Today’s Reading: John 18:1-11
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given to me?’”
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Simon Peter was incensed that Jesus was being arrested. Earlier, Peter had promised that he would die for the Lord. True to his word, he took action to defend Jesus.
Peter removed a short sword that was hidden under his garment. This kind of sword was used for stabbing, not slicing. A quick jab rightly aimed at a vital organ would cause immediate death.
Peter drew his sword and attacked Malchus, the high priest’s servant. He aimed for his head, but instead, cut off the servant’s ear. Jesus immediately healed Malchus’s ear. He wanted to teach his followers that if they lived by the sword, they would die by the sword.
Jesus also used this moment to teach the disciples another important truth about his mission on earth. He wanted them to know what it meant for him to drink the cup the Father had given to him.
The “cup” was a metaphor for God’s judgment. Throughout the Old Testament, it was always used as a symbol of the Father’s coming wrath. The Father gave it to the Son to drink from for the forgiveness of your sins.
Jesus’ greatest agony on earth was not the physical pain of the crucifixion. Though excruciating, it could not begin to compare with the spiritual agony he faced while he was on the cross. There, he took the Father’s wrath upon himself. He bore the sins of all humankind when he drank from this cup. He was separated from his Father in heaven when he absorbed all our sins upon his body.
This was why, when Jesus prayed earlier in the garden of Gethsemane, he asked the Father if there was a way other than the cross. After all, his greatest joy was being one in a perfect relationship with the Father. But when Jesus became a substitute for our sins, their unity was torn apart. The Father could not have fellowship with Jesus because he had taken upon himself all the sins of the world. The Father forsook his Son.
The cross was always the Father’s will for the Son. His heart of love for you demanded that Jesus drink of the cup of his wrath so you wouldn’t have to. Jesus gladly submitted to the Father’s will because he knew it would allow you the forgiveness of your sins and a right relationship with them forever.
Do you believe this? Do you believe that the Father’s anger was poured out on Jesus instead of you? Do you believe the Father is ready to forgive you if you just ask him to?
It is true. Through Jesus, your sins are forever forgiven—as far as the east is from the west. Regarding your sins, the Father is an eternal amnesiac. They are remembered no more, blotted out for Christ’s sake. Though like scarlet, he has made them white as snow.
And you can now know the joy of his salvation and a clean heart and a renewed spirit.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]