Daily Devotion for March 4, 2006

To Jerusalem with the ComPASSIONATE Christ

 

"Take This Cup"

 

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Mark 14: 35-36

 

After moving off a little way, Jesus prostrated Himself before His Father and continued in prayer. That we know what He said can only be due to His intimacy with His disciples after the resurrection. Jesus admitted that He prayed that God might find some other way to achieve His purposes. "If it is possible… let this hour pass from me."

 

This was not an attempt to evade responsibility. Jesus knew that He had been sent to offer His life as a sacrifice, an atonement for sin, and He did not seek to shirk that responsibility at all. But He did not relish the thought of being betrayed, of being deserted by those He loved, of suffering the mockery and scorn of the crowd. If He could have avoided such things He would, at least, have saved Himself much heartache; but it was not to be.

 

Jesus appealed to God as His "Abba, Father," using the familiar term still used by Hebrew children today. This was a cry from the heart. What father could deny it? Yet even as He asked, Jesus knew that the cup He must take, the cup tainted with so much bitterness added by the wickedness and folly of His enemies, had to be drained to the dregs. The Father, who would not cause His child an unnecessary tear, had in view a far larger purpose: the salvation of those who would call upon His Name. Jesus' submission should stand for that of His people: "not my will but Yours be done."

 

Prayer
Dear Father, there are many “painful things” that I wish I could avoid in my life, but in your love and mercy you have me face them because of the outcome that you have in store for me.  Help me to trust you, as Jesus did, and to say, "not my will but Yours be done."

 

History of the Tear Cup

 

Though the Bible is filled with joyfulness and the like, there is a fair amount of weeping and wailing, of crying and gnashing of teeth. This is part of life, and the biblical writers do not avoid these expressions of sadness or sorrow.

 

The ancient Hebrews especially honored suffering and crying, understanding this behavior as a sign, a symbol, of the depth of their caring and their passion.

 

For example, when they were sad, distraught, filled with pain, the Israelites cried into tiny ceramic tear cups, some of which are still preserved today. (see picture to the right: a tear cup I got from Israel that dates to the time of Christ)   When they finished weeping, they capped their tear cups and put them away for the next time. It was a way of saving their tears. Why save them? Because they believed they were precious; tears showed that a person cared. A full cup of tears was proof of deep feelings, that one had suffered terribly – and had survived.     

 

Many of us go through life, pretending it’s not as hard as it really is. We men especially avoid crying as much as possible. We’re taught not to cry, to tough it out, to hide our feelings, otherwise we’ll be seen as weak or soft. By building up calluses on our hearts, we tough men (and some women also) think that we protect ourselves from being emotionally wounded. But not so those Hebrews, especially the men. They were not only not afraid to cry, but their tears were sacraments of love, and the fuller a person’s tear cup, the more that person was admired and esteemed. Great-hearted people apparently cried more than others. Life touched them more deeply, and they wept into their cups of tears until they could truly say, “my cup runneth over.”

 

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Tim Hetzner - President - Lutheran Church Charities
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