“Are You Able to Drink the Cup that I am to Drink?”

It was a simple request of a kneeling mother with pride in her two sons. “See that my two sons sit one on your right hand, and the other on left in your kingdom.” Yet such a request was responded to by Jesus, saying, “You do not know what you are asking.”
I suspect that many who have wanted to taste of the delights of heaven, the crowning touch of Jesus at his throne, do not realize what they are asking. The cup that Jesus drank was a strong drink, a drink that tasted death for the sins of the world, tasting the wrath of God on behalf of those who would receive mercy, tasting condemnation for those who would find forgiveness in the cross. The cup which symbolized the consummation of his life and mission was so strong, so grave, that three times in Gethsemane he asked that the “this cup would pass from me.” But immediately, his heart responded with, “Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.”
At the banqueting table of the Lord on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took of the cup and shared it with his disciples to drink of it, saying, “This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Drink of it, all of you.” The new covenant was signified in a cup that was poured out – lavished extravagantly for forgiveness – blood that was not spilt (as though it was an accident) but poured out that we may drink freely from the fountain of Calvary.
The drink of Christianity is full, 100% concentrate the blood of Christ Jesus. It is drank in daily sacrifice, the taking up of our crosses to follow Christ, and hence, we drink of the same cup. We give up our lives to gain his; death is as work in us that life may work in others (2 Corinthians 4:11-12). This cup was spoken of in “the hard sayings of Jesus Christ”, especially when he said: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:53-56). At the conclusion of Jesus’ statements, the disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
I suppose that this “hard saying” is still hard to listen to today. That is why the cup of Christianity is in danger of being turned into water-down Koolaide. We want Jesus but not his cross, heaven but not sanctification, forgiveness of sins but not repentance, blessings without sacrifice, and a cup without blood. Many today, I fear, are not able to drink of the cup that Jesus drank, his disciples drank, and the train of 2000 years of the lives of people whose sacrifice and suffering make Christianity so sweet and Christ so real.
When the soldiers came for Jesus, he told Peter to put up his sword and then said, “Shall I not drink of the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). The cup was given by the Father as the foreordained plan and mission of his life. He had embraced it long before he was called upon to drink it. And I believe that there is a cup given to us by Jesus Christ, initially to the Twelve, but undoubtedly to all those who would come by way of the cross. And the question before us who confess Jesus and have tasted the salvation he brings is,

“Shall we not drink of the cup that Jesus has given us?”

Be careful what cup you drink. Before us is the Koolaide Christianity, who is nothing but artificial flavoring topped with Splenda; but before the banqueting table of Christ is the drink of unfiltered, pure blood from the new covenant brought from his death. One is nourishing, and the other is nauseating. Koolaide is popular today because it is cheap and palatable regardless of your affinities; Christ’s cup is rare and costly, and embraced by only those who have been acquired the taste by the Holy Spirit within us. When the world comes thirsty, then don’t need to find our cups with a sweetened version of the drink of their choice, but a “true drink” that is found in the “Fountain of Delights”. Christianity-lite won’t satisfy a thirsting soul; only the pure concentrate of Jesus Christ in us can bring others to drink of the cup of the New Covenant. But be careful, for we may not know what we are asking. Nonetheless, if we are able, let us together drink, all of us, and be poured out like our Savior who so richly satisfied our souls.