Text: Matthew 26:36-46, Philippians 2:8
While the image of Jesus hanging on the cross is truly agonizing, it is somehow the account of the Garden of Gethsemane that grieves me deepest. It is here, with Jesus on His hands and knees, weeping and pleading with God, that I feel the fullness of His humanity and the depth of His sacrifice. It is in this garden that I feel the weight of His suffering at my hands.
He made His way into the garden, away from the disciples, and He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39; NIV)
It’s hard for us to wrap our believing hearts around Jesus asking to be spared the Cross–the very purpose of His existence. But He puts an asterisk on His very human request by declaring His obedience at any cost.
Throughout the Old Testament, “the cup” is used as a metaphor for God’s judgment and His wrath, as in Isaiah 51:17: “You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops.” (NIV) So when Jesus prays about avoiding the cup, He’s fully aware of what He is about to do by going to the cross: He is drinking the cup of God’s wrath. Yes, He’s taking on the physical agony of the cross, but He is also taking on the spiritual agony of separation from His loving father. And that separation is the pain that is breaking Him down in the garden.
But without missing a beat, He prays on.
“Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
And this is where I am convicted for all the times I complain about my own “suffering” in this life.
“Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
And this is where I am made keenly aware of my foolish attempts to build my own plans for my life.
“Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
And this is where I stop rushing through the Lenten season to get to the glorious celebration on Easter morning. The garden is where I pause to hear His sobs and His prayers. It’s where I see that cup we poured so violently spilling over. And it’s where I thank Him for His willingness to drink every last drop of it. For me.
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50 thoughts on "the cup"
my brother has a gambling problem and he just burned a thousand bucks in one night-
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I do not agree, look at that: http://www.disneybaby.com/blog/the-cup-matters-disney-baby-sippy-cups-by-the-first-years/
I am a day late in reading about the my Lord in the garden; it is a story that hits my heart over and over in and out of the Easter season. I have read most of the comments and they remind me and encourage me to be even more fervent in my walk with God.
Somewhere a long my journey, I remember saying to myself "Let thy will be done." I said these words with trepidation and surrender. Trepidation because of what the commitment I was making to God. and surrender because I had no idea where God would take me or what I would be asked to do. As I have walked with Him, the fear that I felt whenever I said those words has diminished greatly. I have been carried through so much in my life. God's proof of His existence in my life is shown to me every day. Whenever I think of what Christ must have been feeling and thought while waiting to go through what He went through, I know that what I endure everyday is less than the size of a mustard seed. Because He suffered the separation from His father for me, I will never be separated from the Father.
Today I was reading the crucifixion story from the Jesus story book Bible to my kids. It said, " Jesus could have spoken a word and made it all stop, but you see, it was not the nails holding Jesus to that cross, it was LOVE."
I think of all the times we complain that God doesn't answer our prayers and yet, even He could not grant Jesus's request, although I'm sure He wanted to. There was no other way. This was the redemption plan. We all need to remember that God does hear, and even if it's not the answer we want, His way IS perfect.
And this is where I stop rushing…The garden is where I pause…It’s where I see…And it’s where I thank Him…
So good! I want to take it all in and let what Jesus did, and why, fill me and change me.
Struggling sibling I can’t say I truly understand what you are going through but I know what it’s like to feel dry and empty inside. I’m still dealing with some issues but something on the inside ( the Holy Spirit) won’t allow me to let go! I pray God will show you his all powerful love. Not just the Love he showed when he sent his son to die for you but his everyday, even when you think he’s not there or listening love! My days aren’t always bright but I know who made those days and that brightens them. Hold on SS… I am!!!!
Yet not as I will, but as You will Lord. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When I am at my weakest, God is at His strongest. When I am emptied by the sorrows & storms of my life, God stands ready with an overflowing reservoir of love, strength, forgiveness, compassion, energy, grace, and hope. Enough to fill me up again, enough to share with everyone. Even those who hurt me. I pray Lord, not my feeble human will but Your incredible will.
I liked the comment about hi much Jesus suffered and we didn’t have to. We complain about such measely little things. and Jesus was forsaken so we didn’t have to be. I was listening to Nancy Leigh DuMoss and she had a speaker on yesterday and today who was really good. She said if all Jesus did was die, He could have come to Earth as a man and died, but He lived out a whole life so He could live out righteousness for us because we wouldn’t be able to. That was so powerful to me.
I am humbled and in awe that Jesus did all of this horrible suffering for us! Yet at the same time, as a parent who would die for her kids, how must God our Father felt asking His only begotten Son to DIE for a bunch of unknown sinners??? In excruciating pain, beaten, stones thrown at Him, all by and for the same people that His Father asked Him to save!? My heart breaks for God up above, bearing witness to His SON’s pain! How bittersweet to have your Son ask “please Father? No? Then not as I will, but as You will..”
God the FATHER.
That God loved us THAT MUCH.
I’ve never looked at it from this perspective before!
It makes my heart ache and break that much more. I am truly wrecked.
I’m sorry the disciples let Him down. How that must have hurt Him AND His Father! I’m sorry I’ve let Him down. The Lord’s forgiveness of us is miraculous! My hope is to not ever take it for granted the pain and sacrifice done for me, that I will be the obedient daughter He so deserves.
In Jesus’ Holy name I pray,
and in God our Father I trust!
I am intrigued by the differences in the cups offered that fateful night. At the last supper, Jesus offered His body and his blood, to take eat in his memory. He gave us his still Holy and perfect body as the bread, and the wine as a sign of his blood to be shed for us.
And then the Garden, where he pleads with his father to take this cup from him – this cup of Gods wrath and seperation. Sin…and anguish for one without sin.
My Saviour gave us his all, and took on my sins because he loves us. All for love. Obedient towards his father because of love. Sent because of love.And died because of love. How can we not Love Him? I am so unworthy of this love, and yet he says I am not.
What an intriguing devotional. Thinking about the immense nature of what the sacrifice meant Jesus still said yes, but not only yes but "Not my will but thy will be done". What a difficult statement but one that we all must say in order for the Lord to be glorified in our lives, not our Will but His.
I encourage myself along with all of you to remember Jesus' sacrifice and to never forget what it cost Him and what we all gained from it.. Eternal Life and that more abundantly.
I Love HIM!
It is when Jesus is in the garden that I am just floored with God's love for us that Jesus did drink that cup and suffered as much as He did, for us, for me! It is something that I don't know if I am ever going to truly understand. To humble Himself, while he was fully human and fully divine, is just something that is, just amazing. To have been there and to have seen these things, I can only imagine.
Obedience that is the ticket ……. For I find I am tired of sacrificing for others … Yes I am selfish. Does this attitude bring me joy? No but i cant control it. And it brings no peace only momentary pleasure. But my heart is dry, it is but a shell , so I will continue to pray & seek The Lord’s will and simply obey. For right now I am void of understanding & emotion. The garden shows me that for a moment, a nano second Jesus was trying to avoid what he had to do, so he relied on obedience to the all knowing will of The Lord
Therefore Lord take this dry shell through what you will…….Lord fill me
Not for a second can I know what has brought you to "your garden of agony", but I have been at the bottom of my bucket in caring for others, whether direct caregiving or indirect by taking others' responsibilities on myself. Jesus in the garden already had spent himself on others and yet, God was asking Him to follow through to the climax of sacrifice. He sweated blood, he, too, was a dry shell…been there, like you and don't claim to have the answers, but Jesus knows exactly what you need and my prayer is that He would fill you and bless you in unexpected ways this week.
Right here with you two ladies. I also am a struggling sibling at the moment. I also pray The Lord will bring me – a tired, beaten down, hollow & worn out dry shell – through whatever He will because I know where it will lead me. To the person He wants me to be. I pray daily for it. I know it is coming. The Lord will fill us up. We will soar on His wings like eagles, we will run without tiring, we will walk without stumbling. It is a promise. Struggling sibling, I am praying for you. God has understanding & emotion ready for you; until that moment, I pray that the Holy Spirit will intercede for you, allowing you to be still & silent. God will fight the good fight for you, you need only to wait. It can be so hard at times, but I pray that we are both renewed in the morning by His love.
I relate with the disciples in the garden today. How many times have I set aside time to watch with the Lord over a certian matter, to pray during a time of serious need…Bible open, pen in hand, ready to do some spiritual battle, then…..ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz? Before even entering the "Holy of Holies", I'm out for the count.
Yes, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
"So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)
"He is drinking the cup of God’s wrath. Yes, He’s taking on the physical agony of the cross, but He is also taking on the spiritual agony of separation from His loving father. And that separation is the pain that is breaking Him down in the garden."
These words, thank you Raechel, provoked in me the realization that Jesus not only became human, sacrificing the privileges of heaven by living on earth in a body that needed food, clothing, shelter, and rest, a body that ached, shivered in the cold, dripped sweat in the heat, a body that could and would endure excruciating pain, a body that could be killed, but also a mind enduring disappointment, abandonment, fear, betrayal.
And yet, it hit me that Jesus obedience, the ultimate Love sacrifice, means Jesus endured HELL for me. In the garden He knew it was coming and his heart was breaking. He knew that when the weight of my sin rested fully on him, The Father would turn away. While Jesus body rested in the tomb, He endured Hell for me. I didn't just kill Jesus, I let Him go to hell for me
Oh i love the way you put it, so very very true, thank you.
Knowing Jesus was Gods' son meant he was perfect "without sin" yet he died as a criminal would in OBEDIENCE to God. How many times' has the innocent been convicted as criminal in this world and pleaded "I'm not guilty, Please do not condem me"! Not Jesus, he obeyed God died a death that he was far from deserving. I think we get caught up in the stories, get caught up in the events and don't give him the time he deserves to really understand what he truly went through so we can spend eternity with him. Thank you Jesus for your obedience and humbling yourself on the Cross! Phil 2:8
My heart feels cracked.
It's humbling to realize that even Jesus wrestled with His fate, asked for something his flesh wanted in time of struggle. But what's most humbling is that in the end, he allowed God's will to be done, at whatever cost to himself. Oh to be like him…
And how lonely he must have felt when his friends couldn't stay awake to watch for him. Help me to not sleep on the job, God!
Amen.
I, too, have not really ever stopped to focus on Holy Week but always skip ahead to Easter. I am so grateful that we are slowing down and really diving into this week. Today's passage in the garden really spoke to me. To be so humble, so obedient, to know your fate yet be able to say "not my will, but yours" is truly a remarkable feat. I pray that when I foresee a tough situation, hear bad news, or see temptation coming my way, that I can be as humble and as obedience as Jesus and truly ask God for his will, not mine, to be done.
Ladies, I'm also asking for prayers today. A close friend's mother finally lost her battle with cancer and was taken far too soon. I'm asking for prayers for her family and young children today and over the next few days as they struggle with this loss. Thank you!
Allison- I will pray for you and your friend's mother. Thank you for helping me remember what is so important. He continues to be humble and patient with us knowing it all comes back to Him. My prayer during Holy Week is to solely trust in Him and be obedient in His word.
I am a day late reading this, but your friend's mother and her family in my prayers.
In the Garden it says, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). “Hematidrosis” is a rare, but very real, medical condition where your sweat can contain blood! The sweat glands are surrounded by tiny blood vessels. These vessels can constrict and then dilate to the point of rupture where the blood can then pour into the sweat glands. It can cause extreme anguish!
Jesus knew what He was about to face and that is why He was praying to "let this cup pass from me." They say we get our word EXCRUCIATING from the word CRUCIFIXION because of the in humane and extreme suffering involved! And He did it anyway, knowing what was coming…
Thank you Raechel for this beautiful lesson! "And it’s where I thank Him for His willingness to drink every last drop of it. For me."
Hematidrosis… I went ahead and googled the term to read more about it. Jesus was so deeply physically distressed over what needed to happen. I learned something new this morning! Thanks for this Candacejo. Now I need to digest this a bit more…
Well I am no expert, just working on a blog post and found it all so interesting (and hard to pronounce, ha). And the scriptures do say 'like' great drops of blood….but regardless, He paid the highest price for us all!
The mystery of God made man…fully human yet fully divine is demonstrated in the Garden. Can you sense His terror? His sense of abandonment? The anxiety? “And this is where I am convicted for all the times I complain about my own “suffering” in this life.”
Yes.
For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering]. (Hebrews 2:18 AMP)
Thank you Jesus. Forgive my selfishness and help me walk with you in a way that pleases you.
Philippians 2:8, "He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross."
Thank you. This has humbled me so much just in the few minutes I have been sitting here. I pray that I am as obedient as Christ and that my walk with Him is strengthened this week! Praise the Lord!
Not just the pain of the cross, but the SEPARATION from his loving father! Can you imagine…..being a parent and asking your child for such a sacrifice……OH how he loves us…to ask his son to die for us! And Jesus how obedient…..I pray that I might be obedient !
So timely for me as I humble myself and trust you Lord. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
“Not my will, but thine”.
I have been overwhelmed this week by studying Holy Week! I’ve always celebrated Easter, but not focused on the week before. This perspective in the garden is such a reminder of just how human he became for us. To have not just all of my sin, but ALL the sin of the world on Him. V. 37 says He was Anguished, Distressed, and Crushed.
Lord I surrender to your will. There are times that my flesh is weak and like the diciples I sleep on the job or like Jesus I make that final attempt to get you to change your mind. Remind me of this passage during those times that I may be like Jesus pushing through and fighting the flesh. “Yet not as I will, but as You will” Amen.
I have never noticed this before… after the Lord prays that the cup be taken from Him if possible, "not My will but Yours be done, " He returns to the discdisciples,finds them sleeping, and tells them to watch and pray "because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." At this moment He is speaking from experience! They were living a parable. We may grow weary in our struggles, our flesh may want us to give up, to sleep, but we must remain diligent.We must stay awake and aware, following God's will, not closing our eyes to the cup He wants us to drink. How beautiful and amazing is this passage. Our God is good!
Oh kristy, thanks for sharing I never saw that either. Profound!
Kristy, you are so right! Thank you for pointing it out!
Wow, Kristy! You are so right.
I love your insight into this, to highlight that link, between what He had just gone through and what His disciples were going through. Thanks for sharing!
Like some of you have already said, this is a great reminder that Jesus was also human! I tend to forget that he knows the temptations I experience and understands what I go through better than I think he does.
Not my will, but yours!
'Yet not as I will, but as You will'.
Oh God thank you that you send your son to take the place of a sinner like. Teach me to humbled myself that i may die to self daily, that your name will be glorified.
The Garden of Gethsemane gets me every time. Last year was the first year my family and I took part in our Church's Holy Week services. I have always done Easter. I sing with the choir, lead the littles… But we had never participated in Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. With all I had recently been through, sitting silently as our pastor led a reading of the Garden… I was overwhelmed. It was all I could do to not begin sobbing loudly and uncontrollably. My shoulders shook with each sob and I was grateful that the sanctuary was dim but for a few candles. Everyone present knew my sin, but no one saw my pain.
Sitting there knowing that my Savior had wrestled with His fate, but bravely followed His Father's will for ME. The weight of that realization was oppressive. I wanted to throw myself at His feet and beg Him for forgiveness that He even HAD to take such an extreme step.
He had to… And He wanted to. "For God so loved the world"… For God so loved me…
I know it is a little selfish thinking that, 2000 years ago, my Savior thought specifically of ME and what I would be going through and took that cup for me. But He did. He did it for all of us. And I am, literally, eternally grateful!!
Oh, but AmyKelly213, He did. He saw me and died for me, too…he died not for a glob of sinful humanity, though certainly humanity was sinful—He died for individuals. Someone once told me that she delighted in giving bibles to seekers, new believers, or those returning to the community of faith after wandering away, but before she did, she would turn to John 3: 16, "for God so loved " and would write above the word "world" the person's name. And so it would be, "For God so loved AmyKelly that He gave His only son." There is a song that also expresses that message, "When He was on the cross, I was on His mind."
What a wonderful Savior we have and what a disservice we do not to Him but to ourselves when we catapult from Palm Sunday to Easter. This study is such a blessing.
God bless you!!! As I read over your comment, I got chills!!!! I love Holy week!! It always gets me!! :) I am so glad that went to the cross and died on the cross for ME!!! Thanks for sharing this!
The moment that really grieves me is when Jesus is on the cross and he asks John to take care of his mother. At the end of the day, I tend to forget that Jesus was both God AND MAN. But this post also brings a whole new light to The Garden. Right now, I am going through a situation at work- I feel as if I have a lot of people "awake" and advocating for me. I can't imagine going to a meeting- and then coming back to find all those advocates SLEEPING on the job. Jesus must have felt truly alone.
I need to come to The Father- everyday- with a broken, humble spirit. I need His grace. More than ever!
Blessings to you today, ladies!
Holly I do think we forget that Jesus was both Man and God. He experienced everything we. I took a cource once that has stuck with me. It explored Jesus’s human side in the Old testement. It went into great detail about his love and desire for a relationship with his children. All Jesus every wanted was to love us, care for us, he died for us! In return he desired, desires to be loved back. He desires a relationship with those he serves. Your comment on The Garden just made me realize how alone, how disappointed he must have felt to find everyone in his corner sleeping,
Jesus are we asleep today, do we really have a relationship with you? When we come and sit at the table do we just give our order, eat, and leave a tip! Oh wow, some of us (me 2) don’t even leave a tip. Or do you acknowledge your server, do u call Him by name! Do u give praise, do u talk to too or at.
Lord you have been the ultime advocate, Thank you!
You are right, Holly! I was watching The Bible last night on the History channel, the episode where Jesus was born. When Mary lifted Jesus up to her face, I couldn't help but point out to my husband, that it was just like any mother would do with the baby she gave birth to. I said to him, "Jesus was like any other baby! He was sent here by God to serve, just like all of us."
May we all pause here in the garden. Let us reflect on (and give thanks for) what He did so that we now have the liberty in Him to say to the Father, “Not my will, but Yours.”
…and so as I strive to be more Christian, more Christ-like, too be more like Him…I too say “not my will but Your will be done in my life and on earth as it is in heaven”, Amen.