The Ready Writer 4
The Cup of Suffering
By George J. Matranga

Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11

The cup that our Lord Jesus was referring to was the “cup of suffering.” It was the lot and fate for the Messiah to taste death for everyone. There could be no deliverance from sin’s power – no victory, no life – unless the Son of man be crucified on the cross. Even though Jesus taught His disciples that He would suffer death and rise again, they could not comprehend it…until He was glorified! Luke 24:1-8 Peter’s thinking was that deliverance came by the arm of the flesh. It was heroic that he tried to rescue the Lord by his own power but it wasn’t God’s way!

When Christ was approaching His sufferings, He took the twelve aside to tell them the things that would happen to Him. James and John had their minds on their own desires. They had no idea of the cost involved to follow Christ to the end. “Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto Him, We can…Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized.” Mark 10:38-39 Like many American Christians, especially new believers, their idea of Christianity is without loss. Their thinking is how Jesus can fulfill their personal desires with the least amount of personal cost involved.

The truth of the gospel of Christ is: every follower of Christ will suffer for Christ. Christianity and suffering were synonymous in the early church. “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” Phil. 1:29 The cultural American gospel has excised the cost of the blood and the pain of the cross. It makes people uncomfortable. As a result many modern day believers have passed their cup of suffering. Many have fallen away. Others attempt to deliver themselves. Few endure the process.

Dear Saint, if you are overwhelmed in the wilderness of affliction then rejoice, you are in the perfect will of God. It’s God’s way! He’s perfecting you. Granted, it is not a fun place to be, but it’s the place where the Lord can deepen His character in you. Submit to the dealings of God as Christ did…and was perfected. It is in the furnace of affliction that we are made conformable unto His death. It is the Holy Spirit that has placed you in a no-way out, no-win predicament. He will deliver you. No matter how hard it may get, let God have His way. Put your total trust in Him. If you try to deliver yourself you’ll only delay what God wants to work in you. Ps. 55:1-8, 22

So, Brethren, be strong in the grace that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. Put that sword of human power back into its sheath and drink the cup the Lord has served you. You’ll find in the end that His power is in it. He will deliver you in your sufferings. “But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction.” Job 36:15 NIV

Re-edition, original word 1996