The Cup of life...in his hands

In Jewish culture, traditionally, when a man wanted a certain woman to be his wife, he would go to her father's house and together they would negotiate a bride price. He would offer whatever he was willing and able to pay, the price often exceeding the salary of 4 years labor. Nevertheless, he was willing to pay the price to win the hand his beloved. Once a price was negotiated between the young man and the father, the man would take a cup and fill it with wine. He would kneel before the bride and offer this cup to her, and with it his life. At that moment he pledged to love, serve and lead her. The girl could either accept this.. or deny it. If she denied it, she would refuse the cup. But if she accepted, she would take the cup from his hands and drink from it.
Our Savior came to this earth. He left heaven, the house of his father to pursue the heart of a precious, precious bride. This bride has been battered and broken. Often she searched on her own for the love her heart longed for. She looked everywhere for a groom that would satisfy the intimate depths of her soul. But no one able was found. No one could rescue her from the life that she lived. Who could wipe the dirt from her slate? Could a heart as broken as hers truly be healed?
…
Then he came.
She had never encountered a man so persistent, so passionate and so sincere about making her his wife. There was nothing extraordinarily attractive about him; but she had a feeling there was more to him that what meets the eye. She had turned him away many times. He always seemed to come to her when she had just been defeated by her sin and covered in the shame of her adulterous pursuits. He came, when she lie helpless on the floor. And how could she respond to him in a state like that? He would never desire her after gazing upon the extravagance of her filth.
She could never let him see. Never could she allow him to see.
Intimacy... would never be theirs.
Yet, little did she know he had already seen her misery. His love still love abound for her. Still, he longed for her. He watched silently, as she pursued her lovers and fell. He watched as her heart was given, taken and trampled upon over and over again. He watched. And he waited for her.
…
One night, he came and sat at the foot of her bed as she slept. He wept over her, and washed her face with his tears. "When will she realize who I am?" he cried. "When will she receive my love?" This man cried to the father. "What must I do to rescue her?"
In the silence of the night, the father answered. And the answer brought the man to his knees. Weak, yet strong he fell the ground. Believing the best for his bride and recognizing the price he must pay he replied to father and every listening ear:
"Not my will, but yours be done."
He glanced over at his future bride. As she dreamt, his eyes caressed her with unspeakable volumes of compassion. Every once in a while he would hear her moan and catch a tear falling down her cheek. In those moments he longed to free her from the nightmare. And he would... soon.
He knew that only by his blood could her heart be made whole and her righteousness established. Only by the slaying of his flesh and the laying down of his life would salvation reach her and the chains of sin cut from her wrists. He dreamt of that day. He dreamt of her...
Her purity would then be whiter than snow and her glory shine brighter than the golden sun. Her ashes would be taken, her slate erased and a garment of praise would be her eternal portion. The beauty... the beauty... the beauty of his spotless bride and the glow of freedom in her eyes far outweighed the tragedies of any sacrifice he must pay.
“She is worth it,” he thought.
“I will make my bride worthy.”
In my death…
She will live.
…
The next day, the man visits the house of his beloved with a cup in his hands. It does not lack a thing; it’s the purest cup this bride has ever seen.
“Come...” he said.
For the first time, she noticed his outreached hands. He had come to her many times before, but never before had she seen how his eyes beamed when he looked at her. They reached to the depths of her she thought no one knew.
“Come to me.”
She hears his voice and realizes, it is like no other. It is the sweetest melody she has ever heard. So promising, so true. She looks to him and sees..
He is no man. He is beyond this earth.
He is bleeding into the cup in his hands
The cup he offers
Is life- life to the fullest.
Will you receive it??

All that he is
He offers to you, tonight.

Recognize his love for you, my brothers. My sisters, recognize the eyes that pierce your soul. The Father adores you. "As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you..." (Isaiah 62:5) Let us respond.