The Inside of the Cup is the Point

Jesus, as I understand Him, isn’t about getting people who believe in Him into heaven.

It’s about His power and desire to transform the inner world of each one of us.

I recently listened to a podcast attempting to flesh out religion, and in one way the discussion succeeded: the participants almost never talked about Jesus or an individual’s need to inwardly be made mature. In that regard, it stuck to its topic of religion.

I find it frustrating and fascinating at the same time that the world still continues to not get the memo: Jesus came for the inside of the cup—souls—to cleanse them—not to get us into heaven, but to get us to personal peace and freedom that, only then, can reverberate to the wider population.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:25-28


In all the hustle and bustle of religion: liturgy and colors; incense and icons; Saint’s Days and corporate church worship and ritual; rote fasting and prayer—the direct addressing and prioritizing of the inside of the cup is so often neglected for the smoke and mirrors of attempting to get there via the power of suggestion through tradition and outward practice of tenets and commandments.

And Jesus stands on the outskirts of this mentality and behavior, looking over it, saddened that so often we are still harassed and helpless in our religion, so unwilling to go deeper—or just allowing religious righteousness, group-think or duress to continue to hide “the things which make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).

Jesus doesn’t require or desire weekly, rote and repetitive sacrifices directed at Him (Matthew 23).

What does he require?



"With what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?


Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?


He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:6-8


If we do not currently find our own inner and outer self in Micah 6:8 (or sincerely beginning to open our minds to get there), and we have been very religious, then that being religious has not gotten us very far.




Copyright Barb Harwood