Jesus Drank the Cup (Jeremiah 25:15)

“Thus says the Lord the God of Israel said to me take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.”
– Jeremiah 25:15

This is a really important image for understanding what Jesus did on the cross. Here in Jeremiah 25:15 God says, here is a cup that is filled with the wine of my wrath, so that’s an image, we see it in different places, in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Jesus drank the cup of the wine of God’s wrath due sinners. Because of Christ’s work on the cross we are called the righteousness of God in Him.

You see this in different prophets and then you see this in Revelation, Revelation 14. We see the winepress of God’s fury. So this picture of a cup that is filled with the wrath of God due sin, and the whole point here in Jeremiah 25:15 is these nations who have rebelled against God are going to experience the wrath of his judgment that they deserve in their sinfulness.

So that’s the picture in the Old Testament and really all throughout scripture we have this picture of a cup symbolizing wrath and judgment, so when you come to the New Testament and you see Jesus preparing to go to the cross and he’s in the Garden of Gethsemane, what is he praying? Father, if it is possible, let this what pass from me? This cup pass from me.

Jeremiah 25:15 Includes the Symbolism of God’s Wrath in a Cup, the Cup Jesus Took to The Cross

What is this cup? This cup represents the wine of God’s wrath due sin, the judgment due sinners. Why is Jesus sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, because he knows he is about to drink down the wine of God’s wrath due sinners. He’s about to take the judgment due you and me and sinners all over the world.

He’s about to take it on himself, he’s about to drink the cup of the wine of God’s rightful wrath due sin. So when you picture the cross, yes, see the severity of all the physical things that are happening there, as nails are thrust into his feet and his hands and as he’s being put upon a cross, and all the physical pain that involves. But even that is just a picture of the spiritual reality of what is happening. Jesus is at that moment, enduring the full holy wrath of God due sin, due sinners, due you and me. He is our substitute on the cross, drinking this cup so that we don’t have to drink it.

So Jesus we praise you. We praise you for being our substitute. We praise you for taking the cup we deserve and drinking it down yourself, for enduring the judgment we warrant, the wrath that should be poured out on us.

Jesus Took The Cup Of Our Sin

Jesus we praise you for taking that for us, God right now, we know, because of our sin, we should be separated from you for all of eternity. For all of eternity, we should be in a horrible hell that we can’t even fathom or imagine. This is what we deserve in our sin. Yet Jesus, you took the judgment we deserve, you paid the price. You drank the cup so that we don’t have to drink the cup, so we can have enteral life. So we can be forgiven of our sins.

So God we praise you for your salvation, Jesus, we praise you for the cross and we pray today then, help us not to take sin lightly, help us to treat sin seriously. Help us not to think it’s no big deal in our lives. When we are tempted to sin today, Lord, help us to run from temptation. God if we sin today or when we might next sin, God please, please, convict us that we might feel sorrow, Godly sorrow over that sin, hate it and want to run from it all the more.

Jesus we praise you for taking the payment due our sin. We pray to you to help us, help us to treat sin seriously. Still knowing what it warrants, even as we rest in the grace you have shown us. Lord Jesus, we praise you for the cross. We praise you for taking from our hand this cup of the wine of wrath that we deserve to drink. In your name, we pray, in your name we have the privilege of prayer. Amen.

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