a Cup that would not pass

“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?'” (John 18:10-11).

We all have them. Allowed cups. Cups that come to us through the plans of man and through the hands of self. Cups that come to us through the will of God. Some are sweet. Some are bitter. Some make sense. Some extend beyond reason. Regardless of their taste, they become our portion of drink. God has allowed them to touch our lips, and sometimes the aftertaste lingers long and hard on the palate of our will.

Cups of joy and cups of suffering, coupled together within a life’s embrace.

Cups of …

Love. Acceptance. Purpose. Security. Contentment. Family. Prosperity.

Cups of …

Hatred. Rejection. Abuse. Disease. Solitude. Poverty. Death.

Cups of… _______________________________.

What is the cup that boasts your lips this day? Yours is not mine and mine could never purposefully fill yours. Still and yet, Christ allows them to find their presence at our tables. The choice to drink them is up to us.

Long before Christ knew the confines of his cross, he made a decision to embrace the cup of the cross. To drink of the suffering that his Father had assigned to him before the foundation of the world. This cup would not go down easy, but it would go down. Deep down. All the way down from his head to his feet until love’s redeeming work was done.

Jesus’ decision to drink the cup was based upon his knowledge of what stood to be lost by his rejection of it.

Us.

We stood on the other side of his hard surrender. We were the purpose behind his unparalleled obedience to partake of the cup that carried our salvation. A cup that would pass from our lips onto his because our lips are not capable of such sacrifice. Our blood bleeds temporal. Christ’s blood sheds eternal.

No wonder his stern rebuke of Peter’s misguided devotion and unbridled emotion.

“Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?’”

A given cup…portioned out by a good God…to a Son who chose to do a gracious thing. A grace-filled suffering portion of sacred drink poured out for you and for me for the forgiveness of our many sins. A mysterious and wonderful gift that I cannot fathom, and yet one that I want to readily receive.

“Want to” I say, because so often I don’t. Like Peter, I am quick to draw my sword and voice my objection.

Not you, Lord. You will never die a criminal’s death. You will never wash my feet. Your feet and hands were meant for more than suffering nails and a servant’s basin. You will not wash me. You will not bleed for me. I will bleed for you. I am well armored, and I will fight to the finish. This is not how it will end. This cup will pass from you. I stand ready to make sure.

And as I chorus my plan, a rooster finds his tri-fold chorus, reminding me that God’s plan is better. Fully complete without fault or blemish. Nothing I could say or ultimately fail to do would keep Christ from his cross. It is what he came to do.

And so I put my sword back in its sheath and stand aside. I walk with him to the cross, and offer my own nails for his suffering. I stand alongside others and take my turn with the hammer. I position my body beneath the weight of his surrender, and I pause. … Waiting for my cleansing is a difficult obedience. It is a hard cup to swallow. But, slowly it comes. His blood. The shower of his redemption begins its flow over my frame, and I am engulfed by his love.

Perhaps, today, you are thinking about the cross–about Christ and his assigned cup. It is our season to remember. Time is well spent when time is spent thinking about him. We all approach Calvary with different cups pressed to our lips. Some of us are living in a season of suffering. Some of us with inexpressible joy. Some of us with both. Whatever your current cup, there is one cup you have been spared. Only Christ’s lips were worthy of its embrace. His surrender to it has been your salvation.

As we come to Good Friday, I ask you to take a few moments to ponder the question that Christ asked of Peter almost 2000 years ago.

“Child…daughter…son whom I love…shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?”

Linger in sacred contemplation as you position yourself beneath his cross. Your response determines your steps. And so I pray…

Yes, Lord…drink! Drink from your assigned cup. Let not my will nor my wants keep you from doing what you came to do. Calvary’s work is finished; yet so often I want to revisit the issue. I want to be the keeper of my salvation. I want the surrender to be mine and not yours. Thank you for showing me that mine would never be enough. Yours alone stands the test of grace. Humbly, I bow for the cleansing. Thank you for embracing the cup of the cross. May I never lose the wonder of your magnificent gift. Amen.

peace for the journey~elaine