“Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?…'” (Mark 10.38)
This is a tremendously important and profound question from Jesus to his disciples. What makes it all the more provocative is the context. The disciples are requesting the premier positions in the kingdom. They are picking out their spots as secretary of state and vice president. They have it all worked out.
But there is a slight problem. They don’t understand the cross. This is of tremendous importance because if you don’t understand the cross of Christ then you cannot understand the crown of Christ. If you don’t ‘get’ the cross then you don’t really get Jesus.
So Jesus asks them if they can drink the cup that he will drink. Biblically the cup refers to wrath. We see this in Isaiah 51.17, 22; Jer. 25.15. Therefore, Jesus is asking them if they are able to take the cup of wrath to the neck. Can they empty it? Are they able?
Let me bounce that ball out into the open. Can you drink the cup? Are you able? Can anyone?
WE DESERVE THE CUP
The bottom line here is that the cup, that is the wrath, is ours to drink. We (you, me, and everyone who has ever had a pulse, except Jesus) deserves to wrap their fingers around the cup of the foaming, fully fermented, unmitigated wrath of God. This is because we have rebelled against the King. We have gone our own way. We don’t truly fear or worship him. In short, we are sinners whose paycheck is death and judgment (Rom. 3.10-18, 23, 6.23).
WE DON”T WANT THE CUP
While we deserve it the fact of the matter is we don’t want it. To take the wrath of God that is due a sinner and rebel like me is to take one’s own death upon themself. Furthermore, it is to endure the eternal (unending) torment of hell after this life is over.
There is no way for any of us to truly fathom what this weighs. Imagine being lit on fire with no possibility of escape. I suppose the only comfort in that situation would be the fact that you would eventually die and escape the pain. However, with hell it is not so. The flames engulf and lap up so fiercly and relentlessly. It is as if with every second of torment they whisper the eternal sentence of wrath in your burning ears, “Forever! Forever!”
We don’t want the cup of wrath.
WE CAN”T HANDLE THE CUP
One of the reasons hell is forever is because God must pour out eternal wrath on sin. Our sin, my sin, against God is a capital offense. It is treason against the King. It merits eternal punishment.
There is no way for anyone to get out of it. You can’t do 400 years in solitary hell confinement or run extra laps or have someone pray you out. Hell is eternal because wrath must be poured out upon sinners who deserve it. God’s justice and his goodness demand this. My sin demands this. This is just how good God is and how bad I am.
JESUS—Didn’t Deserve the Cup
Now you have to contrast this with Jesus. The Bible tells us that he never sinned (2 Cor. 5.21; Heb. 4.15; 1 Pet. 2.22). Furthermore, he always did what pleased his Father (John 4.34, 8.29). He is the only one who did not deserve wrath.
JESUS—Wanted the Cup
While Jesus didn’t deserve the cup he clearly wanted it. He was drawn to it. Three times in Mark we read of his resolve to go to the cross (Mark 8.31, 9.30-32, 10.33-34). You notice in Mark 8.31 he stresses that he ‘must’ go and do this. It is what he is compelled to do and what he wanted to do. As the Son, it is the delight of his soul to faithfully discharge his Father’s wishes. As the Savior, it is the delight of his soul to save sinners like me and you.
He wanted this cup (Heb. 12.1-2).
JESUS—Drank the Cup
There we have Christ nailed to a cross. He endures the wrath of men as he is beaten, stripped naked, flogged, mocked, and affixed to a wooden cross. But this is the background and the setting for the true wrath that is to come. That is, the cup. The Romans lifted Jesus up, between heaven and earth, in full view so that the drinking of the Father’s cup by the Son could be in full view.
Jesus is the only one who is willing and the only one who is able. There is none eligible on earth or in heaven. The arch-angel Michael can’t die for you, nor could humble Moses. Only Jesus, the divine and perfect Son. Only Christ could bear that cup. Only Jesus could drink the eternal vat of divine wrath reserved for you and me. Only Jesus.
This question by Jesus is a pregnant question. There is a lot to say here. But it is so rich and so good.
The fact of the matter is that after drinking this cup his parched lips proclaimed, “It is finished!” And indeed it is. Three days later the Savior would rise triumphantly over the grave. Sin and death lie crunched in a tomb like an old beer can. The king has risen. He has downed the cup. And sinners who trust and treasure him will not themselves endure such wrath but will be counted righteous because of him. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5.21)
