From the Cup to the Crown Part 2

Please take the time to read Part 1 posted on March 29th

Part 2

While the cup of the wrath of God was being poured out upon the dying Saviour something else was simultaneously taking place, while our sin having being placed upon his shoulders was being punished, Satan was getting a good hiding he was well and truly being thrashed! Death was about to be defeated and heavens door was going to be flung open wide for all who are willing to believe and enter.

The Victim with the cup was about to become the Victor with the crown.

 On the one hand we see pain, suffering, sorrow, death and seemingly defeat and failure, but on the other hand, thanks be to God and because of our Saviours obedience and willingness to say ‘Not my will but yours be done,’ we see the wrath of God satisfied leading to success and victory.

The Apostle Paul would later write:

 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

“O death, where is your victory?
 O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Before the cross, in Gethsemane at the betrayal, arrest and denial of Jesus and the dreadful hours that followed I can see Satan rubbing his hands with glee.

 At the cross, with Jesus crying out ‘It is finished,’ I can see Satan scratching his head, shaking in his boots, thinking ‘What’s going on here?’

 But, outside the empty tomb I see him stamping his feet, full of rage, shouting out ‘I’m finished with, I’m done’.

 And so the story continues, it moves from the Sons cup of suffering to the Saviours crown of splendor.

 Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,

waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

 In the garden, in the High Priests house, in the palace and at Golgotha when everything seemed to be going wrong from the human point of view, everything was working out perfectly from Gods point of view – and all because of Christ’s act of willing obedience.

 Acts 2:22-23

 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

 Lets understand again how vitally important the response of Jesus was when he said, ‘Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.’

 IF Jesus had shrunk back and refused to take the cup – the plan, the purposes of God would have gone pear shaped! No cross, no atonement, no resurrection and we would of all men been most miserable without hope, without forgiveness, without salvation facing the cup of the wine of the wrath of God ourselves.

 Returning back to Acts 2 and v24 the story continued:

 “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

 After drinking the cup of the wrath of God, Jesus dies as a victim of a cruel Roman execution upon a cross.

John records for us in 19:32 that he was dead – there were no doubts about it, in 19:38-42 he records the funeral for us.

In Matthews account (27:62-66) we are informed that the Pharisees and Chief Priests are a little bit concerned that Jesus might actually have been speaking the truth when he said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ So they doubled up security to guard the tomb. BUT DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM, any amount of security and sealing would not stop him. They could have dumped as many hundreds of tons of rock outside the tomb as they liked it would have made no difference –

The Victim was going to rise as the Victor.

The cup was going to be replaced with a crown.

The torment was going to be replaced with triumph.

 AND the earth shook as an angel came down from heaven and rolled the stone away from the tomb and then sat down upon it – THEN  CAME THE GOOD NEWS

‘HE IS NOT HERE’ – ‘Whose not here?’

 ‘JESUS’ – ‘Why is he not here?’

‘Because HE HAS RISEN’

 

Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,

vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

 Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;

he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

 Up from the grave he arose;

with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;

he arose a victor from the dark domain,

and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

 JESUS IS ALIVE

He’s alive and he wears a crown, no longer a crown of thorns but a crown of glory, the victor’s crown.

 He triumphed HALLELUJAH!

 He triumphed in the garden

He triumphed on the cross

He triumphed in the tomb

 HE LIVES IN TRIUMPH, for his victory is an eternal victory, his triumph is an endless triumph.

 

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

bring forth the royal diadem,

and crown him Lord of all.

 

Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,

ye ransomed from the fall,

hail him who saves you by his grace,

and crown him Lord of all.

 

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget

the wormwood and the gall,

go spread your trophies at his feet,

and crown him Lord of all.

 

Let every kindred, every tribe

on this terrestrial ball,

to him all majesty ascribe,

and crown him Lord of all.

 

Crown him, ye martyrs of your God,

who from his altar call;

extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod,

and crown him Lord of all.

 

O that with yonder sacred throng

we at his feet may fall!

We’ll join the everlasting song,

and crown him Lord of all.

 

 READ THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES 

Ephesians 1:19a-23,  Colossians 1:15, Revelation 1:17-18

 

Philippians 2:5-11

 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

 Finally, we need to grasp hold of the depth and the richness of his victorious triumph.

 It wasn’t just an action in which God wanted to show Satan who was in control, it wasn’t just to defeat death, it wasn’t just a means for presenting Christ with the Victors crown and with a position of authority above anybody and everything else – IT WAS TO REDEEM MANKIND – YOU AND ME.

 The Lord Jesus took the cup not only to triumph over everything that he did triumph over BUT SO THAT WE MAY SHARE IN THE TRIUMPH WITH HIM.

 He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)

He conquered sin so that we may be delivered from our sin

He defeated death so that we may attain to the resurrection of a new life

His triumph means that we can also know triumph. Returning to 1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (or who causes us to triumph) through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 And one day the angel of the Lord will descend again, with a shout and with a trumpet blast of triumph and the dead in Christ will be raised, those who are alive will be caught up, so that together we may be with the Lord.

 

 Crown him with many crowns,

the Lamb upon his throne,

Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns

all music but its own.

Awake, my soul, and sing

of him who died for thee,

and hail him as thy matchless King

through all eternity.

 

Crown him the Lord of life,

who triumphed o’er the grave,

and rose victorious in the strife

for those he came to save.

His glories now we sing,

who died, and rose on high,

who died, eternal life to bring,

and lives that death may die.

 

Crown him the Lord of peace,

whose power a scepter sways

from pole to pole, that wars may cease,

and all be prayer and praise.

His reign shall know no end,

and round his pierced feet

fair flowers of paradise extend

their fragrance ever sweet.

 

Crown him the Lord of love;

behold his hands and side,

those wounds, yet visible above,

in beauty glorified.

All hail, Redeemer, hail!

For thou hast died for me;

thy praise and glory shall not fail

throughout eternity.

 

Article © Haydn Greenow 2013

 

From cup to crown, from torment to triumph, from victim to victor. The Real Meaning of Easter

From the Cup to the Crown Part 1

Luke 22: 39-46 (42)

Matthew 20:20-23

“And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

 “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

From cup to crown, from torment to triumph, from victim to victor. The Real Meaning of Easter

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Thank God, that Jesus prayed this prayer! For in this prayer, in the midst of the torment and anguish he was going through. He surrendered himself to the will of God.

 ‘Not my will, but yours be done.’

 We need to understand that this is the prayer of a man, a man who knew what lay ahead of him – You can’t blame Jesus for saying “If you are willing remove this cup from me,” But because of his willing obedience he continued – “Your will be done”

We ask what is or are the key thoughts, words in this verse? Is it prayer, obedience, the if or maybe the will of God?  Each of them is important but I suggest one of the key words, an important word is the word CUP.

“If you are willing, remove this CUP from me?

What did Jesus mean by using the word cup?        

In Matthew 20:22, Jesus used the word to describe the experience he was about to enter into “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” It is used to signify what Christ was about to go through, his anguish, torment, suffering and dying.

And yet it’s far deeper in meaning and significance than that. We need to go into the Old Testament to discover the deeper meaning of the cup, THIS cup that Jesus was about to take and to drink from.

Isaiah 51: 17, Jeremiah 25:15

“Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.”

 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.”

 The Old Testament gives us a picture of a cup that is filled with the wine of the wrath of God. A cup full of the wrath, anger and displeasure that he rightly so as a holy God, a just God, a righteous God has towards disobedient, fallen, rebellious and sinful humanity and the wrath of God must at some point be poured out, for sin cannot go by as unpunished. And over time, drops of the wrath of God have spilt over, at the fall, at the flood, at Babel, over Sodom and Gomorrah, over nations, cities, BUT THE FULL FURY OF HIS WRATH was yet to be revealed and when we come to Gethsemane, to this prayer of Jesus, he knows what lies ahead of him. He is taking hold of The Cup, the cup of the wrath of God, and in his act of obedience, in his sacrifice, the wrath of God is going to be poured out upon the sin of the world, and Jesus was going to receive it, Jesus was going to feel the full brunt of it, the full force of the wrath of God. Its no wonder when the last drop was poured out he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”

 Can we blame Jesus for praying this prayer? ‘IF it is possible, remove, take away this cup from me” HE KNEW what the cup of the wrath of God would taste like, for he knew how angry God was with sin, he knew the fury that filled God’s heart towards Satan and his hosts and all unrighteousness. He knew that by taking the cup and drinking from it this wrath and fury would be poured out upon him, Yet he was still willing to say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done” And there in the garden, he began as it were to drink from the cup. And with each sip he took, the closer he came to that awful dying moment.

 Imagine your close friend betraying you, then an even closer friend denying you – not once, not twice but three times. And after arresting him:

They mocked him, they beat him, and they whipped him. They then blindfolded him and taunted him, they blasphemed against him, they took him before the counsel and then before Pilate, accusing him and lying about him.

They stirred the people up against him and then took him to Herod.

They vehemently accused him and treated him with contempt, they mocked him further by dressing him in splendor.

And they cried out together, ‘Away with him’, then continued with hatred shouting out ‘Crucify him, Crucify him’

 What a cup to be drinking from, and all of this in a short period of time AND YET HE CONTINUED TO DRINK.

 They led him away, and when they came to the place called Golgotha, there they crucified him.

 Crucifixion was the lowest, most humiliating form of execution in the Roman Empire. It was the lowest form of death for those considered to be the lowest of the low, yet Jesus was willing to drink this cup, to die this death.

 The crown of thorns had already been placed on his brow, he was already beaten and bruised, he was thrust upon the cross that would have been lying on the ground, the hammer was lifted, the nails held in place and thumping down to hammer them in he was nailed to the cross. What a cup to be drinking from, but then the cross would be lifted and dropped with force into the hole in the ground, forcing his body into further pain and suffering. They continued to mock, the criminals beside him scorning him, those passing by gazed upon him, they gawped at him.

 And yet at the same time, something dramatic and almost incomprehensible was taking place – those around him didn’t see a thing but it happened.

 The sin of the world was placed upon Jesus – EVERY SIN, past, present and future – of every man, every woman, every boy and every girl – placed upon HIM who himself KNEW NO SIN, and yet here he is, as he drinks the cup, he becomes sin for us – and at that moment, the cup he had been sipping from is suddenly turned upside down, and the full thrust, the full flow of the wrath of God is poured out upon him – and he dies. Breathing out with his last breath he cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

 The moment was so awful, the earth shook, darkness fell over the world and God had to turn away as he saw the Son bearing his wrath, his punishment for the sin of the world, for you and for me.

 He took the cup, he could have allowed it to pass – but he took it and in taking it and drinking it every last drop, he took the wrath of God and he took the punishment we deserved – he took our place, he took my place, he took your place. HE Took THE cup that we deserved to drink and in its place he gives to us the cup of Communion

He took my sin and my sorrow.

He made them his very own,

He bore the burden to Calvary.

And suffered and died alone

 

Oh, what a Saviour that he died for me

From condemnation He hath made me free

He that believeth on the Son saith he

Hath everlasting life

 

From the cup to crown, torment to triumph from victim to victor, the story continues . . . in part 2

 

To see the King of heaven fall

In anguish to His knees,

The Light and Hope of all the world

Now overwhelmed with grief.

What nameless horrors must He see,

To cry out in the garden:

“Oh, take this cup away from me –


Yet not my will but Yours,

Yet not my will but Yours.”



 

To know each friend will fall away,

And heaven’s voice be still,

For hell to have its vengeful day

Upon Golgotha’s hill.

No words describe the Savior’s plight –

To be by God forsaken

Till wrath and love are satisfied

And every sin is paid

And every sin is paid





What took Him to this wretched place,

What kept Him on this road?

His love for Adam’s curséd race,

For every broken soul.

No sin too slight to overlook,

No crime too great to carry,

All mingled in this poisoned cup –


And yet He drank it all,

The Savior drank it all,

The Savior drank it all.

 Song © Stuart Townend and Keith Getty Thankyou Music 2009

 Article © Haydn Greenow 2013