That’s One Heavy Cup

December 7, 2025

Right off the hop in this gospel lesson we hear the words, prison, and Christ, which is Greek for Messiah, in the same sentence. And I kept thinking, how can this lead us to peace? And it certainly doesn’t seem obvious. What seems to be obvious is that John the Baptist is actually very disappointed in Jesus. For example, he doesn’t appear to be handing Jesus the cup of his sadness, but rather the cup of doubt if Jesus is the one. John sounds kind of snippy. “Are you the one or should we be waiting for someone else?”
Jesus’ is response to John is to remind John about what is the work of the Messiah. Jesus says to John’s disciples tell him about what you have seen. That the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” What Jesus is saying is that’s the work of the Messiah. What Jesus hears in John’s question is not a question about healing or feeding or caring. What Jesus hears is John’s desire for power. John doesn’t need healing. John doesn’t need feeding. What John wants is power over King Herod so that he can be released from prison. 

Perhaps we are glimpsing at an important piece of the truth which is, even spiritual giants when afflicted in their own lives have doubt. It’s easy to believe in healing when it is not you, or someone you love’s healing that we’re talking about. It is easy to talk about not wanting power or being disparaging to those who seek power when it’s not we who are in desperate need of power. I don’t think it’s a matter of John worrying that he’s backed the wrong horse. I think it’s simply a matter of John being in prison and knowing that likely he’s going to die in prison, and Jesus doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it. John the Baptist has forgotten that power is not what Jesus has said the Messiah is supposed to be about.

What Jesus says next is really important because Jesus asks the crowd a question, “What did you expect to see when you went into the wilderness seeking out John?” And then Jesus answers his own question. He said, “Did you go out there to see a reed shaken by the wind?” Now there is no shared scholarly agreement about what that actually means. It’s ambiguous enough that that no one can say with certainty what it is a Jesus meant by that by that statement, ‘a reed shaken or bent by the wind.’ But as a storyteller and preacher I have guess. 

I think what Jesus is saying is that people went to see John because he was an example of a reed ‘not’ shaken by the wind. To see an example of somebody who lived their faith completely. And because of that, John could speak truth to power. He didn’t care that King Herod had all the authority and was vengeful and spiteful. He still spoke the truth about Herod’s evil deeds. He spoke truth to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, who came out to be baptized by John without really wanting to change their ways. So, John calls them you brood of vipers. John didn’t bend to social conventions of what to wear. He wore a robe camel hair with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And it didn’t matter what other people thought of him. He was a reed that wasn’t shaken by the winds of power or social convention. 

The problem with that is that we are left with the sense that John therefore always held up his own cup. He never needed any help holding his cup and it didn’t matter how much he put into that cup. John didn’t need anyone. It is only in his time of doubt where he must have felt vulnerable enough to reach out to Jesus.  

Then and only then could Jesus help him with his cup. We think that this time of Advent preparation is about making sure we have the right presents for the right people. That our hearts are pure enough to receive the child born to be our Saviour. But what if this Advent time of preparation is really an opportunity to say to God, “I need help?” “I can’t hold this cup of sadness or worry or fear anymore. Can you hold it for me?” That doesn’t mean, we will be totally be free of it. After all, if we are worried about a sibling or child we will never stop worrying. But maybe we can get a moment of peace, of sleep.

You know that prayer that many of us were taught to pray at bedtime?

Now I lay me down to sleep, I prayer the Lord my soul to keep…

What if when you go to bed tonight, naming the cup you need God to hold for you, pray:

Now that the day is getting late.

I pray the Lord my cup to take.

Give me rest to keep me sane

So that tomorrow I can pick it up again.

The road to peace of mind and heart and soul doesn’t come when we have no worries and no fears. Peace comes when we have a community and a God who helps us bear them. Amen