“Let this cup pass from me” (Matt. 26:39) — What is the “Cup”?
- Chrysostom, Homily 65 on Matthew (on Matt. 20:22–23): “You shall be counted worthy of martyrdom, and shall suffer these things which I suffer; you shall close your life by a violent death, and in these things you shall be partakers with me.”
- Cyprian, Epistle 53, §2 (c. 252): “How do we make them fit for the cup of martyrdom, if we do not first admit them to drink, in the Church, the cup of the Lord by the right of communion?” Cyprian, Epistle 15, §2 (c. 250): “You, rich bunches out of the Lord’s vineyard… trodden by the tribulation of worldly pressure, fill your wine-press in the torturing prison, and shed your blood instead of wine; brave to bear suffering, you willingly drink the cup of martyrdom.” Cyprian, Epistle 76, §4 (c. 257): “‘I will take the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.’ Who would not gladly and readily receive the cup of salvation?”
- Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 103, §3 (c. 392–420): “What is to receive the cup of salvation, but to imitate the Passion of our Lord?… I will receive the cup of Christ, I will drink of our Lord’s Passion.” Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 116 (c. 392–420): “Who has given you the cup of salvation… Who, save He who says, Are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink of? Who has given unto you to imitate His sufferings, save He who has suffered before for you? And therefore, Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints. He purchased it by His Blood, which He first shed for the salvation of slaves, that they might not hesitate to shed their blood for the Lord’s Name.” Augustine, Contra Faustum 22.76 (c. 397–400): “He sets the example of drinking this cup, then hands it to His followers, manifesting thus, both in word and deed, the grace of patience.”
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.18.5 (c. 180): “He did not speak of any other cross, but of the suffering which He should Himself undergo first, and His disciples afterwards.”
- Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 10.37 (c. 356–360): “the cup of suffering”
The Gethsemane Prayer and Isaiah 53
- Chrysostom, in his sermon on “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” cites Isaiah 53:5, 6–7, 8, and 12 and then says Christ went to the cross “not by compulsion or force… but willingly with purpose and desire.” The cross destroys enmity, death, the devil’s power, and sin. This directly connects Isaiah 53 to Gethsemane and resolves it as voluntary self-offering and victory — not Father-imposed retributive punishment within the Trinity.
