Gethsemane Hymn
To see the King of heaven fall
In anguish to His knees,
The Light and Hope of all the world
Now overwhelmed with grief
What nameless horrors must He see,
To cry out in the garden:
‘Oh, take this cup away from me!
Yet not my will but Yours
Yet not my will but Yours.’
To know each friend will fall away,
And heaven’s voice be still,
For hell to have its vengeful day
Upon Golgotha’s hill.
No words describe the Saviour’s plight
To be by God forsaken
Till wrath and love are satisfied,
And every sin is paid,
And every sin is paid.
What took Him to this wretched place,
What kept Him on this road?
His love for Adam’s curséd race,
For every broken soul.
No sin too slight to overlook,
No crime too great to carry,
All mingled in this poisoned cup,
And yet He drank it all
The Saviour drank it all,
The Saviour drank it all.
Drink the Cup
Mark 14.32-42
When we lived in South Carolina, the state botanical gardens at Clemson University was about 15 minutes from our house. We loved going to those gardens, watching ducks, walking the trails, and ringing the bell at the caboose on campus. Each year during the week of the Passion, we would take the kids to this garden to walk around, pray, and talk to them about the night that Jesus prayed in a similar garden.His prayer that night and the prayers that we would offer with the kids were drastically different. He prayed looking ahead, staring down the agony of the Cross while we prayed looking backward, rejoicing in the glory of the Cross. Grief gripped His very soul (v. 34), while freedom and worship could resound within ours.
Oftentimes I wonder if the Gethsemane scene has become too tranquil in our modern mind. We talk about times of prayer and we look towards our personal times of devotion. We sit in solitude in our prayer closets, seeking the face of God. Our times of troubled prayer are usually filled with peace amid our pleading. In the most dire of our circumstance, we still find the ability to rest in and during our prayer. It honestly draws our view of Gethsemane to look more like a Buddhist Monk in a quiet garden of Zen than the picture that the New Testament paints.
When you and I read the words of Mark 14 32-39 we do not find peace, we find turmoil. There is no evidence of tranquility, but only turbulence. Our Christ is grieved the point of death. Luke states it in this graphic manner “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His seat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22.44, NASB). The substance of His prayer? If it were truly God’s will and direction that He, the Christ, the Son of the Living God would have to drink the cup set before Him.
The answer is yes, Jesus had to drink the cup. There was no other way. Well, actually, there is one option: for you and me to drink, not of the cup, but of the bowl. What was in the cup? God’s wrath for sin. Not the sin of Christ, but the sin of man. Jesus willingly drank all of the cup of God’s wrath (v. 36) in order that the wrath of God for sin, poured out on the unbelieving world (Revelation 16) would not have to consume you and me.
Tonight, as you pray with your family, take a moment to consider the anguish and agony of our Savior as He prepare to take the punishment that was rightfully ours. Not, it wasn’t easy, but it was necessary so that you and I could be forgiven and free.
Pray: God, Your word teaches us that death entered into my life because of Adam’s sin. You have also shown us that life is extended through Jesus Christ, who died to cover that sin. Lord Jesus, thank You for drinking the cup that should have been mine. Lord, thank You for enduring the shame and the wrath that my sin brought into the world. Forgive me for glossing over the agony You endured before You even went to the Cross for me, for my family, for the world. I love You, Jesus. Amen.
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