Drinking the Cup: Betrayal

John 18:1-11

April 6, 2003

 

After speaking the words of life and interceding for the redeemed, our Lord boldly faced the "hour" for which He had come to earth.  Throughout John's Gospel we find references to our Lord stating, "My hour has not yet come."  But when we come to John 12, only days before the cross, we find Him declaring, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (12:23).  In soul travail we hear Him cry, "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Thy name" (12:27-28a).  In the next chapter, as we see Christ seated at the table with His disciples for the Feast of Passover, John makes the parenthetical statement, "Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father" (13:1).  Again we find the words repeated at the beginning of the high priestly prayer, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee" (17:1).

 

There was a firm resolution in the mind of our Lord that He would drink the cup that the Father would hand to Him on behalf of sinners.  The events of His passion can be summarized in the statement, "Drinking the cup."  For all that our Lord faced, came not by chance, but by divine design to fulfill the redemptive plan of God for sinners.  Because Jesus Christ drank the cup of death, we can drink the cup of life from His hand.

 

Every part of our Lord's passion, that is, those events leading up to and culminating with His death, burial, and resurrection, enable us to understand how all of it joins together in His saving work.  Let's consider what was involved in this first stage of our Lord Jesus Christ drinking the cup on our behalf.

 

I.  A Cup to Drink

 

The metaphor of drinking a cup can be easily understood by anyone.  In this case the cup has reference to that which was necessary for our salvation being fulfilled by Jesus Christ.  We sometimes use a phrase when referring to someone facing discipline or rebuttal, 'He's going to have to take his medicine'.  It pictures a person facing a consequence and taking all of the bitterness that may come with it.  Our Lord faced the bitter cup of wrath handed to Him by the Father so that sinners might be justified.

 

1.  Accepting its contents

 

What is in the cup?  Our Lord rebuked Peter who tried to short-circuit the arrest by swinging his sword.  Peter's attempt was perhaps noble, but foolish.  There was a battalion of soldiers (v. 3, margin), which could imply anywhere from 200-600 armed Roman soldiers, along with the temple police ("officers from the chief priests").  Peter was no Jonathan, who along with his armor bearer boldly strode into the camp of the Philistines and killed them right and left.  He was a fisherman, not a warrior.  He was a disciple, but unfortunately one who had not caught on to what Jesus had been telling him about His impending death and resurrection. Peter had not grasped the Father's infinite and holy hatred of sin. Nor had he grasped the Father's infinite love and mercy in bringing Christ to this hour on behalf of sinners.

 

So we find Peter swinging his small sword, cutting off the ear of the high priest's slave though he intended to decapitate him!  Then the sobering words of our Lord addressed Peter's misunderstanding:  "Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"  'Peter, don't you understand?  I have not fallen into the hands of sinful men, but all of this is by divine-design.  This is from the Father, given from His hand for your salvation'.

 

The "cup" which Jesus spoke of has contents.  It was not a cup of pleasure or a cup of delight that the Father offered Him.  It was instead, the cup of God's wrath awaiting the sinless lips of our Lord.  It was a cup that He was to drink completely.

 

When we take a look at the agony of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was not an agony so much due to the physical suffering that Christ would face at the cross.  Surely that was a concern, but it paled in comparison to the sense of spiritual suffering and eternal agony that Christ would endure upon the cross.  He was conscious that His death involved a substitution.  He knew that the judgment due to sinners would be aimed at Him.  He understood that God's righteousness demanded that every son of Adam face the eternal consequences of the Fall and every sin receive its just punishment.  The word that characterizes what He would face is wrath. 

 

Wrath expresses the righteous judgment of God that has been withheld in patient mercy waiting the day of being released.  I often describe it as a body of water that is dammed, so that it grows and grows, until finally, the dam breaks and all of the water comes gushing forth in destructive power.  God's wrath awaits "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:5-6).  The fact that His wrath is withheld is not evidence that it will not come; it is simply evidence of the divine patience in venting His eternal judgment against sinners.

 

Isaiah described the arrow of God's wrath piercing Jesus Christ on our behalf.  "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed" (Isa. 53:4-5).  Those words carry the weight of judgment being leveled at One person on behalf of a multitude.  Bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastened for our well-being, scourged for our healing:  these are words of atonement, redemption, and life for us.  This is the cup which our Lord bore for us.  It was filled to the brim with the eternal weight of God's wrath.  And for those who have faith in Christ, He drank every drop!  Not one drop of God's wrath is left.  Jesus paid it all!

 

2.  Yielding to its Host

 

Drinking the cup also meant receiving it from Someone's hand.  We must see that Jesus did not drink the cup of the Jews or the cup of the Romans or the cup of the world.  "The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"  It was the Father who hosted His Son at the sacrificial table of His wrath.  It was the Father who extended the cup to the waiting hands of His own pure, sinless Son.  The cup contained all of the wrath of God, all of the pent-up judgment which we deserve for our sins.

 

Slip back to the Garden of Gethsemane for a moment in that picture offered in the Synoptic Gospels.  There we find Jesus withdrawing a stone's throw from His disciples and agonizing before the Father to the point of the capillaries on His brow bursting so that He sweat drops of blood.  We have all had times that we have 'agonized' over some situation, perhaps a financial matter or something involving our children or news of the death of a loved one.  But our agony is slight when compared with that of Jesus Christ.  John comments that Jesus knew all things that were coming upon Him (v. 4).  He understood the depth and weight of the divine wrath toward sinners.  I don't know whether we have given much thought to this ourselves.  But we must consider that God created this world in purity and holiness, yet through the Fall, sin entered into the world and a multitude of sinners followed in the sinful lineage of the first man.  Our sin is so contrary to the nature and character of God that just one sin deserves an eternal weight of divine vengeance and judgment.  Consider that for Adam's one sin, the whole human race fell under judgment!  That gives us a bit of an idea of the severity of our sin against the backdrop of God's holiness.

 

Now the Father hands the cup of His wrath to His Son.  What would Jesus do?  "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39).  In the agony of that moment Jesus Christ appealed to the Father.  Was there another way for sinners to be forgiven and brought into a right relationship with God?  Was there another way to remove the effects of the curse and take away a man's enmity with God?  Could this cup of wrath be by-passed and the Father's will still be fulfilled? 

 

We find Christ willingly, gladly submitting to the Father's will.  He yielded to the Host, His own Father, as He extended the cup of His wrath.  It is in the drinking of this cup of wrath given to Him by the Father that we have our salvation secured.  God Himself took the initiative in providing salvation for sinners.  We did not appeal to Him nor come up with some kind of saving-plan.  God satisfied the infinite measure of His wrath through the suffering of death by His Son. 

 

Do you see that this cup should have been ours?  We deserve the cup of God's wrath.  But by the grace of God, Christ drank it for us.  He drank the cup of wrath that we might drink from His hands the cup of redeeming life.  Have you drunk from His hands?

 

II.  A Condition to Realize

 

'Why the cup of wrath,' you might ask?  Why did Jesus have to face such agony?  As we look at our text we find the condition that explains the necessity for our Lord drinking the cup of wrath.

 

1.  Failed anger

 

There is almost a 'cat and mouse' game playing out in the Gospels.  I've found it fascinating through the years in reading the Gospels to see how both religious and political leaders tried to capture Jesus in order to put Him to death.  But they never could.  Go back to the birth narratives and that joyous occasion when the wise men searched for the Christ.  They inquired of Herod the Great, the ruler of the region of Palestine, about the birth of the new King.  Herod wanted to know the location of this Baby as well; not for worship as he feigned, but for fear that a king might arise to take his throne.  The angel warned Joseph that Herod was on a rampage, so that he might take Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt.  Soon afterward, Herod killed all of the baby boys up to two years of age in the whole area around Bethlehem.  But he did not find Christ.

 

When Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61 in His hometown synagogue a Messianic passage that He claimed was fulfilled by Him.  At first they enjoyed His words, but when they realized that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, they took Him out of the synagogue for the edge of the city to cast Him over a cliff on which the city had been built.  But Jesus walked right out of the their midst.

 

How many times do we see in the Gospels the religious leaders trying to capture Christ?  So often our Lord would expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, watch their anger rise, then walk right out of their midst even though they had every intention of capturing Him.

 

All of these scenes picture what I believe we can term, "failed anger."  These people were not unusual, for at the root of every man is hostility toward God.  It is due to our enmity or separation from God.  Man resists the demands of God.  He resents every truth that reveals his own spiritual condition.  If he could get his way, man would throw God out of his life.  That is why we deserve God's wrath!

 

2.  Betraying friend

 

Everyone likes to be loved.  And everyone wants to have friends that are faithful and true.  I suppose that there are few hurts in life any worse than feeling betrayed.  I've seen it in the eyes of a husband or wife whose spouse has betrayed them.  I've seen it in a teenager's face when his or her best friend has been divulging confidences. 

 

In our text we have something even worse.  We find Judas Iscariot, a man who witnessed first-hand the miraculous works of Christ, who heard the marvelous words Jesus spoke, and who observed the purity of Christ's character, now betraying Jesus Christ.  "Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place; for Jesus had often met there with His disciples."  So often Judas had joined the other eleven to find rest and refreshment within the walls of this garden.  There they had talked, prayed, and felt the incredible love which Jesus Christ had for them. 

 

Now in this same place, Judas would betray our Lord.  His greed for silver and the material things that it could obtain overran any semblance of sane judgment.  Judas betrayed Jesus because that was the nature of his heart.  Satan entered into his heart because the idols of coveting remained enshrined in unrepentance and unbelief (13:2, 27).  The sad thing is that if we were given the opportunity, apart from God's grace, we would do the same thing.  Judas deserved God's wrath but so do we who share that same spirit of greed and rebellion.

 

3.  Revelation resisted

 

John offers an interesting glance at the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus.  As our Lord stepped out to meet them, asking whom they sought, they replied, "Jesus the Nazarene."  Our Lord said two very simple words, "I am" or as the translators have put it, "I am He."  Immediately "they drew back, and fell to the ground."  What took place in this instance?

 

There are plenty of speculations by scholars and exegetes of the New Testament.  Without going into the possibilities, let me put forth what I think is most plausible.  John has consistently used the phrase "I am," throughout the fourth gospel to refer to Jesus as God Himself and His sacred covenant name.  The Lord revealed Himself to Moses as "I AM THAT I AM."  To call oneself "I am," would be considered blasphemous by the Jews for that alone represented the sacred covenant name of the Lord.  We see this in John 8:58, in which our Lord responded to the Pharisees, "Before Abraham was, I am."  There could be no mistaking what He meant.  Then when you follow through on the numerous "I am" passages, you see the way our Lord revealed Himself as God Incarnate who manifest Himself as the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way--the truth--the life, and the true vine (6:35; 9:5; 10:7; 10:9; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1).

 

Once again He refers to Himself as, "I am."  Why would anyone, particularly a large group of soldiers fall to the ground in the face of one, unarmed man, unless there was something unusual about what He said and who He is?  I agree with a number of expositors who would say that Jesus was opening the window of divine revelation for just a moment and exposing His glory to this group of sinners.  I quote the British pastor, Alexander Maclaren, who expresses this clearly. 

There was for a moment a little rending of the veil of his flesh, and an emission of some flash of the brightness that always tabernacled within him; and that, therefore, just as Isaiah, when he saw the King in his glory, said, 'Woe is me, for I am undone!' and just as Moses could not look upon the Face, but could only see the back parts, so here the one stray beam of manifest divinity that shot through the crevice, as it were, for an instant, was enough to prostrate with a strange awe even those rude and insensitive men [quoted by J.M. Boice, The Gospel of John, 1228].


But with that flash of divine brilliance, they stayed by their intentions, following through with the arrest of Jesus Christ.  They resisted the revelation of that moment because of the wickedness of their own hearts.  Is this not the common lot of so many who hear the preaching of God's Word and observe the testimony of saving grace, but resist stubbornly and defiantly?  Paul explains that God has made Himself known and evident to men, yet they spurn Him.  God's response is firm:  "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress [i.e., hold back, restrain] the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18-19).  This kind of spiritual condition demands the wrath of God.

 

III. A Love to Display

 

Everyone finds himself in a spiritually sunk condition, under the wrath of God.  "But God" who is rich in mercy, provides the only way and the sure way for sinners to be delivered from wrath and secured as sons.  We see that display of His great love in our text.

 

1.  Complete knowledge

 

Jesus knew exactly what was going to transpire in the next hours.  "Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth."   The present tense of the verb, knowing, implies that it was a very real, ongoing knowledge that weighed upon the mind of our Lord.  He was not walking into the dark, as we do so often when facing new decisions.  He walked right into the face of death and the cup of wrath, knowing what it meant.

 

I would submit to you that this demonstrates the love of God for sinners.  You do not see Jesus trying to avoid this arrest.  He understood much more about what would transpire than all of His foes put together.  They only knew that they wanted to rid themselves of this man.  He knew that the redemptive plan of the ages was being fulfilled, culminating in His drinking the cup of the Father's wrath.  Christ alone of all men understood the infinite horror that lay before Him as the waves of divine wrath crashed upon Him.  He knew what He faced yet He never shrank in fear.

 

We have watched in amazement the past few days as the story of Pfc. Jessica Lynch's rescue unfolds. But how it all began puzzles us. Her detachment of mechanics and cooks were part of the Army's 3rd Infantry. As they convoyed with the division, somehow they took a wrong turn and drove right into an Iraqi stronghold. If they only could have looked ahead surely they would have taken another route, and the nearly dozen killed and five captured would be safe.  Fuller knowledge in many settings would lead to different decisions.

 

But this was not the case with our Lord.  Though He knew "all the things that were coming upon Him," He boldly went forth to face them for the glory of the Father and the salvation of sinners.  Such knowledge and action by Jesus Christ demonstrates the fullness of His love for sinners.  The human tendency is to avoid pain, discomfort, or opposition at virtually any cost.  Most all will do whatever they can to ensure that all things are lovely and peaceful.  Yet we do not see our Lord hesitating in stepping forth to face the beginning of the cup of wrath.  If you have dared to doubt the love of God for you as a sinner, you need look no further than His arrest in the Garden to be seized with the magnificence of divine love for those deserving His wrath.

 

2.  Willing sacrifice

 

Even with the knowledge of all that He would face, Jesus never hesitated.  He never questioned the Father's will nor hedged on His obedience.  He "went forth, and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?'"  We have heard of Jonathan Edwards famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."  Here we have "The Incarnate God in the Hands of Angry Sinners."  But our Lord had no fear of them.  They were no concern to Him for they were mere men.  The one thing that loomed before Him was the cup of wrath from the Father's hand.  Yes, He would suffer horrible, excruciating pain at the hands of these sinful men.  But the eternal weight of suffering would be upon Him as He bore our sins before the judgment of God. 

 

His willingness to face God's wrath for us displays a love that is beyond measure!  We've probably all read some wonderful stories of people who made great sacrifice for others.  I read of one young man who literally flung his body on train tracks to stop a runaway passenger car.  I've read of numerous people who took the place of someone condemned to die, freeing the condemned person and bearing their guilt before the executioners.  But as I read those stories, none do justice to the eternal value of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  To think that the Son of God would lay down His life before the judgment which all of us deserve is the greatest display of love the world knows anything about.  John wrote, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us....By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 3:16a; 4:9-10).  We might give our lives in sacrifice for others, but none of us can give ourselves as a propitiatory sacrifice, a just satisfaction of the righteous demands of God's justice. 

 

The biblical use of propitiation has its background in averting the wrath of God.  It is a good word to help us grasp what Christ was doing as He went forth into the hands of His accusers. Wrath is a very real matter, for it is "a burning zeal for the right coupled with a perfect hatred for everything that is evil" [Leon Morris, Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 209].  Leon Morris explains it clearly:  "Now if there is such a divine hostility to evil it is obvious that something must be done about it if man, sinner as he is, is ever to be accepted before God" [210].  What God has done is to take on human flesh and bear the full weight of His holy wrath as our substitute.  Since His wrath is satisfied, He can freely give to sinners a new life and a new relationship to Him.  In this case, Jesus is the Judge that demands holy retribution and the One executed in the place of the guilty.  "In this is love," John expressed it.  Indeed, we see the love of God for sinners by seeing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

 

3.  Preserving Lord

 

Our Lord did not forget one promise throughout the ordeal of His passion.  Here He demands, for so the imperative shows us, the release of those who were His followers.  "I told you that I am He; if therefore you seek Me, let these go their way," that the word might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom Thou hast given Me I lost not one"."  Though the immediate preservation was physical, the implication of it is eternal.  For our Lord had already promised that none of those given to Him by the Father would perish (John 17:12).  Now He demonstrates the greatness of His love by caring for His own even in the face of wrath.

 

We do not have a 'fickle' love in Jesus Christ, so that one day He saves us then another He changes His mind because of our failure and sin.  We see His love in preserving His own forever.  Again, we do not deserve to be preserved any more than we deserve to be saved in the first place!  Yet, we find the overwhelming love of Christ extended to us, picking us up when we have fallen low, carrying us through times of weakness, giving grace to us in times of need, and sustaining us by His mighty power to save.  What He finished on the cross on our behalf in bearing the judgment of God against us, He finished.  We do not contribute to our salvation by our own merit.  Christ alone stands as our righteousness.  The fact that He keeps us to the end demonstrates the greatness of His love and the sufficiency and completion of His work at the cross, for there are plenty of times when we turn our backs on Him or give in to sin or neglect our walks.  But His love never ebbs.

 

Conclusion

 

Jesus Christ drank the cup of God's wrath so that you would not have to drink that same cup for eternity.  Most of the world refuses to trust in the merits of Christ as their sole salvation.  The day will come when they will face an eternity of wrath justly given because of their enmity with God.

 

What about you?  Are you living under the wrath of God at this moment?  Unless you have embraced Jesus Christ by repenting of your sins and trusting Him alone for your salvation, you are heading for a destiny of God's wrath.  I urge you, I plead with you, flee to Jesus Christ by faith.  He drank the cup of wrath for you, so that you might receive the cup of life from His hand as you trust Him alone as your Prophet, Priest, and King.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.