Mark 10:38, commentary and pictures

When James and John sought the highest places beside Him in glory while expecting a temporal reign, He answered that they did not understand the cost of what they asked, for the cup to drink and the baptism to receive meant sharing the suffering, trial, betrayal, persecution and death He was about to endure. That suffering meant infinite humiliation and agony unto blood, supremely shown in the wrestling sorrow of Gethsemane, which He accepted in submission to the Father's will to bear sin's curse as the propitiation for the race that perishing people might gain everlasting life. He foretold that they would indeed drink His cup and share His baptism, fulfilled when James was condemned and slain by the sword and John endured long years of toil, reproach and persecution, yet willingness to suffer could not earn the right and left places, which are given by the Father to those for whom they are prepared as the result of character formed through self-conquest. Sharing His glory requires first sharing His suffering, for the cross comes before the crown, and greatness among His followers is not lordship like the Gentiles but becoming minister and servant of all after His example who came to minister and give His life a ransom for many. Drinking the cup means daily self-denial and humiliation in living for others' good, laboring for souls, bearing reproach and false accusation without retaliation, and so God's faithful in the last days must endure their appointed anguish and deadly danger and cry to Him day and night until, their suffering complete, He delivers them for the glory of His name.

The Request And Setting

James and John, acting through their mother, asked for the highest places of honor beside Jesus in His glory, expecting Him soon to reign as a temporal prince in Jerusalem. He had warned them that He would be condemned and killed, yet His words about suffering remained vague to them and they still imagined the kingdom would soon bring positions of honor. Like many who do not understand the true import of their prayers, they did not know what they were asking.

His reply, Ye know not what ye ask, exposed their ignorance of the cost of what they sought and of what sharing His cup and baptism would involve. The cup to drink and the baptism to receive meant sharing His suffering, purchased through infinite sacrifice, humiliation, agony, shedding of blood, enduring the cross and despising the shame. They did not understand what they were asking to share.

They answered that they could share it without comprehending what that baptism signified, prompted by pride and ambition. They thought the highest place in the kingdom of God could be had merely for the asking, but they fell far short of understanding the situation. Their request for the most honored positions stirred jealousy and a heated dispute among the disciples about who would be greatest, with arguments drawn from abilities and qualifications and from how they could advance the kingdom.

Meaning Of Cup And Baptism

The cup to be drunk and the baptism to be received mean sharing the suffering, trial and death Jesus was about to endure. That sharing includes His coming betrayal, persecution and death, which remained vague to those who sought honor without understanding its cost. Those who said they were willing to become partakers of those sufferings would have their faith tested by severe trials. God's faithful people must likewise endure their appointed trial before deliverance, submitting to God's will and pleading earnestly for salvation.

That sacrifice was infinite, involving humiliation, agony, shedding of blood, enduring the cross and despising the shame by which glory is purchased. It was supremely shown in Gethsemane's wrestling agony and supreme sorrow on the way to betrayal and death, a sorrow exceeding utterance. There His anguish was so great that blood came from His pores, leaving Him in extreme exhaustion with changed countenance. The glory and joy purchased by that infinite sacrifice is to see souls saved.

He submitted to the Father's will and accepted the cup and the baptism of blood rather than turn from saving the world and leave people to perish in sin. In Gethsemane He faced the choice to refuse that suffering, but accepted it to carry out His saving mission. His innocent suffering bore sin's curse and became the propitiation for the human race, taking the sins of the world upon His innocent soul and giving His life for the life of men. By this perishing people may gain everlasting life and the world be won back to loyalty. He chose this baptism first for the joy set before Him, cheered by the thought that His toil and sacrifice and travail would save souls and not be for nought.

Promise To James And John

Jesus told James and John that they would indeed drink His cup and share His baptism. That promise answered their confident claim that they were able to share what He would suffer, even though they did not understand its cost.

For James this was fulfilled when he was imprisoned, condemned, and put to death by the sword. In prison and on the way to execution the meaning of the question whether he could share that suffering was brought home to him more fully. For John it was fulfilled in long years of toil, reproach, and persecution.

In Gethsemane the cup and baptism meant supreme sorrow and wrestling agony on the way to betrayal and death, leaving Him in extreme exhaustion with changed countenance. James and John, who had once answered that they were able, could not stay awake and pray with Him in that agony, could not watch one hour, nor mingle earnest prayer with His in His hour of temptation. Seeing Him agonize alone while they slept, they would not then have ventured so confident an answer, which revealed their weakness and lack of strength to endure with Him. Their failure excites pity and sympathy rather than stern upbraiding, and proves they must watch and pray that they enter not into temptation in witnessing His betrayal and death, for the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.

Their willingness to suffer could not earn the places at His right and left. To sit there is not His to give on grounds of human ability or status, but will be given to those for whom it is prepared by the Father. Position in God's kingdom is the result of character formed through self-conquest in Christ.

Final Crisis And Deliverance

God's faithful people in the last days must drink of the cup and be baptized with Christ's baptism, enduring their appointed trial and suffering according to God's will before His will is fulfilled for their deliverance. Sharing His cup and baptism means passing through suffering and waiting patiently for Him while submitting to His will and pleading earnestly for salvation. Their suffering must be fulfilled according to the will of God before He delivers them.

They stand approved of God and trusting in Him with great power and light, yet darkness thickens around them and leaves them perplexed. They pass through fearful anguish, great distress, and deadly danger when the wicked are enraged and measures unto death are taken against them by the heathen round about them. Death is appointed unto them and escape is withheld for a time.

Day and night without ceasing they cry earnestly to God for a way of escape and for salvation from those round about them. Every one pleads and wrestles like Jacob, with a deep sense of unworthiness and entire submission. They pray Thy will be done and that God's name be glorified.

Angels in sympathy watch and would deliver them but are commanded to hold back until the suffering is complete. They do not release them before their appointed trial is complete. God will then deliver those who have waited for Him, for the glory of His name.

Honor Through Humility And Service

Sharing His glory requires first sharing His suffering, for the cup to drink and the baptism to receive are the suffering by which that glory is purchased through infinite sacrifice, humiliation, agony and death, whose joy is the salvation of souls. Those who asked for the highest place did not understand what sharing it would cost, thinking it could be had merely for the asking. Before sharing His glory they must wear His yoke and bear His burdens and hardship with Him. The way to the crown of eternal life is a race and a battle in which the cross comes before the crown.

Greatness among His followers is not exercising lordship and authority like the Gentiles, nor worldly dignity or authority, but becoming minister and servant of all. It is close following of His humble life and example, even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Seeking greatness and honor while making the cross less prominent in order to gain worldly advancement conflicts with following Him. That setting warns against that way to honor, showing the way to greatness involves sharing His cup and baptism rather than avoiding the cross.

Before sharing His glory they must daily learn His meekness and lowliness, falling far short while they suppose the highest place is gained by asking alone. They must be tried to see if life can be lived without dishonoring Him. Great spiritual blessings, including the baptism of the Holy Spirit, are not given without complying with the conditions God Himself has laid down.

Following Christ In Daily Life

Drinking the cup and receiving the baptism means self-denial and humiliation in living for others' good, pledging to imitate self-denial and sacrifice and not merely to profess allegiance. It is loving as He loved, enough to give one's life for a brother, rather than allowing selfishness or love of worldly goods to cause another to stumble. Following Him in this way means going with Him through hardship and rejection as well as success, serving the needy, giving up self-interest to do others good, and responding to abuse without retaliation.

It means consenting to share His suffering in labor for the salvation of others, accepting scorn and indignity as He did in coming to die to exalt the fallen race to God's throne. When efforts to save others are met with wounding, those who drink the cup refuse to become weary or faint but keep reaching out to straying people to bring them back. In this they become co-workers with God and the heavenly angels, with a part to act in saving mortals around them.

Bearing reproach and false accusation for His sake as He bore them is drinking His cup and knowing the fellowship of His sufferings. Those who suffer not as evildoers but for Christ can answer that they are able, receiving grace to bear it and consecrating themselves and their names to God. They trust that He knows the truth when false reports are spread, care only that the name is written in the Lamb's book of life, and look for justification when He soon comes, and suffering with Him in this way leads to reigning with Him. Missionaries who avoid sacrifice and reproach show little knowledge of those sufferings, while going out to serve despite hardship brings precious spiritual experience.

Serving His work and ministry requires willingness to endure suffering for His sake with endurance as the preparation for helping others. It requires consecration to God and unselfish devoted labor, and more than believing the theory of truth and preaching among the churches. Ministers who lack this endurance are not thorough workmen and are not competent or qualified to benefit others. Only after meeting this condition are they prepared to help others, bring the work up to the Bible standard, and do the work of saving sinners.

Drinking the cup and being baptized with the baptism means having the self-sacrificing spirit He showed in giving Himself for fallen man, denying self and taking up the cross to follow Him. The love of Christ controls the spirit and moves the service, instead of grasping for money, honor, position, high pay, or esteem among men. This probationary life tests fitness for the blood-bought inheritance. Only those who show this self-denying service will share the Redeemer's glory and be counted worthy of the eternal reward in the mansions prepared and fit subjects for the family above, while the selfish and grasping prove unfit for the kingdom and for any position of trust above.

Those convinced by the evidence for the truth but lacking moral courage to brave the consequences refuse that bitter draught He drank and that baptism with suffering with Him. They desire heaven but want to reach it by an easy way, desiring to have both the favors of the world and the favor of Christ, which is impossible. All humanity must face trials and share in affliction, while Christ has tasted death in its bitterest form and can pity and sympathize with those who suffer.