The Cup of Gethsemane

Introduction

We understand from Scripture that the Lord’s Supper was introduced during the Feast of Passover. There are four cups of Passover. 1. The cup of Sanctification, appears at the start of the meal. How appropriate to sanctify, or set apart, this service as special to the Lord. 2. The cup of Plagues, is a reminder that plagues fell upon Egypt because of Pharaoh’s hardened heart; therefore many innocent people died as Israel was rescued. 3. The cup of Redemption, was designated by Christ Jesus as a special memorial through all generations (Luke 22:19). It was once a memorial cup of physical redemption for the Jews from Egypt, but for believers in Jesus this cup symbolizes the spiritual redemption found in Christ’s sacrificial blood. 4. The cup of Praise, this is were the praise psalms are sung (Psalm 113-118). The Jews always ended the feast with singing praise to God. However, on the night before the morning of the cross there was another cup that only Jesus would drink of. This cup was the cup of Gethsemane.

A stone’s cast was the place of the guilty criminal who was separated from his fellows for execution by the casting of stones upon him until he died. The withdrawal of the Lord Jesus from His followers by this distance reveals, the fact that Jesus willingly took our place of execution. This cup in Gethsemane was a cup of sin, it was a cup of separation, it was a cup of sadness that our Lord and Saviour had to face.

Jesus Took the Cup in Alone

Jesus Took the Cup in Agony

Jesus Took the Cup in Acceptance

Jesus Took the Cup Altogether

Hebrews 1:3–4 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

Philippians 1:8–11 “For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”