This verse is part of Jesus’ prayer of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest and crucifixion. This “cup” to which He referred was the suffering He would endure on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sin.

The word cup is often used in a figurative sense in the Bible to express God’s blessings as well as His wrath. For example, the psalmist declared, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:13). But the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s punishment as “the cup of his fury” (Isaiah 51:17).

MATTHEW 16:19 – He [Jesus]. . .fell on his face, and prayed, saying. O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.