Billions of people every day put a cup of something to their lips. My cup, or more correctly "mug", is filled with dark roast coffee, black and hot. It is what I do each morning around 6:00 AM. I have a date with my coffee pot. The cup is merely a means to an end, i.e. to make it possible to get the coffee from my hand to my mouth without burning myself. It works.
A few days ago as I was seeking to know Jesus better through my morning studies (which comes immediately after getting the coffee), I noticed there are five different cups mentioned in the Gospels. I found them to be interesting, especially as I looked inside to see what they contained. I came to understand that each one of these cups had something to do with me. Let's take a look.
The cup of kindness is the cup of cold water mentioned in Matthew 10:42. To give someone a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple of Jesus insures one will receive a reward. Mark says "Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." (9:41 NASB) Following Jesus leads to many acts of kindness being unleased on the earth. Jesus infects us with grace and this grace spills out through cups of mercies all around the world. Expressions of kindness abound because of Jesus.
The cup of persecution comes up in Jesus' discussion with his disciples over who is greatest. (Matt.20:20ff) Jesus asks these greatness-seekers if they can drink the cup he will drink. They were a little too quick to say "yes." So he informs them that they will indeed have to consume what pools in the cup of persecution. It may seem a bitter cup, but it is really a privilege to be able to share in the sufferings of Christ (Phil.1:29).
The cup of hypocrisy is a dirty one, at least on the inside. (Matt.23:25,26) This might also be called a cup of conviction. Jesus was trying to bring the Jewish leaders to conviction when he described them as dirty cups. It is unfortunate that all of us have downed the contents of this duplicitous brew. And, we have to do so with a smile so no one knows what is truly in the cup.
The cup of remembrance is a weekly cup. (Matt.26:27) We lift the grape juice to our lips and allow a few minutes of contemplation on the most significant event of history. It is serious, yet it is celebratory. It is bitter, yet sweet. It centers us. It fortifies us. It nourishes us.
Then, there is the cup of redemptive death. (Matt.26:39) It is the cup that Jesus alone prayed to be removed, and Jesus alone had to drink, once for all. It was filled with all the vile dregs of sin and depravity; all the stench and disease of human wickedness; all the malice and vulgarity and blasphemies imagined and expressed by man. Jesus lifted the cup to His lips and downed it in one gulp, taking into Himself the sins of us all, so that we would not have to drink from this cup.
Tomorrow morning when you lift that cup to your lips for your morning joe, take a minute to think about the five gospel cups.
No comments:
Post a Comment