Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Keeping up with Jesus is hard. Throughout this gospel, we have struggled along with the disciples, the Pharisees, and Nicodemus to understand Jesus. What is he really saying? Often he speaks figuratively, but in this case, he speaks in a very human and straightforward manner.
“Put your sword away!” A very clear command.
“Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” A figuratively couched question but one that should make sense to the disciples after all of the time they have spent with Jesus.
And what cup is Jesus referring to? Isn’t it for this very moment that he came to earth? Isn’t this why he was born a human? Clear back in the third chapter of Genesis, verse fifteen, this moment was foretold:
”And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.“
This is the moment when Satan strikes at the heel of God. This is the moment when God allows a sinful creation to torture and kill his only Son. This is the moment when the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice unblemished by any sin of any kind, pays the price for all who have sinned and turn to God for salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Food for Thought: If God had to bargain with Satan for the return of those captured by sin, what price do you think Satan would demand?
Bonus Question: Why does God stoop to allowing his only Son to be killed by Satan? (See Matthew 13: 24-30)
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I think that the answer to hypothetical (first) question is found in Matthew 4:1-11. Of course, God cannot deny Himself or who He is.
Good point JEC. Good Scripture reference. It is interesting to me that it was God’s will for Jesus to suffer and die (Isaiah 53: 10). It was His plan and it was called good. It also demonstrated the depths of His love for each of us.