Sermon for Sunday May 14th, 2006

THE BELOVED’S CUP & THE BELIEVER’S CUP by James Drake

John 18:11-18:11


THE BELOVED’S CUP & THE BELIEVER’S CUP


SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES:

"Abba Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36) (NIV)

Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" (John 18:11)(NIV).

I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation; I will praise the Lord’s name for saving me. I will keep my promise to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
(Psalm 116:13-14) (NLT).

SETTING THE STAGE

There once was a little three year old girl who had always enjoyed the soft and gentle voice of her father. In her eyes her father was the most loving and kind man in the world. She loved it when he held her in his arms and cradled her. In the eyes of the world, even though her father was very friendly, he was also very scary. He had huge muscles, stood 7’0" tall, and was known as a great warrior throughout the country.

The enemies of his country hated this warrior, and one day decided to send a group of five men to try and take his daughter captive while the man was sleeping. However, just when they had gotten into his daughter’s bedroom, the huge father woke up. He came bursting into the bedroom, thoroughly beat the men and killed them, leaving a blood bath right in the daughter’s presence. Throughout this whole ordeal, the little three year old girl huddled in the corner -fearing for her life.

When the slaughter was done, the father tenderly walked toward his daughter, but she at first cowered. She had never seen her father like that. She didn’t like it. Neither did he. So he gently talked to his daughter and said to her, “come here, my girl. I didn’t want to do that. But those men were bent on hurting you, and I just couldn’t allow that to happen.” With those gentle words, the girl came running into her father’s arms - and throughout the blood spattered on his face and hands - she found the same father that she had known and loved.

Whenever we see God’s wrath come crashing down, it is a scary sight. It’s scary to see him thunder and hail - pestilence - boils - and hardening a man’s heart. It’s even scarier to see the wrath of God come down on His only Son on the cross - to see the blood come pouring out of his hands - his feet nailed together - gasping for breath - and finally crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But after this terrifying ordeal, Jesus appears to us with his hands - still marked but freed of the stains - and holds out his hands to us and says, “I did this for you. Come here, my child.” With these words, God encourages us to come back to Him, our Father.


OPENING THE TEXT:

At first it was determined to have John 18:11 stand alone as our proof text for the cup of wrath and suffering, which our beloved Jesus was to eventually drink on our behalf. It is difficult to fully appreciate the depth of determination as revealed in His response to Peter in verse 11, unless we set it along side of the Son’s request in the Garden of Gethsemane, for there He prayed, "...Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

In Mark 14:33 we are told the Lord "began to be deeply distressed and troubled." The words "deeply distressed" (ekthambeisthai) are very strong words in the Greek. The words mean utter and extreme fright, horror, terror, bewilderment and amazement. Also, the word "troubled" (ademonein) means overwhelmingly troubled and distressed to the extreme. The root of the Greek word (ademonein) is (ademos) which begins to reveal precisely what was in the Beloved’s cup, and of which He knew He was to drink. The Greek word (ademos) means: being not at home, homeless and out of ones usual surroundings.

The cup of the Beloved is indeed a cup of wrath, suffering, pain and humiliation. Yet it is worthy of the believer’s pursuit of truth to consider the primary concern of Jesus which caused Him "to be overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." (Mark 14:34). Was it the anticipation of nails being thrust into His flesh upon a wooden cross, was it the crown of thorns, the whip tied with jagged pieces of metal, the sword that would be thrust into His side, the insults and humiliation of those who looked on throughout His passion? What was the Lord’s primary point of sorrow and distress?

The Greek word (ademos) gives us that insight. For the very first time in Christ’s eternal existence, He would be separated from His Father. Our Lord’s home, His place, His very being with the Father was soon to be ruptured. Our sins which He bore upon Himself was cause for the Father to forsake the Son, in that darkest of all moments in time. This was the "pulp"; this was the essence of the cup which Jesus drank so that we could live. He endured the separation; He endured the homelessness; He endured being cut off from the Father; He endured for you and for me, as He hung there "all alone" weighted with the full wrath of the Father’s judgment for sin.

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper he said, "Do this in remembrance of me." There is much to bring to remembrance as we individually recall the path of suffering and agony that led our Lord to the cross; there is much to remember as we allow our communion thoughts to settle upon the deepest of all pain which Jesus endured on our behalf...the pain of being homeless from His Father, that we could have a prepared mansion for all eternity.

Because our Lord drank the cup of wrath and homelessness, we who believe are now able to lift the cup of salvation in praise of Him who loved us unto death. In times of personal sorrow, may we think of His sorrow and lift our cups high for the sake of Christ and the glory of God.

Perhaps someone is thinking, "why did this have to happen?" I saw the movie the "Passion of Christ", and still wonder why the extreme nature of Christ’s death?" Dear Friend it is because man’s sin and his fallen nature and separation from God is"extreme." Along side of that the Apostle Paul gives us the Alpha to Omega all encompassing answer when he writes, "In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

Have you ever considered how God would have revealed His holiness, love, grace, mercy, justice, compassion, forgiveness, righteousness and faithfulness, if it were not for His unfolding scheme of redemption as eternally purposed in Christ? Admittedly, it is a wondrous scheme that continually confronts us with the unfathomable dimensions of our Abba’s love...the height, the width, the length and the depth as was revealed in the Savior’s cup of wrath and homelessness.

CONCLUSION

The Psalmist acknowledges the believer’s cup of salvation as being raised in praise in Psalm 116:13. In verse 14 we are shown the specific direction that the BELOVED’S CUP & THE BELIEVER’S CUP will take us. In Psalm 116:14 we read, "I will keep my promise to the Lord, in the presence of His people."

The cup of Christ and the cup of the Christian leads to obedience and accountability. Our faithfulness and obedience to the Lord remains a continual testimony to be shared among and between all of God’s children. There are no Lone Ranger Christians in this "working out of our salvation with fear and trembling." We need each other, and we are accountable to each other and to the Lord. This may remain a bit to "meaty" to some, but it seriously reflects the intentional nature of our relationships as they are to be developed within the will of God. Oh yes, this does go far and beyond that handshake and pat on the back....you know that thing we do each Sunday morning right after announcements?

Blessedness is the tie that binds the Beloved’s cup and the believer’s cup to the praise of God in the presence of His people. As we recall our homeless Savior who was forsaken by the Father in that darkest of all moments, may we continue to do all things in remembrance of Him who loved us first.

Even as the little girl in our opening story came back and nestled herself into the blood spattered face and hands of her father, we remain in the bosom of our Abba for the cup of wrath that the Son drank on our behalf. Will you raise your cup to heaven dear believer? Will your praise Him in the presence of His people? Will (we) keep our promises to the Lord, as we recall the agony of these words, "O’ Father why have you forsaken me?"

You may be going through a dark and lonely time, or in the middle of a life storm that has no precedent. Perhaps you are sitting in a 6 foot by 8 foot cell behind some prison wall searching for answers, and a way to get through it all. Dear Friend, Jesus endured the separation from His Father so that you and I could be joined to the Father as His children in Christ. That truth is realized whether we are in a prison cell or residing in a Beverly Hills mansion estate.

These are high, holy and heavenly realities that will sustain us even in our weakest and most trying moments. Look to the Beloved’s cup, and then raise the cup of your salvation to the praise and glory of God.

MARANATHA
JD