By Rich Amick
Throughout Scripture, the cup functions as a metaphor for the portion God assigns a person or a nation to experience. The biblical writers use this imagery in several ways—such as suffering (Mark 10:38), covenant participation (1 Corinthians 10:16), and one’s allotted portion in life (Psalm 16:5). Yet among these varied uses, the two dominant redemptive‑historical themes are the cup of judgment and the cup of blessing. These two cups form the backbone of the gospel story.
Sometimes the imagery depicts God handing someone a cup to drink; other times it portrays Him pouring its contents out upon them—either judgment or blessing. The prophets frequently used the cup to symbolize divine wrath against sin (Jeremiah 25:15–17; Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Habakkuk 2:16).¹
This imagery forms the backdrop for the gospel narrative, which ultimately centers on two cups: the cup of judgment and the cup of blessing. How one responds to Jesus determines which cup one receives.
The Cup of Judgment
Jesus Drank the Cup of Divine Judgment
In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed:
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” —Matthew 26:39
The cup He faced was the prophetic cup of divine wrath.² Jesus understood that He was about to bear the judgment His people deserved. When Peter attempted to prevent His arrest, Jesus responded:
“Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given Me?” —John 18:11
At the cross, Jesus drank this cup fully. The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Servant would bear the sins of many (Isaiah 53:5–6, 10–12). The apostle Paul explains that God made Christ “to be sin on our behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:21), redeeming His people from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Peter likewise declares that Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).
Through His sacrificial death, Jesus bore the judgment that His people deserved. Those who trusted in Him were spared the cup of divine wrath because He drank it in their place.
Yet Jesus also warned that those who rejected Him would not escape judgment.
The Cup of Judgment Falls on Unbelieving Israel
Not all of Israel received the salvation Jesus offered. Many rejected their Messiah and persecuted His followers. Jesus warned the religious leaders:
“Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.” —Matthew 23:32
Their rejection of the Son continued a long pattern of rejecting God’s messengers (Matthew 23:29–36). Later, Paul wrote that those Jews who opposed the gospel and persecuted believers were “filling up the measure of their sins” (1 Thessalonians 2:16; cf. Acts 17:1–13).
Jesus repeatedly warned that judgment would fall upon Jerusalem because it failed to recognize Him:
- “Your house is being left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:38)
- “Not one stone here will be left upon another.” (Matthew 24:1–2)
- “Your enemies will… tear you down… because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41–44)
These warnings were fulfilled in AD 70, when Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.³ The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus provides a detailed account of this devastating event in The Jewish War.
In His crucifixion, Jesus drank the cup of divine judgment on behalf of those who believe in Him. Yet the nation as a whole continued in unbelief, filling up the measure of its sins (Matthew 23:32; 1 Thessalonians 2:16). When that measure was full, the cup of judgment was poured out in the historical destruction of Jerusalem upon those who rejected Him.
The cross, therefore, stands at the center of this imagery. Jesus drank the cup of divine judgment so that those who belong to Him would not have to drink it. Instead, they are invited to receive another cup—the cup of blessing associated with the new covenant.
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The Cup of Blessing
Believers Drink the Cup of the New Covenant
On the same night Jesus spoke of the cup He would drink, He offered His disciples another cup—one of blessing.
During the Passover meal, He took a cup and said:
“This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” —Luke 22:20
Passover commemorated Israel’s redemption from Egypt through the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12). By the time of Jesus, the Passover meal included four cups associated with God’s promises in Exodus 6:6–7. Luke specifically notes that Jesus took “the cup after supper,” the cup commonly associated with redemption.
By linking that cup to His own blood, Jesus revealed that His death would accomplish the ultimate redemption foreshadowed in the Exodus (Hebrews 9:11–15; 1 Peter 1:18–19).
This cup inaugurated the new covenant promised in Jeremiah 31:31–34. Just as Moses sealed the old covenant with blood (Exodus 24:8), Jesus sealed the new covenant with His own blood (Hebrews 8:6; 9:18–22; 12:24).
Paul later describes the Lord’s Supper in these terms:
“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?” —1 Corinthians 10:16
Through Christ’s sacrifice, believers receive forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation with God (Romans 5:8–11), and access to His presence (Hebrews 10:19–22). Because Jesus drank the cup of judgment, His people may drink the cup of blessing.
From the Cup of Wrath to the Cup of Blessing
The gospel dramatically transforms the imagery of the cup. In the Old Testament, the cup most often symbolized divine wrath poured out against sin. Yet in the gospel narrative, Jesus takes that very imagery upon Himself.
He drinks the cup of judgment so that His followers may receive the cup of salvation. What once represented wrath becomes, through Christ’s sacrifice, a symbol of redemption and covenant fellowship.
This transformation is vividly expressed in the Lord’s Supper. The cup believers receive represents participation in the blessings secured by Christ’s death. As Paul explains, the cup of blessing is a sharing in the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16).
Thus, the cup that once symbolized judgment becomes, for believers, a sign of grace
Lexical and Theological Support
The Greek Word for “Cup” — ποτήριον (potērion)
According to BDAG, the standard Greek lexicon, potērion carries two primary meanings:⁴
- A literal drinking vessel
- A figurative “divinely assigned portion,” whether judgment (Matthew 26:39) or blessing (1 Corinthians 10:16)
The Hebrew Word for “Cup” — כּוֹס (kos)
HALOT and TWOT note that kos is used metaphorically for:
- God’s wrath (Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17)
- God’s blessing or salvation (Psalm 23:5; 116:13)
- One's portion or destiny (Psalm 16:5)
The same Hebrew term carries multiple metaphorical meanings, reinforcing the contrast between judgment and blessing while acknowledging the broader range of biblical usage.
Theological Dictionaries
Major theological reference works also recognize this imagery.
- TDNT emphasizes that the cup symbolizes one’s divinely appointed destiny—especially suffering or judgment—and highlights the contrast between the cup Jesus drinks and the cup believers receive.⁵
- NIDOTTE notes that the cup imagery is closely tied to covenant themes, representing both divine judgment and salvation.⁶
- The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery describes the cup as “a vivid symbol of one’s divinely assigned fate—either blessing or wrath.”⁷
These sources confirm that the two‑cup framework arises naturally from the language and imagery of Scripture, even while Scripture uses the metaphor in additional ways.
Conclusion: Two Cups, One Gospel
The message of the gospel can be understood through these two cups.
The cup of judgment—God’s wrath against sin—was drunk by Christ on behalf of His people.
The cup of blessing—the cup of the new covenant—belongs to those who trust in Him.
Because Jesus drank the cup of wrath, His people may lift the cup of salvation:
I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD." — Psalm 116:13)
The gospel, therefore, presents a decisive choice. One either drinks the cup of judgment or receives the cup of blessing. Through faith in Christ, sinners are spared the former and welcomed into the latter.
Footnotes
- For prophetic “cup of wrath” imagery, see Psalm 60:3; 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 25:15–17; Ezekiel 23:31–34; Habakkuk 2:16; Lamentations 4:21.
- BDAG, ποτήριον, notes the figurative meaning of “divinely assigned fate,” especially judgment.
- Flavius Josephus, Jewish War, 5–6.
- BDAG, 3rd ed., s.v. potērion.
- TDNT, vol. 6, pp. 148–151, s.v. potērion.
- NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 588–590, s.v. kos.
- Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, “Cup,”
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