Cupbearer: In Service To The King

No. 2

From Trumpet & Torch Ministries

“Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink,

and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

~ Matthew 20:22b

The Lord has provided a bountiful banqueting table in Himself in this wilderness world. He compassionately calls for us to come and sit with Him, so that we may dine upon the rich portion He has prepared for us in this solemn hour of His passion. Sadly, instead of having the devoted heart of Mary, who delighted to sit at the Savior’s feet and drink in His every word, our hearts are more like Martha’s, distracted by the burden and busyness of work and disturbed that no one takes notice or is willing to help. “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40b). May the Lord’s tender rebuke to Martha speak peace to our hearts today: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (v. 41-42). May our hearts be comforted with the knowledge that there is One who sees us, whose eyes are always upon us, and who is always with us. Let us fix our gaze upon the One who is full of grace and truth and rest in His promise: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b). May we hear the Savior calling us out from the world and drawing us ever nearer to His heart and allowing Him to unburden our hearts and lighten our load as He stoops down and washes our feet with the fullness of His love. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

“Do not labor for the food which perishes,

but for the food which endures to everlasting life,

which the Son of Man will give you,

because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Then they said to Him,

“What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

(John 6:27-29)

Our ever-present, omniscient Cupbearer sees what we cannot see. He notices every detail of our lives. He knows our path and the dirt accumulated on our feet from the long, dusty road we have walked, and He provides the cleansing we so desperately need, so that nothing will hinder us from experiencing the joy of His presence and the blessing of a life of deep, abiding intimacy with the Lord. In the time of His suffering and sorrow, our Savior, having already set aside His heavenly, royal robes to wear the frail garment of human flesh, stooped down and girded His waist for the most menial tasks to show the depth of His love to His disciples. He knew what lay ahead for them, how difficult their path would be. Within hours, they would deny and desert Him, but Jesus wanted them to know that He was with them. No matter what filth and dirt we acquire from living in this world, the Lord is with us and willing to wash, cleanse, and restore us to a right relationship with Himself. As we remember our Savior’s suffering and sacrifice, let us take our position at His feet so that we may experience the power and blessing of the life of unbroken fellowship with Him that He demonstrated for us in His every breath, prayer, word, and deed. “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1, 23).

“He is despised and rejected by men,

a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…

surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;

the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

(Isaiah 53:3a, 4-6)

THE CUP THAT SAVES – “I will deliver you from slavery” (Exodus 6:6b)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:36-46 (Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:11)

Sometimes the portion placed on our plate can be difficult to digest. Just as a child may turn up their nose at the sight of vegetables, there are some images we may find hard to stomach. On this Good Friday, may we not shy away from the vision of our bruised, beaten, and bloodied Savior, dragging under the weight of the Cross as He makes the courageous climb to Calvary. Let us feed upon every portion He has prepared for us and be willing to watch and pray as our compassionate Cupbearer willingly picks up the cup of God’s wrath and drinks the full cup of suffering and sorrow for us. “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (v.40b).

“…He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

Stay here and watch with Me.”

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying,

“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;

nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

(Matthew 26:37b-39)

The second of the four cups of the Passover meal, which describes the redemption story recorded in Exodus 6:6-7, is the Cup of Judgment (or the Cup of Plagues). At this point in the traditional Passover Seder, a vegetable, such as parsley, is dipped in salt water, and bitter herbs are eaten, to remind the children of Israel of the tears they shed and the bitterness of the pain and anguish they suffered under the weight of slavery and oppression in Egypt. Every Passover meal is a reminder that their cries of distress and tears of sorrow did not go unnoticed. “And the LORD said, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7, 8a). The Lord remembers that we are flesh (Psalm 78:39). Jesus Christ came to suffer and die for us, not just to relieve us from physical suffering, but to save us from spiritual bondage and death and to give us new life (John 3:16, 17).

“…who in the days of His flesh,

when He had offered up prayers and supplications,

with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death,

and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son,

yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation

to all who obey Him…”

(Hebrews 5:7-9)

When Nehemiah received the discouraging news that the survivors of the captivity in Jerusalem were in great distress, he was deeply disturbed. As cupbearer to the king of Persia, Nehemiah was moved to tears over the condition of his homeland and the state of his people, and remained in a posture of fasting, weeping, mourning, and prayer for several days (Nehemiah 1). “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him…” (Joel 2:12-14a). Nehemiah was a man of prayer. Prayer was his first and unceasing occupation. This was the man the Lord used to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. Today, more than ever, we need men and women of prayer who know the power of the abiding life and enjoy continual communion with the King of kings; devoted followers of Christ who are privy to the deep things of God and are concerned only with the glory of His name and the advancement of His Kingdom who will rise up and lead the way in rebuilding the spiritual walls and houses of prayer in our land. “Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach…so they said, “Let us rise up and build” (Nehemiah 2:17, 18b).

“Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”

So I prayed to the God of heaven.

And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king,

and if your servant has found favor in your sight,

I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father’s tombs,

that I may rebuild it.”

(Nehemiah 2:4-5)

During the Passover Seder, the Cup of Judgment is followed by a song of joyful praise to the One who brought His people out of slavery to freedom, and who has “proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for morning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” (Isaiah 61:1b, 3a). After the last supper with His disciples, our faithful Cupbearer went out to the Garden of Gethsemane singing the traditional Hallel Psalms (Psalm 113-118). In Gethsemane, Jesus fought His fiercest battle on His face in prayer. With blood, sweat, and tears, our Savior won the intense battle over the will and was enabled to drink the full cup of the judgment of God on our behalf. “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus Christ willingly became the sheath for the sword of the wrath of God. When Peter raised his sword to try to stop the soldiers from arresting his Master, Jesus rebuked him for hindering the work of God. “So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11). Let us remember in the midst of our battles that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). The battles we face are not ours, but God’s (2 Chronicles 20:15b); therefore, they must be fought and won in God’s way – with the powerful weapon of prayer. “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36). Our Cupbearer demonstrated His absolute dependence upon the Father in prayer as He walked this earth in power and victory – daily removing the scales from people’s eyes and delivering them from their shackles and chains. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Today, let us linger in the garden a little while longer as we reflect on the great sacrifice and atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ, who poured out His life in prayer and drank the full cup of the wrath of God as He hung on the cross and died in our place. Let us meditate on His prayers in John 17, offering a prayer of praise and adoration to our Cupbearer, who emptied Himself for our sake, and pouring out of a heart of gratitude a prayer of thanksgiving for the opportunities He gives us to share in His sufferings (Philippians 3:7-10). “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

“Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His,

and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life;

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

(Psalm 30:4-5)

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely;

and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:23)