Catholic Exchange

Drinking the Cup of Suffering with Jesus

Written by

Dr. Mark Giszczak

in

,

October 18, 2015
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Isa 53:10-11
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101815.cfm

When the disciples notoriously whine about their future roles in the Kingdom in this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus promises them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized” (Mark 10:39 RSV). This is not a friendly invitation to a religious dinner party. When Jesus refers to “the cup,” it is the same one that he pleads with the Father to take away: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark 14:36 RSV). The cup Jesus will drink on Good Friday is the cup of suffering. He invites the apostles to drink from that same cup with him.

Does God Delight in the Suffering of His Son?

Isaiah, in this Sunday’s first reading, offers a portrait of this Suffering Servant who drinks the cup of suffering. This passage is taken from the end of the last of the four servant songs in Isaiah (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13–53:12). It begins with a startling line: “the Lord was pleased to crush Him” (Isa 53:10 NASB). It almost sounds like it made God happy to hurt his Son. Indeed the word translated as “pleased” is chaphetz, which means “to delight.” How could that be? How could God delight in the pain of his Son? Isaiah’s wording illustrates the drama of the Cross. At one and the same time, God’s justice is satisfied and so he delights, while his mercy is also revealed, and so he weeps for the pains of his Son. It is a paradox how the Lord could simultaneously fulfill the demands of justice and promulgate mercy, and yet he does. If God were to merely wave his hand in pardon, he could show mercy and yet not be just. If he were simply to punish us all, he would show his justice, but be found merciless. In his mysterious wisdom, he finds a way to do both—to both reveal his justice in punishing for sin and demonstrate his mercy by inflicting that punishment on his very own Son rather than on us.

A Guilt Offering

Isaiah tells us that the Suffering Servant is an asham, a guilt offering (53:10). This is a technical term that comes up in Leviticus 5:14–6:17. Under the Old Covenant system, a person would make a guilt offering if he committed a serious sin against the covenant with God like violating an oath that invoked God’s name or defiling the sanctuary in some way. The guilt offering required restitution, paying back whatever had been stolen or defrauded from another. After making restitution, the penitent would then offer a ram as a sacrifice. Under the ancient covenant, one would have to engage in this complex asham process to remove guilt. When Isaiah tells us that the Suffering Servant’s “soul/life” (nephesh) is an asham, a guilt offering, we need only look back to the ram of Leviticus. The ram merely foreshadowed the real sacrifice to come. The Servant will be the authentic guilt offering for all. Later, Hebrews will tell us that “it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” (Heb 10:4 RSV). Only the blood of One willing to drink the cup of suffering was powerful enough to truly cleanse us of guilt.

The Offspring of the Suffering Servant?

Isaiah tells us that the Suffering Servant will “see his offspring, he shall prolong his days” (Isa 53:10 RSV). As a reward for his faithfulness, God will bless him with long life and descendants. You can just hear the Da Vinci Code conspiracy theorists’ wheels turning! But no, Jesus did not have any children. So how could he fulfill this passage and yet not have children? This definition of blessing as including long life and children we see here is all over the Old Testament (Deut 30:20; Job 42:13-16; Psa 128:6; Prov 3:2). It is a stereotypical way of expressing how God blesses people. The “normative blessings” of life include long life and kids, but they are not the end-all be-all of human happiness. In fact, they are expressions of that ultimate happiness that we find in God himself. They signify God’s favor. Jesus does not have literal children, but he does of course have many spiritual descendants in all those who believe in him. And while he did not stick around on earth to enjoy your typical long life, he lives forever, reigning in Heaven.

Righteous Makes Righteous

As an asham, the Suffering Servant will “justify” many people. The Hebrew says yatzdiq tzadiq, which means “the righteous one will make righteous.” The power of Jesus’ suffering in some way lies in his righteousness, his innocence. If he had been a sinner like the rest of us, he would have deserved the punishment that he underwent. But since he was innocent, free of guilt, totally pure, then this very righteousness of his becomes the instrument of our salvation. He, as the righteous one, makes us righteous. Instead of our sin infecting him by his dwelling among us, his righteousness “infected” us at the Cross. His offering of himself turns back the tide of sin and makes thing start working backwards. Instead of the contagion of sin spreading from person to person, the “contagion” of righteousness spreads across the world from Mt. Calvary.

The Cost of Following Christ

The wonder of this undoing of the power of sin comes at a price: the spotless Lamb is sacrificed. While he invites everyone to follow, Jesus also invites us to “count the cost” (Luke 14:28) of following him. Christianity is not for wimps. We too are called to walk the hill of Calvary with Jesus, to “take up our crosses,” to drink the cup of suffering, to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29).While it is easy to wonder about the rewards of discipleship, often we are faced with the cost. Yet it is there, in the midst of that cost, in the midst of the daily suffering with Jesus, that we finally begin to realize what life is really about, who God is calling us to be, what it all means in the end. And it is not about hoarding as much money and stuff as we can, but about giving ourselves away in love.

image: Renata Sedmakova / Shutterstock.com

Comments

4 responses to “Drinking the Cup of Suffering with Jesus”

  1. Maria 3 Avatar
    Maria 3

    Unsure that it is God’s justice or ‘ need for punishment’ that is satisfied ;
    would it rather not be that The Father knew all along how The Son would remain faithful and loving and trusting in The Father , in the power of The Spirit ,in the
    midst of the pain , thus ‘earning ‘ for us The Spirit that was poured out on Pentecost .
    The cup also , blessed Emmerich mentions how it was not the sufferings per se that The Lord asks The Father to remove but the normal aversion of human nature towards suffering , hence the words ‘if possible ‘ and The Father sends Him angelic help .

    Seems that clarification could help to do away with any ‘resentment ‘ towards The Father.

    ‘Being the servant ‘ also might have more of a spiritual meaning , since in many cases , being a servant needs prudence that one is not being ‘used ‘ in promoting fallen traits in the other ; the example of the two thieves on the cross might help – The Lord leaves them alone , they possibly having to be there for good reason .
    True , in asking for ‘mercy on us ‘, one could take the servant role ; otherwise too literal an explanation might make persons wonder if they are being faithful .

  2. Maria 3 Avatar
    Maria 3

    Just remembered too , the description in Bl.Emmerich’s writings about the wedding at Cana ; (having given away the 4 volume set – a good evangelisation help have to wait till getting the next set , if the details are right )
    but recall reading how for weddings in those days , families would provide the items needed , how the couple were related to Bl.Mother and that it was The Lord , who supplied the ( old ) wine , that ran out !

    Is it not likely that The Lord, just coming from the Baptism and 40 days of
    fasting , knowing it was time for the public ministry ,possibly wanted to ensure that The Mother too knew and gave the blessing and thus let things fall in place in accordance .
    The Spirit must have whispered same to The Mother too .

    We know the rest , esp. the significance of that address as ‘ Woman ‘ and The Mother too would have known , it was the time for the crushings –
    the head of the serpent and how The Son and She with Him , would be crushed too ,like grapes , to bring us The New Wine , of The Father ‘s love , for every moment of our lives , for all the times when we run out of wine ..so that we do not have to turn at each other , in blaming and negativity, but can turn to The Mother, asking her to pray for us , that we and others who need that
    love , do so .

  3. Peccatori Avatar
    Peccatori

    The Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son. That as John states in his Gospel:

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

    So when we say that God is love, it is true in that the Father pours out himself to the Son and the Son pours out himself to the Father and that love is so immense and infinite that it takes on the form of another person of God, the Holy Spirit.

    And that is what we as men and women are to image in marriage and in having children as the child is the product of the man giving himself and the woman giving herself through the receiving of the man. And God allows the two to participate in His creation. Part of the genius of woman is that she gives through receiving. Man gives in pouring himself out for another.

    On your reflecting on the wedding feast, I’d like to share some of my reflections. Notice how Luke says the mother of Jesus was invited to the wedding… and Jesus and his disciples were also there. As though Mary led Jesus there, or more precisely, she brought Jesus to them. Mary is the new arc of the covenant, she brings the new covenant to the world by bearing, caring and sharing Jesus. She attends a wedding feast, a banquet. The Eucharist is called the wedding feast of the Lamb.

    Many people question Jesus’ calling Mary ‘woman’. But remember, Jesus was sinless and therefore followed the 4th commandment, and all the commandments perfectly. So it does not follow that Jesus would somehow be disrespecting Mary in calling her ‘women’. Rather he is recalling the title used in Genesis where God says that the seed of the ‘woman’ will crush the head of the serpent. By calling her ‘woman’ he is identifying himself.

    Jesus provides the ‘best wine’ for the wedding feast, then later, in the institution of the Eucharist, he turns the ‘best wine’ into his blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant.

    I also noticed that the one who tested and approved the wine was the head waiter, not the groom. The leader of the servants. Waiters filled the stone jars to the brim (perfectly) and the head waiter tastes it and declares it to be the ‘best wine’. I wonder if this as a foreshadowing of intercession by our Lady, the disciples doing as He tells them, and Peter as the one who declares that which Jesus provided as the best and acting as the one who yields the keys of the earthly Kingdom of God?

    It seems there is much more going on at the wedding feast in Cana than meets the eye?

  4. Peccatori Avatar
    Peccatori

    Great article.
    I think that in our fallen nature, we have come to recoil so strongly to pain and suffering that we don’t or can’t see on our own that suffering has a powerful purpose.
    Jesus shows us that the price of pure love in a fallen world is suffering. And if we aren’t willing to suffer for love in this world, we will not likely be fit to be with Him in the next. We love comfort and tend to gravitate toward it at every opportunity. Our comfort comes, though in His consolation, not in creature comforts and pleasures of this world.
    The truth is in how it moves the heart, to see suffering out of love, it moves the heart and can break through even the coldest, hardest of hearts.
    The problem and reason so many have not experienced His love firsthand is simply that most are their own arbitrators and don’t believe that they need to be saved from anything.

Leave a Reply

More posts