Two Cups

I came across this passage a few months back working through The Cross Centered Life and have been meaning to post on it ever since.

Mark 14:36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

Most of us are familiar with this passage and it's context as Jesus prays in Gethsemane just prior to his crucifixion. Metaphorically speaking, there's a sense in which the "cup" could refer to the whole process that Jesus knows he will be undergoing in the next 24 hours. Theologically speaking, I think it's even more likely that the cup he's referring to is the cup of God's wrath that Jeremiah speaks of:

Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.

It's even more powerful if you read it in context. Either way though, most of us are familiar with Jesus' prayer regarding the cup. Did you remember that he also spoke of another cup? Mark certainly did, in fact it seems to have been on his mind as he composed his Gospel account:

Mark 14:23-24 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.

Just about 10 verses previous, Mark records Jesus' words about the cup that we get to drink (notice, the text doesn't actually say Jesus drank this one, for what it's worth). And beyond Marks literary/compositional rhetoric, temporally speaking, only a few hours elapsed between these two events, so I dare say it was on Jesus' mind too. He drinks the cup of God's wrath so that we might drink the cup of God's blessing. Interestingly enough Jeremiah also speaks of the New Covenant. Was Jesus meditating on Jeremiah on the night of his betrayal? I can't say, but WOW...what an exchange. Perhaps there's a dissertation on intertextuality in there somewhere, but more importantly it's had some serious impact on my communion meditations in recent days.

Harry Potter and the Vindication of Bruno

No, not the title for book 8, just the facts. All you nay sayers, check this out.

Beale on Romans 9

If you didn't see this last week on Justin Taylor's blog, you may want to see this article on Romans 9 -- it may very well be one of the best things to come out of the '80s. Now I know after the Kostenberger debacle, I said I'd never post a link again until I'd read it; however, I think I can get away with this exception for 2 reasons: 1) Beale's a great exegete and I know his general disposition towards things reformed 2) Towards the end of the essay I read this sentence: "The results of this study lend support to the idea that there is an equal ultimacy or parallel between election and reprobation in terms of unconditionality." If that's the conclusion, the exegesis MUST be great :-)

Tons of Stuff from Carson

I have two audio sermons of Tim Keller on tape that the Lord has really used to minister to me in recent days. I was looking for some more Keller audio online the other day and stumbled across this huge list of DA Carson Audio links I thought I'd pass on.

Current Reading

Don't let the sidebar deceive you; sure I'm still reading through JVG, but don't think that doesn't mean that I'm not beginning other reading projects I'll never finish. One of the ones I've found most useful in recent days (I'm working through it a page a day...or so) is the two part essay by Darrell Bock entitled Evangelicals and the Use of the Old Testament in the New. It's an excellent overview and introduction to the discussion, especially if you're trying to get a feel for the parameters. Both Part One and Part Two are available free on the web, courtesy of the guys at Apollos.

(HT: Ciao, babe :-)