now, the cup that Jesus was about to drink was the cup of God's wrath. We don't have to take on the cup of God's wrath when we are followers of Jesus. We have nothing to fear of that. Christ has taken that upon himself for our sake.

So what is Jesus referring to, to James and John, when he says to them, my cup, you shall drink, but to sit on my right hand and on my left, this is not mine to give. What's he referring to with this cup?

That's a reference to the cup of his suffering. And indeed the disciples would suffer for the sake and the cause of Christ. They would go through suffering, but they would not have to drink the same cup that Jesus consumed on the cross for us.

Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? And then in verse 23, my cup, you shall drink, but it's not the same cup, it's a different cup. There's also another way that we might understand this incidentally, for it is in Psalm 116, verses 12 and 13, that we read this, what shall I give to Yahweh in return for all his bountiful dealings with me?

I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of Yahweh. And my friends, that's the cup that we get to drink from. We get the cup of salvation because Christ took the cup of God's wrath for our sake.

Prayer, Temptation, and the Cup of Salvation

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here. And I pray that it surely opens our eyes to understanding exactly what it was that Jesus accomplished, what he went and fulfilled on the cross by his death.

And so may we become worshipful unto the Lord. We rightly understand what we deserve for our sin is death, but Christ took that for us. He took the very wrath of God for us so that all who believe in Jesus, who believe on his name, we are not the objects of God's wrath, we are the objects now of your love and affection because of what you did for us.

And so we thank you, Father. And we ask that we would have boldness and courage even in these days to be able to watch for temptation and turn to Christ that we may have the strength to resist. When trials may come, it is Christ's strength that lifts us up and helps us to endure.

And we have boldness to share the gospel with others, knowing that it is only by faith in Jesus that a man is saved from the wrath of God he deserves. It is in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.