Which “Cup” Did Christ Pray to Have Removed from Him?
Which “Cup” Did Christ Pray to Have Removed from Him?
Hi Steve,
I would like to know if Jesus was referring to the cup of wrath that He knew the many Israelites of today will have to drink at His return because of their apostasy when the instead-of-Christ (antichrist) shows up, or was he referring to the cup that he knew he had to drink, which was the horrible death he would have to suffer to pay for the sins of mankind to open the way for redemption.
Thanks,
Edward
Steve’s Answer:
Hi Edward,
I suppose I should do a study on “Cups of the Bible” at some point, so people don’t get so mixed up about the different cups.
It’s my opinion that, in Luke 22:42, where Christ prays “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done,” it was not the “cup” of the crucifixion He was about to endure, but instead, the “cup” of God’s wrath.
Let’s take a quick look at that particular “cup.” As it’s written in the Old Testament:
Psa 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
As you know, the cup of God’s wrath is to be poured out at Christ’s Second Advent on God’s deceived and wayward children who will be found worshiping the antichrist. It’s not poured out on apostate Israel, alone, but on anyone who’s rejected Christ and is found worshipping Satan/antichrist as their god.
As it’s further written of that final cup:
Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
In those verses God differentiates between those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (and who will, therefore, not experience God’s wrath at the Second Advent) and those who “worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand” (and who will, therefore, indeed experience God’s wrath at the Second Advent).
Further, it’s stated in Revelation 16, regarding the events that are to take place at Christ’s Second Advent:
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
In other words, Christ had to shed His blood for the salvation of all of God’s wayward children. And in that final prayer in the garden, the night before His crucifixion, He was hoping to avoid having to destroy some of the very children He was about to give His life for.
That’s the “cup” He was asking Father to “remove” from Him, i.e., the cup of wrath that He will pour out upon God’s wayward children at His Second Advent.
Christ: Savior and Life-Giver
Keep in mind who Christ really is. He’s the Creator of all of God’s children. He’s God’s creative power, so to speak. He’s the life-giver. As it’s written:
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
So all of God’s children were created by Jesus Christ. And He loves them all so much, He gave His life to save them.
So again, when Christ prayed that night in the garden, He was simply asking if there was any way to avoid having to pour out the wrath of God on the very children of God that He had created at God’s behest, in the first place, and that He was about to shed His innocent blood for on that cross at Calvary.
More Than Willing
Always keep in mind that Christ Jesus was more than willing to suffer through the crucifixion on our behalves. As He told Peter that night in the garden, when Peter pulled His sword and tried to stop the mob from taking Christ:
Joh 18:11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
So Christ was most certainly not trying to avoid the cup of crucifixion, which He knew would pay for the sins of mankind.
Indeed, He was hoping to avoid the very opposite of that cup of crucifixion, i.e., He was hoping to avoid having to pour out the cup of God’s wrath upon His own creation, knowing that those upon whom that cup of wrath would be poured out on would ultimately be destined for the lake of fire (Rev. 14:10-11).
His thoughts were always toward the salvation and well-being of God’s children, i.e., their eternal life. What He asked Father to allow Him to avoid was having to pour out God’s wrath upon the very multitudes He was about to shed His blood for.
Yes, when Christ said that prayer to the Father that night in the garden, He was looking for a way to save even those wayward children which He had been destined to pour Father’s wrath out upon, which ends with their deaths in the lake of fire after the great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11.
More Evidence That Christ Never Feared the Cup of His Crucifixion
Also, keep in mind that long before that night in the garden during which Jesus asked “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done,” He had long since already been plainly teaching His disciples that He would have to give His life for the sins of the people.
And when Peter argued with Jesus over this teaching, Jesus called Peter “Satan” (adversary) and told him “for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” As it’s written:
Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Jesus vehemently chastised Peter for demanding that He avoid the crucifixion. Jesus knew that if He was not crucified, no one could possibly be saved, for we’re all sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God.
So it doesn’t make sense that later, in that garden, Christ would commit the same error in judgment as Peter did, and try to avoid the crucifixion, thus negating the entire point of the salvation His shed blood would bring about.
No, our Lord knew from the start what was in store for Him. Even Moses and Elijah had discussed it with Him on the mount of configuration. As it’s written:
Luk 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luk 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
So when Christian denominations make the claim that Jesus, in the garden, suffered from fear of the gruesome price He was about to pay, and prayed to God to spare Him from being crucified, they inadvertently open up the opportunity for the naysayers to claim “See, he was just a man like any other. He was afraid to die.”
Then you end up with singing priests of Baal, like Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, belting out song lyrics from Satan’s viewpoint, like:
And I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Well, Jesus didn’t have any “moment of doubt and pain” over the crucifixion. The song lyric implies that Satan had to influence Pilate in order to seal Christ’s fate on the cross. But the truth is this: Jesus willingly went to Jerusalem, specifically to die. As it’s written:
Luk 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Luk 18:32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
Luk 18:33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
No, Jesus had no trepidation about the crucifixion. He headed straight into it, without pause, and never turned back. Keep in mind that at the Last Supper, Jesus even directed Judas to get the betrayal over with, telling him “What you’re about to do, do it quickly.” As it’s written:
Joh 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Joh 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
Christ was eager to pay the price for our sins, in spite of the horrific nature of the payment. Like any good parent, He was willing to sacrifice Himself for His children.
What Christ was hoping to avoid, or find another way to handle, was the pouring out of that great cup of wrath upon God’s thoroughly deceived and wayward children at His Second Coming.
In Summary
To sum it all up, it’s my belief that:
- In Christ’s prayer to have the “cup” removed from Him, He was not speaking of the cup of His crucifixion, but instead, the cup of God’s wrath which He was destined to pour out on God’s wayward children at His Second Advent.
- He was indeed eager to drink of the cup of crucifixion, as He knew it would save multitudes of the very children He’d created in the first place.
- In the course of that prayer, Jesus was hoping that at His Second Advent there would perhaps be another way to deal with God’s wayward children (whom He was about to give His life to save) other than to pour out God’s wrath upon them, which ultimately ends with their deaths in the lake of fire if they’re unrepentant during the Millennium teaching period.
Is the Millennium God’s Answer to Christ’s Prayer?
I speculate (and please note that I said “speculate”) that this is why the Millennium teaching period of Revelation 20:6 was actually instituted.
As you probably know, the Millennium, or “one thousand years” of teaching under Christ, is not mentioned by name anywhere in the Old Testament. Even in Zechariah 14, there’s no description of a one thousand year teaching period after the Lord’s Second Advent.
A one thousand year period of teaching is not even mentioned in the so-called “Millennial chapters” of the great book of Ezekiel (i.e., chapters 40-48).
Indeed, the Old Testament basically says that the Lord arrives to this earth, punishes the wicked, and then institutes His eternal rule on this earth.
What’s more, in the New Testament, insight about the one thousand year teaching period appears only in the book of Revelation. It’s not written of, specifically, in any of the Gospels, for example. Nor can it be found in Paul’s writings.
So the institution of the one thousand year teaching period may well have been Father’s answer to Christ’s prayer that night in that garden, when He asked, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
The Millennium teaching period doesn’t stop God’s wrath from being poured out on His wayward children.
But…after that wrath is poured out upon the wayward people and nations of this earth, for cleansing, the Millennium teaching period begins, and it gives God’s deceived children their one true chance at learning the truth directly from Christ without being influenced by the evil one and his minions, or by denominational traditions which have no place in God’s Word.
So God’s wayward children will indeed have God’s wrath poured out upon their flesh, by Christ, at His Second Advent. But then the one thousand year teaching period will be ushered in, and they’ll have a true chance to learn the full truth, directly from Christ, and to embrace that truth and repent of their faithlessness and be saved.
Again, Christ’s concern is the salvation of God’s children. Not their destruction. As it’s written:
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
While the verses above do not specifically state there will be one thousand years of teaching after Christ’s Second Advent, we ascertain that from chapter 20 of the book of Revelation, which mentions the one thousand years six different times, even telling us that Satan will be locked up in a pit throughout that entire time, and that God’s elect will “reign with Him a thousand years” at that time.
But the verses above do tell us that the Lord is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” In other words, His preference is that His children are saved through His shed blood, rather than destroyed. And I firmly believe the one thousand years is the means through which many of them will indeed be saved.
But after the one thousand years of teaching is over, Father institutes the final “weeding out” process. The final stage of His wrath will take place. That happens when Satan is released from that pit into which he’d been sealed for one thousand years at Christ’s advent, and will “go out to deceive the nations.” As it’s written:
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
At that point, after having had one thousand years of perfect teaching under Christ, anyone who still chooses to follow Satan, and go against the Lord, will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment of God, and cast into the lake of fire, which is the final act of the wrath of God. As it’s written:
Rev 20:9 And they [i.e., Satan and those he deceives after he’s released from the pit] went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
So it’s over, for good, for any of God’s wayward children who still refuse the Lord’s salvation after that one thousand years of teaching, during which time Satan is locked up in the pit and cannot influence anyone.
If, during the one thousand year teaching period which precedes the final judgment, God’s wayward children don’t repent of their sinfulness and embrace the Lord’s shed blood, then they’ll be ignominiously destroyed in the lake of fire.
The bottom line is that Christ is the Savior, not the Destroyer.
And His prayer in the garden that dark night before His crucifixion was a prayer for those He knew He was destined to pour God’s wrath out on at His Second Advent. It was not a prayer to avoid the crucifixion, because that would have negated God’s great plan of salvation for all of us.
Regards in Christ,
Steve Barwick
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