You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized

 

 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  

 

And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

- Mark 10:32-45 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to Him, "Why do You call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' "  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."  Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack:  Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were astonished at His words.  But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."   And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."   This is the third time Jesus gives the disciples a warning about what is to come in Jerusalem, even as the text explicitly makes clear that Jesus is leading the disciples toward the holy city.  Note that because He is leading them to Jerusalem, the disciples are both amazed and afraid.  My study bible suggests that Christ's repeated predictions of His Passion were intended to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events they will face.  It also confirms that Christ is going to His death by His own will and choosing.  With each warning the details Jesus gives of what is to come get more specific, so that nothing will surprise His disciples.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."   My study bible says that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple, and that it shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  They are not doubt expecting a worldly Kingdom such as was popularly anticipated of the Messiah, especially since they are now headed toward Jerusalem.  In Matthew's Gospel, we're told that it was the "mother of Zebedee's sons" who made this request (Matthew 20:20).  But here, John's and James' own participation in this request is made clear in the Greek, as Jesus uses a plural you to address them.  

But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."   Jesus calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  My study bible explains that the Cross is a cup because Christ drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is a baptism, because He was completely immersed in it, but it cleaned the world (Romans 6:3-6).  It adds that Christ's prophecy of John and James participating in the same cup and baptism shows the life of persecution and martyrdom which they would lead after Pentecost.  Indeed, James was the first of the Twelve to be martyred, and John went on to a life of exile, during the harshest of persecutions.  Also, Jesus' declaration that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give doesn't indicate that He lacks authority to do so.  Rather, my study bible tells us, it means that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  Instead, they will be given to those for whom God has prepared them.  In addition, with regard to sitting at the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, St. John Chrysostom teaches that no one could possibly occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can be given to human beings, the icons of the Orthodox Church universally depict the Virgin Mary (the most blessed among women -- Luke 1:28) and John the Baptist (the greatest born of women -- Matthew 11:11) as holding these places. 

And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."   My study bible says that in Aramaic (the commonly spoken language for Christ and the disciples) the phrase for many is an expression that means "for all."

 

 The fact that the disciples repeatedly struggle with issues of power and status -- as reported in the Gospels -- should really make us aware of something.  That is, it should make us very much aware of how deep a problem this is, and how much we might struggle with it in the world.  Already once before, Jesus taught the disciples about the real sense of leadership that He wants in His Church, after they had disputed among themselves on the road about who would be the greatest in His Kingdom (see Monday's reading, and the subsequent warnings afterward, here).  But John and James (and possibly their mother) might feel they occupy a special position of closeness to Christ, and so they come separately, asking about a special place in the Kingdom, to sit on Christ's right and left hand.  After all, together with Peter, they form His innermost circle.  It was they who went upon the Mount of Transfiguration, and whom Jesus took with Him in raising the daughter of Jairus (in this reading).  Let's note also how the other disciples are upset with James and John when they find out about this request, for Jesus has already spoken to them all regarding their previous dispute among themselves regarding positions of power.  But Jesus once again turns the subject to sacrifice.  The disciples have got worldly notions of power and position in mind when they express their desires for important places in Christ's Kingdom.  It is very significant that at this point Christ begins to assert the reality of what is coming in Jerusalem as part of His place as head of His Church.  He has a cup and a baptism to drink that are appropriate to His position, and He asks John and James if they can follow in His footsteps.  Yet, even though He avows they will follow in His cup and baptism, still, He tells them, the places they desire are not His to give.  Once again, the message is an enforcement of humility and service.  Greatness, He reminds them, is going to be all about sacrifice, and serving something so much greater than themselves.  They will be nothing like the rulers they see in the great Gentile kingdoms of the Romans and others; they will not be those who "lord it over" others.  Yet again, He tells them, "Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all."   If these things were strange within the context of Christ's world of powerful rulers and empires, let us consider what they mean to us today.  We might have "leaders" who speak of themselves as public servants, and even those considered "great" who will make certain that we know all of their virtues, civic-mindedness, even signs of compassion.  But sacrifice?  How many of us hear around us reflected by the popular culture that those who would be great should be your servant?  Is the one who is first a slave of all?  These remain strong images to be pondered and wrestled with in the heart, for they still call us to repentance and humility, a far cry from serving an image in the eyes of others.  Finally we come to Jesus' declaration:  "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."   We have our chief example, the One who died for us, who laid it all on the line.  He not only set an example, but became what we could call a hero in His own image of sacrifice for us.  Sacrifice, in the Christian sense, needs to be understood in a somewhat nuanced way.  Whatever sacrifice we are called to make in a journey of faith becomes a stepping stone to an expanded and more beautiful sense of self, given to us in seeking a closer relationship to God.  It is the opposite of what "sacrifice" means to a selfish person; it is instead a way to grow and to expand, to fill bigger shoes.  He goes there first, so He shows us the way, with His cup and baptism which still inspire those who follow, as the greatest expression of love.