Let this cup pass my father

Faced with the ultimate understanding of the weight upon Him, the Lord made this declaration. In it was the acknowledgement that the cost of the situation was taxing His handling capacities. On Him lay the fate of nations; He was the determinant factor to what our state of relations with God was going to be.

The price was also beyond Him, it taxed His deity to the extent that He had to let the Father know. The Father had to understand that as much as the Son had come on His own volition, the weight of what He had to undergo in order to salvage the world was overwhelming  Him to the point that the ultimate decision had to come from the Father and hence ‘—- not my will—‘.

The cup of course was not taken away. The agony was not deferred or cancelled. The good book states that He was in agony of pain to the extent of sweating drops that were like blood (Luke 22v44). The pain could not be taken away because it was part of the course that was to birth universal redemption. The cup could not be taken away because a lot hanged (no pun intended) on the cup running its course. The cup was the cost of keeping a promise.

The consolation seen is the angel dispatched from the heavens to strengthen Him (v43). There was no postponement, no alteration of the terms and no reduction of the cup’s volume, no promise to delay or rethink. The strength was to boost the resolve and refocus Him at the business at hand, that is the Cross and for sure, He arose from there and walked the path of the cup and the rest is history.

Many cups portend us this day, cups that call to our deeper recesses and drain our innermost being. Many cups stand at our doors to breakthroughs. At times we have run away from handling the taxing tasks, pain, sacrifices in the hope of short-circuiting our way to achievement only to discover that we fooled none but ourselves.

Many of us commit to promises but refuse to drink the cup when the time to deliver comes. A commitment will only come to fruition when one puts their hand on the plough and they till the land to produce the promise. This calls for agony, sweat, labour, pain, sacrifice, determination and courage. When the Saviour went through all these, all His abilities and senses were taxed beyond His ability to bear but the strength that kept Him going was the result of His suffering (salvation for mankind)

What cups face you today? What sweat runs down your face today? What pain wears you down today? Whatever it is, do not drop the cup or spill the contents, you are a step closer to fulfilling the pledge. One more painful step, one more painful trudge, one more taxing resolve and the breakthrough will flow. Hold on.

As the sun rises tomorrow, face the cup, recall the promise, defy your screaming nerves and press on toward the agreed goal and say ‘— yet I want your will to be done, not mine—‘Luke 22v42b.