Holding the cup
by C.H. Spurgeon

“The darkest hour of Christ’s life was when his Father forsook him — that gloomy hour when his Father’s remorseless hand held the cup to his Son’s own lips, and bitter though it was said to him, ‘Drink my Son — ay, drink;’ and when the quivering Savior, for a moment, having man within him — strong in its agonies for the moment, said, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.’ Oh! it was a dark moment when the Father’s ears were deaf to his Son’s petitions, when the Father’s eyes were closed upon his Son’s agonies. ‘My Father,’ said the Son, ‘Canst thou not remove the cup? Is there no way else for thy severe justice? Is there no other medium for man’s salvation?’ There is none! Ah! it was a terrible moment when he tasted the wormwood and the gall” (sermon 61).