JESUS Drank That Cup As The Substitute For You And I

The cup of wrath!

(Andrew Bonar, "The Cup of Wrath!")

"In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of red 
wine mixed with spices; HE pours it out, and 
all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its 
very dregs!" Psalm 75:8

There has been only One who has ever 

drunk this cup down to its very dregs!

Cain has been drinking it for 5,000 

years and finds that his punishment 

greater than he can bear--

but has not come to the dregs.

Judas had been drinking it for some 

2000 years, often crying out with 

a groan that shakes Hell, 

"Oh that I had never been born! 

Oh that I had never seen or heard 

of the LORD JESUS CHRIST!" 

But he has not reached the dregs.

The fallen angels have not 

come near the dregs--

for they have not arrived at 

the judgment of the Great Day.

The only One who has taken, 

tasted, drunk, and wrung out 

the bitterest of the bitter dregs--

has been the Judge Himself, 

the LORD JESUS!

You know how often, when 

on earth, HE spoke of it. 

"Are you able to drink the cup 
that I shall drink of?"
 (Matthew 20:22). 

"The cup which MY FATHER 
has given ME, shall I not drink it?" 
(John 18:11).

The universe saw HIM with 

it at HIS lips. It was our cup 

of trembling; the cup in which 

the wrath due to HIS people was

mixed. What wrath, what woe! 

A few drops made HIM cry, 

"Now is my soul deeply troubled!" 

In the garden, the sight of it wrung 

out the strange, mysterious words, 

"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, 
even unto death!"  (Matthew 26:38) 

Though God-man, HE staggered at 

what HE saw, and went on trembling.

The next day, on Calvary, HE drank it all! 

I suppose the three hours of darkness 

may have been the time when HE was 

drinking it down the very dregs; for then 

arose from HIS broken heart, the wail which 

so appealed to the heart of the FATHER, 

"MY GOD, MY GOD,, why have YOU
 forsaken Me!" (Matthew 27:46)

As HE drank the last drop, and cried out, 

"It is finished!" (John 19:30)

we may believe that the angels 

felt an inconceivable relief--

and even the FATHER HIMSELF! 

So tremendous was 

the wrath and curse!--

the wrath and curse 

due to our sin!

JESUS drank that cup as the substitute 

for HIS innumerable people, given HIM 

by the FATHER; and thereby freed them 

from ever tasting even one drop of that 

fierce wrath, that "cup of red wine, 

mixed with spices," with its dregs--

its unknown terrors!

"Death and the curse were in our cup,
 O CHRIST, 'twas full for THEE!
 But THOU hast drained the last dark drop,
 'Tis empty now for me!"

"Once it was mine, that cup of wrath,
 And JESUS drank it dry!"

    ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

You may want to read the whole of Andrew Bonar's superb 7 page article,
 "The Cup of Wrath!"