GOD IS ABLE - 10. Take this cup away

~ Jesus... prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what You desire.” -Mark 14:35-36 (also Matthew 26:39)

We have come to the final hours of Jesus' life before His crucifixion. We can hardly appreciate what the prospect of this kind of death meant for Him. True, there would be unimaginable physical pain. The torturous death of crucifixion was intentionally devised to inflict the cruelest agony.

But that was not the reason Jesus prayed that this moment would be prevented if possible. The real reason was because, as the Bible puts it, He would be "made sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21), suffering God's judgment as a substitute for those who deserved it.  He was going to be your substitute and mine.  And for the Sinless One who didn't even know what it was like to sin, not even once, that would be anguish indeed.

This is now the third time in a row we have heard this phrase that all things are possible with God. Here Jesus calls to His Father: "You are able to do all things! Please take away this cup of judgment!" Another Bible writer says this moment was filled with the strong crying and tears of Jesus (Hebrews 5:7).

And yet, this is the moment when God does not act according to His power.  It is the moment when Jesus the Lord does not apply His own mighty ability to the situation. Instead, He says, "If the only way that this cup of judgment can be removed is for Me to drink it, I accept that" (Matthew 26:42).

And indeed, there was no other way. God knew our guilt (see day #4), and He knew our inadequacy to save ourselves (see day #9).  If there would be any way to reconcile humanity back to a relationship with Himself, this was it.

What was possible for God's power was not possible for His love. This cup could not be taken away. Therefore Jesus left the garden of prayer and walked towards His cross.  There He would give Himself. There it would become possible for us to come back to God.