HELEN SANDERS
12-13-2025
THE CUPBEARER

In Nehemiah we learn in chapter 1:11b that he “…. was the king’s cupbearer.”

The cupbearer was the person who had to taste all drinks given to the king before the king would drink from the cup, making sure it did not have poison in it.

Many kings and leaders’ lives have been lost through deliberate poisoning of their food and drink over the years. A cupbearer position was one of trust. If the cupbearer lived, so did the king. To put it in perspective, the cupbearer was willing to “die for the king.”

In Matthew 20 Zebedee’s sons, James and John were arguing about who would sit next to Jesus in his kingdom. In verse 22 Jesus answered them and said, “…Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? …”

As I was meditating upon this, the Lord spoke to me. He is our cupbearer. He drank the cup full of sin, unbelief, hatred, and everything else that is a poison, so we do not have to. He took the drink to save our lives.

Oh, what a servant Jesus is and was. He treats us like kings and priests, all the while being the one to receive the “poison” in that cup. How can we ever thank him enough for being our “cupbearer” that saves us from eternal death.

I also contend that when we take holy communion that it is a reminder of the cup that Jesus drank from. Let us remember this each time we take communion, that he drank of the cup of death while giving us the cup of life.