Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.~  Matthew 26:36-39

It has been suggested that the cup to which Jesus makes reference is none other than the cup of God’s wrath. But is it? Those who advocate that Christ suffered under the wrath of God will sometimes refer to this mention of the cup as evidence to support their theory.

Indeed, there are scriptures which reference the cup of God’s wrath. For example: Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15-17; Ezekiel 23:32-34; and Habakkuk 2:16 all use the cup as a metaphor to refer to God’s wrath which comes on the ungodly and not on the godly.

Consider for example the following from Psalm 75.

But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. ~ Psalm 75:7-8

Now notice what the Psalmist says next:

But I will declare forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. ~ Psalm 75:9-10

When Zacharias (the father of John the Baptist) was filled with the Holy Spirit, he prophesied saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David… ~ Luke 1:67-69

Jesus is the horn of our salvation. In 2 Samuel David declared, The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. ~ v.3

In Psalm 89 we read the following: Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. ~ v.15-17 

Jesus never ceased to be the horn of our Salvation, thus he never ceased to be the one God favored and in whom we find favor. What so many fail to understand is this all points to the power of the resurrection of Jesus.

If we envision a God who suddenly turned on Jesus, we will never truly grasp the power and glory of his resurrection. Jesus was not abandoned by God nor was he the object of God’s wrath. Jesus always did those things that pleased the Father, and when he laid down his life it was as a sweet fragrance to God, in obedient surrender to the Father’s will.

When Jesus died, he surrendered all to the will of the Father, and lovingly forgave those who were putting him to death. This he did by the grace of God, not as the whipping board for God’s anger.

It truly is disheartening that some have to reach for such texts as Jesus asking for the cup to pass from him if possible and projecting onto that the idea of the cup of God’s wrath. God’s wrath does not come upon the innocent, the just, the pure, or the holy. To claim that this was the cup of God’s wrath is to literally change the very nature and character of God at the darkest hour when his Son trusted him.

If we could but envision a Holy God who raised his Son from the dead because he is just and exalts the righteous, the image of an angry God who needed to take vengeance would melt away.

With regards to the metaphorical language of the cup, we see it used in other ways in scripture that have nothing to do with God’s wrath. For instance, Jeremiah 16:7 speaks of the cup of consolation, Psalm 116:13 refers to the cup of salvation, 1 Corinthians 10:16 mentions the cup of blessing, and Psalm 23:5 tells of the overflowing cup. 

Consistently the word “cup” is used within scripture as a metaphor but what specifically does it refer to when Jesus employs the use of it in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Well, we can be certain that Jesus drank from the cup of suffering because he laid down his life for our sins. The wages of sin is death, not the wrath of God. The wrath of God comes on those who refuse to turn from their sin, who love their sin, and who despise truth and righteousness.

Now let’s consider what actually happened when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane. 

Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. ~ Matthew 26:36-37

Notice that Jesus took with him Peter and the 2 sons of Zebedee. We’ll come back to this shortly, but let’s continue:

Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. ~ Matthew 26:38-42

Notice that the cup is contextually the will of God for Jesus during this hour  –  if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

Let’s continue:

And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. ~ Matthew  26:43-47

Jesus was to endure the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, the mockery, the humiliation, and the suffering of death. This was the cup he was to drink from. There is nothing in context that suggests that Jesus is referring to becoming the subject of God’s wrath when he mentions the cup he was to drink from.

Notice that Jesus took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. The sons of Zebedee (James and John) had recently been asked by Jesus’ “Are you able to drink of the cup that I am going to drink and to be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?” To which they responded, We are able ~ Matthew 20:20.

Why would Jesus ask them if they could drink of the cup he would drink from, if his cup was the wrath of God? Notice what Jesus says to them when they said, we are able.

And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. ~ Matthew 20:23

Notice that Jesus affirms that they would indeed drink of the cup that Jesus himself would drink. This may very well be the reason he took them with him, along with Peter, as he prayed in Gethsemane. It seems that Jesus, even in this hour of grief, was teaching his disciples what it truly meant to drink from his cup, for they called to suffer for his sake.

When Jesus said, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, there must have been a desire for his friends to be near him in his deepest time of trouble and sorrow. Jesus was tempted in all points as we are and just as we need friends near in times of distress, so Jesus must have longed for his friends to be there for him. Jesus asks, “…tarry ye here, and watch with me.” 

There certainly is strong evidence that the cup refers to the sufferings that Jesus was about to experience (v.45-46) and this becomes even more apparent when we consider John 18:10-11 along with Matthew 26:51-54 which refer to the same event

Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? ~ John 18:10-1

Jesus’ response to Peter in John 18:11 would indicate that the cup was indeed his sufferings from the time of his arrest till his last breath on the cross. 

And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? ~ Matthew 26:51 -54

John 18:11 & Matthew 26:54 refer to the same event.

“The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” and “how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be.” are two expressions of the same truth, for the Son of man was destined to lay down his life for the sins of all men and be raised again and proclaimed as the Son of God with all power and authority.