My Father, If It Be Possible, Let This Cup Pass From Me?

John17:1] These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee

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. 

The Lord knew what the “hour” as described in Matthew 16:21 meant unto the Father, and He was ‘at one accord’ with His Father in His will. And that hour also meant something very significant unto Him as well, He knew in that hour He would be glorifying the Father and the Father would glorify Him as well. The Lord was not trying to ‘get away’ from that hour of glorifying the Father, nor was He having second thoughts, nor was He afraid in that hour. The Lord was “sorrowful and very heavy,” He says that His soul is exceeding sorrowful.” The Lord being “exceeding sorrowful” was based upon  He was going to leave His friends in whom He loved. This is why the Lord’s soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death, it was not because the Lord desired that the cup that He was given by His Father to drink of would be taken away from Him, and over and over He reproved the apostles who thought differently concerning the will of God, and also the Lord partaking of that cup in His ‘hour of glorification’ for His Father’s sake.

John12:23] And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

[24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

[25] He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

John12:27] Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

Moreover, the Lord’s soul was troubled, not because He was afraid, or would rather avoid going through the pain and suffering, or would rather stay alive in this evil world, but His soul was troubled because of the ‘sakes’ of His Apostles. And as the verses say below, “he loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” And This is why the Lord’s soul was troubled, and as we see, the Lord ‘desired’ to glorify His Father, also He desired to drink of that cup as well. And in Matthew chapter 16, the Lord taught that He would suffer and be killed and be raised again the third day, but Peter rebuked Him, and the Lord reproved Peter by saying, “get thee behind me Satan, thou are an offense unto me.” He said that Peter ‘savored’ the things that be of man, and not of God, because by the Lord ‘not’ fulfilling the cup of His Father, would be going against the will of God. And if the Lord thought that ‘hopefully’ the Lord would save Him from that hour, the Lord too would have been thinking contrary to the will of God, and His thinking would have been ‘savoring’ the things that be of man, which is ‘loving his life and not losing it’ to glorify the Father, this is vital to understand about the cup of the Lord.

John13:1] Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Luke12:50] But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Furthermore, we see in Luke chapter 12:50, that the Lord desired to partake of this baptism, He ‘could not wait’ so to speak to fulfill the cup that His Father had prepared for Him. And Jesus also knew He would be leaving those in whom He loved, but the Lord also taught His apostles about ‘watching’ in their hour as well. The Lord taught them about the temptation of this world throughout His ministry, He also taught them that they too have a cup to drink of concerning the ministry, and they too have a ‘baptism to be baptized with.’ This baptism is their ‘identification’ with the Father’s will in the ministry of the Lord, and making ‘full proof’ of their ministry, and drinking the cup of the Lord worthily. The Lord mentioned that they operate upon selfless love as one body, and be of the same mind toward each other. The Lord taught them this “new commandment” in John chapter 13 through chapter 18, but He also mentioned that the “Spirit of truth” would guide them, and “comfort” them, and it would be by the word of God that they would walk and be led in the ministry of the Lord, and partake of the cup of the Lord.

Joh 18:10  Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 

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? 

Therefore, when the Lord went away to pray unto the Father, and looking into that cup of the Father, He was in “agony” and ‘sweating’ as great drops of blood not because He was ‘terrified’ to suffer, but based upon the sorrow of leaving His friends whom He had loved unto the very end. And when the Lord said, “if it be possible,” He Was NOT hoping that it would ‘be possible,’ but He full understood that it was not possible in His Sight, because it was not the will of His Father, nor was it His will. The Lord had just said in John12:27, “now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour,” Why would the Lord have a different cause than the Father has in that hour in which He would be glorifying the Father and the Father would glorify Him as well? And it is often thought that the Lord was in agony and sweating because He was afraid, and was being tempted by this world and did not want to die because He was also human flesh, but this is not the case at all. The Lord just taught his apostles before he went to pray that they too ought to be ‘watching, lest they enter into temptation.’ So why would the Lord himself be tempted by His flesh or have the desire to want the cup to pass from Him that His Father prepared for Him to partake of, and of the baptism that He was to be baptized with.

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 

Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 

Matt.26:37] And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

[38] Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

[39] And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

[40] And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

[41] Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Finally, the Lord had “great desire” to drink of the cup in which His Father gave Him, His soul was troubled because He was sorrowful for those whom He loved. But many assume that the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t want to leave this earth, or was afraid to go through what He saw in the cup, but the Lord knew what the scriptures said He would suffer, He just taught them that they too ought to suffer and not try to ‘save their lives,’ but ‘lose their lives’ for His sake in John 12:25 when He said, “he that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” And so, as we see, the Lord was not being tempted in His flesh to love His life, and keep His life in this world because He was afraid to suffer and die. This example the Lord also taught unto His apostles throughout His ministry, and they too knew that they also must die and glorify the Father and the Son through their death. They were taught of the Lord to “watch with” the Lord so they would “enter not into temptation,” so why would the Lord be tempted Himself?

Rod Jones