Last Supper 3

Matthew 20:22

I shared the other night in our Bible study group that when I was very young I begged my parents to have our family rent a houseboat on one of the TVA lakes in Tennessee. Year after year I asked for it, and year after year I was denied. Then one year my parents finally gave in and we, along with my cousin’s family, rented a houseboat.

It was terrible – three days on a small square of metal and wood in the middle of a lake with nowhere to go. It was dark and cold at night, stuffy and smelly in the day. Sometimes we don’t realize what we are asking for when we ask for something.

One day the mother of James and John came to Jesus with the request that her sons be permitted to sit at Christ’s right and left when he came into his kingdom. What does Jesus point out? What type of cup is he talking about?

Like this woman, and possibly James and John themselves, many of us would love to receive the praise and acclaim for a job well done. There are some of us who would love to have the renown and respect of some of the religious giants we know. But there is a price to pay for serving the Lord.

Jesus mentions a cup in his response. Can these disciples drink the same cup that Jesus will drink?

This comment, of course, reminds us of the cup Jesus would use at the Last Supper. With that cup Jesus would point out the sacrifice he would make for the entire world. His “cup” was the cup of complete giving, allowing his blood to pour out as he hung on the cross.

The question had two meanings. Could James and John be part of this close group of followers and share in this moment of intimacy, this moment of realization of what Jesus was about to go through? Did they have the courage to see their master accept crucifixion?

He was also asking if these two would be willing to make as big of a sacrifice as Jesus would do. As we take part in Communion we must ask ourselves if we have the faith to accept Christ as our Savior, because in doing that we are also accepting the responsibility of being a Christian – and that requires sacrifice.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What is the cup that you must take part in for Jesus?