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April 6, 2009The Cup
Can You Drink the Cup I Am About to Drink? by Fr. John Kiefer .
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Christ's prayers fall into two categories with regard to this: conditional and absolute. As far as his conditional prayers were concerned, Luke 22:42 is a prime example: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." . . . This prayer was answered in the following ways. His mind was strengthened against the terror of the impending events. This enabled him to be perfectly composed to embrace God's will: "not my will, but yours be done." So Christ was heard to the extent he he had wished to be heard. Although, by nature, he desired deliverance, since he was human, yet he did not desire this absolutely, as he was wholly given over to God's will.
- Adapted from Hebrews by John Owen. Copyright 1998 by Watermark.
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Comments
I LOVE this piece of art. It captivates my imagination. To my understanding, the cup of suffering in the Passover feast was to remind the people of the suffering of the Jews in Egypt, but this cup speaks much more about the suffering that you need to be prepared to endure simply to drink from the cup.
Posted By: Brian from NZ | April 8, 2009 2:23 PM
What an amazing visual...It cuts through like the Sword of the Spirit...Hallelujah!
Posted By: Becky Williamsin | April 12, 2009 4:38 AM