“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” (Ps. 116:12-14, NIV)
In this passage, the Psalmist was in the Temple, presenting a thanksgiving offering. The cup of salvation likely referred to an offering of wine associated with most sacrifices. The worshipper would have lifted wine and poured it into a large bowl by the altar as a libation. Centuries later, on the night before Jesus’ death, he prayed, “O Lord, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me,” alluding to the pain and humiliation of crucifixion.
There were several cups Jesus was offered at Calvary. There was the cup of charity. He was offered wine mingled with myrrh to deaden pain but rejected it. (Mark 15:23) There was the cup of mockery: the soldiers offered him sour wine. (Luke 23:36) There was the cup of sympathy: the vinegar put on a sponge to moisten his lips. (John 19:29) The evening before, he had handed a cup to his disciples, saying, “Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood of the New Covenant.”
When Christians celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, it is natural to consider the chalice as the cup of salvation. Bernard wrote of it, “I must be grateful, then, for all God’s gifts. But there is something that kindles and moves me even more. It is the cup that Thou didst drink, Lord Jesus, more than ought else, that renders Thee worthy; it is the work of our redemption that supremely claims our love.” God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, loves us so much that he does not forsake us when we go astray.
Bernard continues, “The Creator bestowed not so much labor on making the whole world, as our Savior in redeeming us! In the first work, “He spoke and it was done”; in the second, He put up with people who tried to catch Him in His talk, mocked His sufferings and upbraided Him in death. He was not returning any love of ours; but as St John says, ‘Not that we loved God but that He first loved us.’ This love is tender, wise and strong. Tender in that He took on Him our flesh; wise in that He guarded it against sin; and strong in that He suffered death. It is a thing beyond all measure to look upon man’s Maker as a Man. I trust myself entirely to Him who willed to save me, knew the way to do it, and had the power to carry out the work. He has sought me out and called me by His grace.”
When Jesus was crucified, he was offered the same narcotic as the two thieves. He did not take it, ensuring he was in control of his faculties. He drank the cup of God’s radical love dry to the last drop, able to look us in the eye and say, “My body given for you; my blood shed for you.”
Moment of Reflection: Can you also say, “He has sought me out and called me by his grace”?
Prayer: O Jesus, from the best bliss that earth imparts, we turn unfilled to you again. Amen.
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