by John H. Gerstner

Then the Savior departed from the apostles a second time and prayed again, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done." The agony of the first prayer was not even over, but a new note is detectable. Realizing that it was not possible for the cup to pass from Him, and still agonizing at the thought of its horror, our Lord was now more definitely praying for the strength to drink the cup of God's wrath. As man He had shrunk from the cup; as man He will drink it; as man He looked to the Father for strength.

In John's account He prayed, "Father, glorify Thy name." Luke tells us that an angel came and ministered unto Him. Having submitted Himself to His sacrifice, He knew that He needed great strength to endure the cross. As a man, He was not equal to it. He looked to His heavenly Father, who had willed His death, to enable Him to perform what had become His own will also. John tells us that on this occasion God did speak: "I both have glorified it, and will glorify it." Possibly in connection with that promise, God sent an angel to minister to His Son.

The Redeemer was following the same pattern of prayer which He had taught to His disciples. First, He asked that God's will be done. Then He asked for His daily bread; that is, His strength for the day. God's will was difficult to perform, and only God could enable even the Son of man Himself to perform it. "Command what Thou wilt, and give what Thou commandest," was the plea of Augustine. That He needed superhuman strength desperately is shown in His asking God for the third time to do His will through Him. All the while the apostles, who needed strength so much more than the mighty Son, instead of maintaining their vigil during His, slept. In the sequel, the one who watched and prayed walked quietly to His horrible death while those who slept were scattered by mere danger.

When Christ gave His cheek to the betrayer's kiss, He knew that He was putting the cup of wrath to His lips, the full dregs of which He would not taste unto the morrow when He would cry out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? . . . My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

This, then, is how Jesus made atonement, how He paid it all. The punishment which was due to us He voluntarily received. The death which was the wages of our sin He underwent. The stripes with which we deserved to be beaten fell upon His willing back. The chastisement which was owing us was borne by Him. The price we would have paid by endless suffering He paid by an infinite sacrifice. It should have been me who cried out, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" It should have been He who said, "I am persuaded that nothing shall separate Me from the love of God."

Because Jesus paid it all, it was He who was forsaken, and it is we who never shall be. Because He drank the full cup of divine wrath, we shall never taste it. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."

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This is part fourteen of John H. Gerstner's small book entitled Theology for Everyman, originally published in 1965 (Moody Press, Chicago). That book was subsequently republished by Soli Deo Gloria in 1991. It has since fallen out of print and we thought it would be good to revisit this book here on the blog. Over the next couple of months, we'll work our way through the book. Here is where we've been so far: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.