If it be possible, let this cup pass from me

'If it be possible, let this cup pass from me'

— Matthew 26:39

The mysteries of Gethsemane are such that we cannot begin to enter into them. I am struck by the fact that Peter, James and John, those disciples who were the nearest to our Lord when he made this prayer, never mention it. They must have realized that the soul sufferings of Christ in the garden were depths into which no mortal could ever delve. This prayer of our Lord is written so that we may wonder and adore the great humiliation of our divine Savior, but not to supply us with a place of theological speculation. Beloved, we must learn to reverence the silence of Scripture as well as the voice of Scripture. We do not know what the cup was which our Lord prayed to have removed, because the Holy Spirit chose not to tell us. But clearly it is not what most people suppose it was.

Our Lord was not praying here that he might be delivered from going to the cross to bear the wrath of God as our Substitute. The cross was the goal of his life, not the dread of it. Never once do we see any hesitancy on the part of Christ to redeem his people. There was no cowardice in him. He voluntarily agreed to become our Substitute and to die in our place on the cross. And he was resolved to accomplish this mighty work (Psa. 40:7-8; Isa. 50:5-7). Eternally his loving eye was fixed upon the cross.

Besides, our Lord knew very well that it was not possible for the terrible cup of God’s wrath to pass from him. He must take this cup, not from the hands of Judas, Pilate, or the Jews ⎯ he must take this cup from the hands of his Father and drink its bitter dregs until he had turned it upside down. God’s immutable decrees and purposes required it. The covenant of grace required it. The prophecies of the Old Testament required it. His own suretyship engagements required it. The salvation of his people required it. The law, justice and glory of God required the death of our Substitute.

Blessed be his name! Immanuel would not be turned aside from his work, until at the appointed hour he cried, ‘It is finished!’ And his work was done!