Scriptures: Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47
Last Sunday during the homily I
made mention of the four cups of Passover, which sparked a few to ask about
these four cups and their significance.
Jewish
tradition has it, as the Lord spoke to Moses; He revealed to him the plan by
which He would redeem the children of Israel.
In a prophetic sense, God was also revealing how He would redeem His
elect to become His children. The four
cups of the Passover feast stand for the four “I wills” that are recorded in
Exodus 6:6-7. The Passover feast is an
ancient Jewish liturgy that is celebrated in four parts, with a cup of wine
shared by all after each part.
· The
Cup of Sanctification – based on God’s statement, “I will bring you out from
under the burdens of the Egyptians” the cup is drank after the blessing of the
feast.
· The
Cup of Deliverance - based on God’s statement, “I will deliver you from slavery
to them” is shared after the Passover story is shared.
· The
Cup of Redemption – based on God’s statement, “I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm” follows the main meal, the unblemished lamb and unleavened
bread. This is the cup Jesus is most
noted for sharing at the last supper.
· The
Cup of Restoration/Consummation – based on God’s statement, “I will take you to
be my people, and I will be your God”[1]
With the meal done the Great Hallel is sung (Ps 114 to 118) by all and the
fourth cup is shared marking the climax of the meal and Passover.
Once
again using Henry Nouwen’s book, Can You Drink the Cup? Let’s explore the cups deeper.
The
first cup is the Cup of Sorrow (I will free you from your Egypt). We look upon the man of sorrows, a spectacle
of agony for the entire universe to watch.
Jesus took his closest disciples to the garden and said “My soul is
sorrowful even to death.” (Mk 14:34) His
friends said they could drink His cup, but they had no idea what He was talking
about. The Cup of Sorrow is a cup full
of physical, mental, and spiritual anguish.
It is a cup of starvation, torture, loneliness, rejection, abandonment,
and immense anguish. “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34) It is a
cup of bitterness. Who wants to drink
it? It is the cup that Isaiah calls,
“the cup of God’s wrath. The chalice,
the stupefying cup, you have drained to the dregs” (Is
51:17).
Inconceivable
as it seems, the Cup of Sorrow is also the second cup, the Cup of Joy (I will
delivery you from slavery). Returning to
his disciples for the third time, he announces, “the hour has come.” You can hear it in his voice fulfilling the
words of Isaiah, “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced, I have
set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” (Is 50:7) In the midst of the sorrows is consolation,
in the midst of darkness is light, in the midst of despair is hope, and in the
midst of Babylon is a glimpse of Jerusalem.
“Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become
white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may be white as wool." (Is 1:18)
Many
people are challenged in their ability to see this; they feel cursed—cursed by
God with illnesses, losses, handicaps, and misfortunes. They believe their cup doesn’t carry any joy. It is only the cup of God’s wrath. It is not surprising that no one wants to get
close to a vengeful god. But when Jesus
takes the cup on the evening before his death and gave it to his disciples to
drink from, it is not the cup of wrath but the third cup, the Cup of Blessings (I
will redeem you with outstretched arms).
It is the cup of the new and everlasting covenant, the cup that unites
us with God and with one another in a community of love, in an intimate
covenant relationship. Jesus took upon
himself all our sufferings and lifts them up upon the cross, not as a curse but
as a blessing. That’s the mystery of the
Eucharist! Jesus died for us so that we
may live.
And
so we’re right back to last week’s questions: “Do you want to see Jesus” and
“Can you drink the cup?” When we
contemplate this world’s challenges; war, genocide, abortion, unemployment,
homelessness, challenging family relationships and losses, we wonder why anyone
would want to hold the Cup of Sorrow. Yet
God promised, “I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” and trusting He will not let us be put to shame,
we must engage in the worldly dialog, taking firm action to be in relationship
with others in need and acknowledge our own vulnerabilities as we cling to the
Cup of Sorrow, and thus it becomes the Cup of Joy where God “will deliver us”
from the slavery of sin. For the “Lamb
of God: you take away the sins of the world.”
My friends let us acknowledge what St. Paul, the teacher of the nations,
acknowledged so exultantly: “This is a saying worthy of trust, worthy of
complete acceptance; Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.” God’s compassion for us is all the more
wonderful because Christ held and lifted the cup, not for the righteous or the
holy, but for a people of sorrow, the broken and lost, us, sinners.
As
we gathered around this Eucharistic table, we enter into the Passover meal,
first shared over 2000 years ago, to peer into and hold the cup of sorrow,
which is the cup of joy, where the cup of blessings, the cup of the new and
everlasting covenant is lifted and offered to each one of us; as our Savior redeems us with His outstretched arms.
[1] The Four Cups of Wine of Passover, by Mike Ratliff.
https://mikeratliff.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/the-four-cups-of-wine-of-passover/
Posted on March 26, 2008
2.
The Fourth Cup, by Dr. Scott Hahn © 2009 Lighthouse Catholic
Media, NFP
3.
Can You Drink the Cup, by Henri J.M. Nouwen ©
1996, 2006 Ave Maria Press, Inc.
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