Share the Cup

[The following is the manuscript of my meditation delivered for our Maundy Thursday service held on the 2nd of April, 2015.  The service also included Holy Communion.]


Listen to the Gospel account of John, chapter 18 verses 1 through 11, as he describes the last few minutes Jesus knew as a free man on this earth...

1 After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with His disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. 2 Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with His disciples. 3 The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

4 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to Him, so He stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” He asked.

5 “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I am He,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I am He,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more He asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

8 “I told you that I am He,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” 9 He did this to fulfill His own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those You have given Me.”

10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given Me?”

--John 18:1-11 (NLT)

This has been an eventful week for Jesus and His followers.  On Sunday they rode into Jerusalem to great fanfare, with the crowds waving palm branches and singing and praising God for sending their Messiah.  Then as the week went on, Jesus cleaned out the Temple, running off the money changers and knocking over their tables.  He healed the lame and the sick, like He always did when He entered a town.  And He got into debates with the Pharisees and Sadducees, as usual.

He also got His disciples scurrying around and working on a supper for all of them to celebrate the Feast of Passover.  Oh, and one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, was pretty busy himself, plotting with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus to them.  But Jesus knew this was His last trip to Jerusalem, and His last meal with His closest friends and faithful followers.

He cried over Jerusalem, He prayed for His disciples, and He took one last opportunity to teach a lesson on faith.  And then came the supper, the last time He would sit down as a Man and share a meal with those He loved so very much.  He began by washing their feet, to teach them servitude.  Then He blessed the bread and the wine, pleading with His friends to never forget Him, to remember Him every time they ate and drank.

After supper, they sang a hymn and walked over to a grove of olive trees, a garden, a place where Jesus and His followers often met to talk and pray.  And there, one that Jesus loved, one that He called “friend” betrayed Him to a contingent of armed men sent by the religious leaders.  Peter – that fiery, headstrong disciple who wore his emotions on his sleeve, who usually acted before thinking – whipped out his sword and with one quick swing sliced the right ear of the high priest’s servant Malchus clean off!

I sometimes picture Jesus interacting with Peter much like a parent does with a small child.  Peter does something crazy, Jesus reacts with great patience.  Time after time.  Peter hops out of the boat and tries to walk on water but loses focus and starts to sink.  Jesus calmly reaches out His hand and saves him.  Peter is all indignant about Jesus washing his feet.  Jesus take the time to explain that if he does not let his Master serve him, then he can’t be one with his Master.

And here’s impetuous Peter at it again, this time cutting off a man’s ear in a fit of anger.  I can see Jesus quietly bending down, picking up the dismembered ear and wiping the dirt from it, then placing it aside Malchus’ head and healing him before turning back to Peter and patiently telling him to put away his sword – there’ll be no more blood shed here tonight.

But then Jesus asked a question that shows just how clearly He understood the role God assigned Him:  “Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given Me?”  The Contemporary English Version puts that in the form of a statement rather than a question.  Verse 11 in the CEV reads:  “Jesus told Peter, ‘Put your sword away. I must drink from the cup that the Father has given me.’”  I must, I have no choice, but to drink from the cup of suffering, for this is My Father’s will.


Tonight we will be taking the bread and the juice of the vine in observance of that last meal our Lord ate on this earth.  We do it to remember Him, to honor Him and the sacrifice He made on our behalf.  The Apostle Paul cautions us to not take Communion in an unworthy manner, for the wrong reasons.  Otherwise, he warns, we will be guilty of the body and the blood of Jesus.

We must examine ourselves, examine our hearts, to make sure we are right with God.  And we need to do that right now, right here before we receive the sacrament.  By taking of the bread and the juice, we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and our Master.  We recognize the bread as His body, broken for us.  And the juice as His blood, spilled for us.  In this act, that we too often do without really thinking about it, we are taking the cup Jesus offers, the one He Himself drank from.


Are we really willing to share that cup?  The cup of suffering?  God the Father handed that cup to Jesus, His Son.  Jesus drank deeply from it, knowing the suffering He would bear.  And now He offers the cup to us.  He’s holding out His hand, the same hand He once held out to Peter to save that drowning man.  We’re drowning too, drowning in a fallen world awash with sin.  If we accept that cup and drink from it, we may have to suffer some, too.  But the same hand that extends the cup will reach out and save us if we accept what Jesus offers.

In a moment we will be called to confess our sins.  It is a short and simple reading, easily done without giving it much thought.  But I encourage you to truly confess prayerfully.  Go past the words and lay your heart before God.  Take this time to repent of any sin and promise anew to follow only Jesus.

Let us stop driving nails into Jesus' hands.  Let us share the cup with Him instead.
Amen.


Let us pray…  Lord Jesus, You offer us forgiveness.  You offer us everlasting life.  You offer us all the glory that God bestowed upon You.  And You offer us the cup that God our Father handed You, the cup of suffering.  Jesus, we know that taking up our cross to follow You provides no promise of happiness and pleasure in this life.  We understand that if we accept Your cup, that we also may be called on to suffer for the good of God’s kingdom and the fulfillment of His great plan.  By sharing Your cup, we offer our all to You.  In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray.  Amen.