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Shall I not drink it?
(Newman Hall,
"Leaves of Healing
from the Garden of Grief" 1891)
"The cup which My Father has given Me,
shall I not drink it?" John 18:11
It was the Savior's own desire to suffer.
To escape would be . . .
to falsify Scripture,
to renounce His own purpose,
to abandon His work of salvation,
to contravene the Father's loving will.
My Father has ordained this cup, mingled it,
knows every drop in it, presents it--shall I
not drink it? My Father is . . .
infinite in wisdom, and cannot err;
infinite in love, and cannot be unkind;
infinite in resources, and would not give it to
Me to drink, if His and My own great purpose to
save the world could be better realized. It is
a cup which, drained by Me, shall procure to
countless multitudes . . .
a cup of redemption,
a cup of consolation,
a cup of glory in the everlasting banquet of heaven!
"The cup which My Father has given Me,
shall I not drink it?" John 18:11
And He drank it to the dregs!
Let His followers, whenever they have to drink
a cup of sorrow, be comforted in remembering
this last word of Christ at Gethsemane.
He, the sinless One--suffered for us, the sinful ones.
By reason of our transgressions, His cup was so bitter.
By drinking it, He provided an antidote for the poison
which sin infuses into every sorrowful cup of ours.
His love prompted Him to drink it all.
He has thus removed from us the danger, fear, and
sorrow. Our garden of grief, by His bitter cup, has
been delivered from its darkest gloom, has been
illumined by Divine love and rejoicing hope. He who
has thus saved us from sin and death, and ever lives
as our sympathizing Brother, will be with us in every
trial, and enable us also to say, "The cup which my
Father has given me, shall I not drink it?"
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