A Cup of Redemption

It is morning time, and you are about to leave the house. What is your go-to cup to put your coffee in before you head out the door? Are there a few options for you to choose from? Or maybe the cup you use is one that your spouse wishes they could get their hands on and wash it. You have been using it over and over, and the inside is stained from the coffee. Cups are a popular commodity. There are big ones, small ones, and colorful ones. We have particular cups for particular things. During the days of Jesus, the Jews also were particular about cups. 

Traditionally, during the Passover meal, each person would have four cups to drink from. Each cup was to be drank during a certain part of the meal (Mishnah Pesahim 10:1-7). Before each cup was drunk, the Jews would recite a portion of Exodus 6:6-7.

“6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

(Exodus 6:6-7)

In Matthew 26:27, we read Jesus taking the cup and blessing it. Which cup did He use? Luke 22:20 tells us that after the completion of the meal, Jesus took the cup and blessed it. Matthew and Mark both let us know that this was during the meal. They were not as detailed as Luke claimed to be. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia say that this was the third cup that had been drunk. This cup would have coincided with “I will redeem you” from Exodus 6:6, giving this cup the title of “the cup of redemption.”

How appropriately titled. Jesus was coming to redeem us from our sins. The payment was His blood. The emblem that represented this was the fruit of the vine contained in the cup. Paul tells us, “We have redemption through his blood” (Ephesians 1:7). Praise be to God for the redeeming blood of His Son. 

I want to encourage you to write out Exodus 6:6-7 four times and praise God for the redeeming blood of His Son.

— Matt Jones