“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” – Matthew 26:39
In the majority of cases when the word “cup” is used symbolically, it was a symbol of the wrath of God. When the wrath of God is poured out, it means that those suffering the wrath of God are those who are spiritually dead. While the Old Testament made it very clear that the Messiah would have to die physically for the atonement, never did it say that spiritual death was necessary for the atonement. Therefore, Jesus could not possibly have asked not to die physically. However, He could ask not to have to die spiritually. What He was asking for and agonizing over was not to have to die spiritually and to suffer the wrath of God.
It is hard for us who were born spiritually dead to appreciate what this meant to Jesus and why He was so much in an agony over it. We were born spiritually dead, and although we are now spiritually alive, even that spiritual life is not a totally sinless life; fellowship is broken with God the Father in a believer’s life by sin. Not so with Jesus! For all eternity past, He was in continuous fellowship with God the Father. But the moment the sins of the world were placed upon Him, God the Father turned away; and during His last three hours on the cross Jesus was spiritually dead.
Excerpt from “The Agony of Gethsemane,” an Ariel bible study manuscript.
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