The Lord Jesus Drinks the Cup of Wrath So It Will Pass Away (Matthew 26:36-46).Thursday March 5, 2026
Open:
There is a progression of Jesus away from the crowd and toward the loneliness of the cross.
It is a deeper isolation away from all else and unto God.
As Christ entered Gethsemane a change came over Him.
Now Jesus returns to His Father to pray again.
Heb 5:7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.
Mat 26:42-46 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." 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 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. 46 "Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"
Today’s Main Idea: The Lord Jesus should be adored and followed because of His decision to drink the cup of the wrath of God so that we would not have to.
Submission to sovereign will:
He opens with a first class condition, meaning His “if” statement is matter of certainty. If this cannot pass away is an agreement that it cannot unless He drink it.
The next part is a third class condition - “unless I drink it,” meaning that He is not forced to. He must not be unwilling.
We all have to choose the plan of God; to obey God’s will.
Prayer is not an engine by which we overcome the unwillingness of God. God is ever ready to grant what is really good for us, when we have, by prayer, made ourselves ready to receive it.
Prayer is a way of readying our hearts for what God wants for us.
Luk 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart …
This clear expression of His humanity makes Him traceable, meaning you and I can follow Him.
The cup as God’s judgment on sin:
If Christ doesn’t drink the cup, it doesn’t pass away from us.
The cup is full of the sins of the world and the death, as in separation from God forever, that resulted from Adam’s original sin.
The cup often symbolizes God's judgment poured out on sin or rebellion. Prominent examples include:
Jerusalem drank the cup of God’s wrath: Isa 51:17-22
Isa 51:17-21 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the Lord's hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs. 18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne, Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared. 19 These two things have befallen you; Who will mourn for you? The devastation and destruction, famine and sword; How shall I comfort you? 20 Your sons have fainted, They lie helpless at the head of every street, Like an antelope in a net, Full of the wrath of the Lord, The rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore, please hear this, you afflicted, Who are drunk, but not with wine:
This passage portrays divine fury against sin, which the Messiah (as the suffering servant in nearby chapters like Isaiah 53) would ultimately bear to redeem others.
The wicked from the earth: Psa 75:8
Psa 75:1-8 We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works. 2 "When I select an appointed time, It is I who judge with equity. 3 "The earth and all who dwell in it melt; It is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah. 4 "I said to the boastful, 'Do not boast,' And to the wicked, 'Do not lift up the horn; 5 Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride.'"
6 For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation; 7 But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another. 8 For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.
This depicts inescapable judgment on the wicked, which Jesus takes upon Himself. Without faith in Christ as Savior, how will anyone escape?
The nations: Jer 25:15-28.
Jer 25:15-16 For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 "They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them."
This broadens the cup to God's judgment on all rebellious humanity. Those who must drink are Judah, Israel, and all nations. It is prophetic since there will be many unbelievers; many wicked.
Further examples are Judah, Eze 23:33; Edom in Lam 4:21; Judah in Hab 2:16.
And near the end of history, during the Great Tribulation, those who worship the beast and receives the beast’s mark:
Rev 14:10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger…
It is no doubt this cup that Jesus refers to in Gethsemane.
The use of the image:
The image of a cup gives a sense of volume. The image of drinking gives a sense of choice and imputation.
The cup of wrath becomes the cup of the new covenant in His blood in the hands of the believer.
The cup represents the judgment of God. For the church, the thrill is that when Jesus drank the cup of divine judgment the cup did indeed go away!
Do you see what you have been saved from? We all should love and adore our Lord for the meaning behind His prayer.
Mat 26:27-28 “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Co 11:25 "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
Substitution – “Your will be done”:
If He drinks the cup of wrath in the place of sinners, they won’t have to.
Isa 53:11 My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
God’s will was that His cup of judgment go away, and that it go away not by the waving of a magic wand, but by the death of the Son of God.
When we take a sober look at our Lord’s willingness to drink this cup so that He could hand us the cup of blessing, we could not but love all and desire their deliverance, in fact, their ultimate blessing. All people.
It eliminates prejudice, hatred, cultural arrogance, inordinate competition. It bring the command to love your neighbor into the sphere where it should be.
Conclusion:
The Lord Jesus drank the poison cup, and the world was detoxified if they would but only believe in Him.
God has to judge sin - the whole of Hebrew Scripture teaches this in its doctrine of God: the blazing holiness of God, symbolized in the immense sacrificial system, teaches this relentlessly. But it was the supreme love of God that He gave His own Son to be the one and only true sacrifice. He has delivered millions from sin and death ever since. |