Cups and Baptisms: Mark 10:38-40
All who desire to follow in the ways of Christ can expect a fate like His. Obviously, we will know persecution as we grow apart from the world. We will know what it feels like to leave worldly things behind. We will feel the joy in helping others grow closer to God. We will feel the Spirit within. We will know death, but more importantly we will know the resurrection!
Jesus asks James and John if they can drink from the same cup as He drinks. He is asking them if they are willing to take on the same consequences that Jesus embraces for the sake of doing the work of God. James and John reply affirmatively.
When Jesus asks James and John if they are willing to drink from the same cup as Jesus, it is a question with negative intonation. In Hebrew tradition, the cup is typically a symbol of wrath. At the cross, Jesus takes the cup of God’s wrath – wrath that was intended for us, even. Jesus also takes the cup of humanity’s wrath as humanity decides to get rid of the Son of God.
James and John, like all humanity, will drink from the cup of God’s wrath because of sin. Fortunately, though, the cross already paid that price. James and John will also drink from the cup of humanity’s wrath. James will die at the hand of human persecution. John will be exiled due to human persecution. They will feel the sake of humanity’s wrath because they follow God’s ways.
With respect to the baptism Jesus is being baptized in, the word baptize literally means to dip. What does Jesus have left in His life to be dipped into? Jesus is likely referring to the death and resurrection. He is dipped into death so that He can be raised into new life. God also promises that we will die and be born again. Therefore, James and John will indeed be baptized into what Jesus is baptized.
As the saying goes, to whom much is given, much will be expected. As our heart conforms to God’s heart and His Spirit dwells more concretely in every aspect of our life, God will ask us to embrace more complicated and difficult roles in His kingdom. When we pray for God to impart His Spirit as we align our heart to His, the sacrifices and consequences will increase as the blessings increase. James and John may not have know what they were getting into, but their affirmative reply was spot on.
The brothers’ initial request to Jesus arrogantly misses the point of servant-leadership. Yet, Jesus redirects the query. Because the disciples are following Jesus, God can point their arrogance in the right direction. James and John will follow the Lord, they will drink from the cup of wrath, they will die, and they will be raised again into new life. All who desire to follow in the ways of Christ can expect a fate like His.
