Let this cup pass from me.

 Let This Cup Pass from Me

A Reflection on Matthew 26:39 and Luke 22:42

“Let this cup pass from Me,” He prayed,

In Gethsemane’s dark and lonely shade.

The weight of every sin, the wrath to be poured,

Pressed upon the soul of my beloved Lord.

“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)

The cup—of judgment, of abandonment, of dread,

Of all the curse that sin had bred.

Not just the nails, the thorns, the spear,

But the Father’s face turned away in sheer

Holiness that could not look upon the stain

Of every sin I ever would commit again.

He asked, in His humanity, for another way.

“Father, if there is any other path, I pray…

Let this cup pass from Me, if it might be.”

But then He bowed His head and said, “Thy will, not Me.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)

The cup did not pass—He drank it deep.

For my sake, He did not sleep.

He took the bitterness, the vinegar, the gall,

And drained the cup of judgment once for all.

So when I face my own small cup of pain,

When I ask that trial pass from me again,

I remember Gethsemane’s sweat like blood,

And the One who drank my cup under a darker flood.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

Lord, I ask for relief when I am weak.

But teach me also the prayer that You did speak:

“Not my will, but Yours be done.”

For Your cup of sorrow has already been won.

And because You drank it empty, now I have

A cup of blessing, a cup of joy—not wrath, but love.

So let this cup of suffering, if it comes, be born

In the strength of the One who wore the crown of thorn.

Amen.