“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed. My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.� This quote, from Matthew 26:39, puzzled me for many years. I asked about it, of a variety of sources, but never got a satisfying explanation. What cup is He talking about?
“It is finished�, is part of John 19:30. It is here in John that we find the key to the puzzling cup in Matthew. I had always been told that this quote dealt with our redemption. As one Protestant friend once said to me long ago, “It’s the work of Christ that was finished. His work of salvation was finished on the Cross.� Ok - but - well, not really. He hadn’t been resurrected yet, so there was still something to be done (Romans 4:23-25). To my uneducated eyes, this still didn’t look quite right.
Both of these will play into our next discussion of the Eucharist, and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament. However, to join the cup from Matthew 26:39 to the phrase in John 19:30, we have to start by stepping back in time. Our first stop is in Exodus, and…
THE PASSOVER MEAL
The first Passover is documented in Exodus 12.
I am not scholar of Jewish liturgical history, so I rely here on the work others for the details. (One note – the liturgical practices of modern Jews seem to differ slightly from modern practices. The Passover meal of today is somewhat altered from the time of Christ, but the basics still hold true.)
The Passover meal is divided into four parts, each separated by the drinking of a cup of wine. Before and between each cup, there are prayers and actions taken by the celebrants.
Begin with blessings; of the wine, of the festival, and in praise of God.
1- Drink from the Cup of Sanctification
Ritual washing of hands.
Green vegetables are dipped in salt water and eaten.
The unleavened bread is divided into two parts (not broken and eaten yet).
The story of Exodus – the Hebrews escape from bondage – is recited.
Psalm 113 is sung. This is known as the Little Hallel.
2- Drink from the Cup of the Wrath
(Wrath reflects God’s wrath in the plagues of Egypt)
Ritual washing of hands.
The unleavened bread is blessed, broken and distributed.
The unleavened bread is eaten.
The bitter herbs are blessed and eaten.
The roasted lamb is eaten.
Grace after the meal is said.
3- Drink from the Cup of Blessing
The whole of Psalms 115 through 118 are changed or sung. This is known as the Great Hallel.
4- Drink from the Cup of Praise
The Passover meal is finished.
Now, experts on this sort of thing say that this structure (or something roughly similar) was in place long before the time of Christ. The Gospel accounts seem to assume it, as does Paul in 1 Corinthians (more on these in a moment).
It’s also true that scripture scholars, like theologians, tend to disagree on the minutiae of the things they study. That’s fine for them – it’s what they get paid for – but this broad brush sequence should be sufficient for our purposes.
A note about the Hallels – our word Hallelujah is derived from this. Hellel means praise. The -jah on the end is short for Yahweh. Hence, Hallelujah means, simply, praise God.
Ok, so we have the basic structure of the Passover meal. Now let’s look at the Gospel accounts of that fateful Thursday night.
THE LAST SUPPER
Here is a breakdown of the synoptics and their description of the Last Supper.
Matthew 26:2, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7 – These passages clearly identify the Passover as the meal involved.
Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19 - Jesus takes the bread, blesses and breaks it, and gives it to the disciples to eat.
Matthew 26:27, Mark 14:23, Luke 22:20 - Jesus takes the cup, gives thanks, and gives it to the disciples to drink.
Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25 - Jesus says that He will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until He drinks it anew in His Father’s kingdom.
Matthew 26: 30, Mark 14:26 - They sing a hymn.
At this point, they suddenly stop the meal and go out into the night. This is a big deal. The bread was broken and eaten, then a cup was drunk. This is followed by a hymn. The bread of the Gospel account is the same bread that is eaten before the third cup of the Passover meal. The third cup is the Cup of Blessing, which Jesus said was the cup of the new and everlasting covenant, shed for us mere mortals for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the cup that Christ passed to the apostles. The cup is followed by a hymn, which would be the Psalms of the Great Hallel.
THE CUP IN THE GARDEN
Then in Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42 and John 18:11, Jesus prays that “this cup� be taken from him. Which cup? The only logical answer is the fourth cup, the Cup of Consummation, the final act of the Passover meal. This is the final cup of the meal, the one that was left when Jesus and the apostles went out into the night.
Paul makes the connection as well. In 1 Corinthians 10:16, Paul calls it "the cup of blessing". This reflects the Cup of Blessing in the Passover meal. The same Cup of Blessing that Christ himself calls the Cup of the New and Everlasting Covenant. In fact, he says that it is the “Cup of Blessing which we bless,� and goes on to say that it is a participation in the Blood of Christ.
Christ was living the Passover. “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.� The Lamb is sacrificed - it must be consumed. The blood of blessing, which we bless, is the Blood of the Covenant.
It was Christ’s transformation of the Passover sacrifice of the Old Covenant into the Eucharistic sacrifice of the New Covenant that was finished. The Passover sacrifice of the New Covenant began in the upper room with the institution of the Eucharist. It was completed at Calvary. As Scott Hahn has said: “Calvary begins with the Eucharist and the Eucharist ends with Calvary. It is all of one piece.�
Christ’s Passover is a true sacrifice (1 Corinthians 5:7). It is a true meal (John 6:55). It is a true covenant between God and humanity (Matthew 26:28). It goes on eternally.
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