Mark 10:35-40 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” “What is your request?” he asked. They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
Context: The Lectionary leaves out three important verses: 32-34 They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.”
Right on the verge of entering Jerusalem, this is the 3rd and most focused prediction Jesus makes to the disciples about the condemnation, humiliation, and the death he will endure followed by the rising. It connects the passage in which Jesus says the greatest will be least (in the kingdom) and the least will be greatest (in the kingdom) with our current passage in which James and John aggressively pursue a place of honor (in the kingdom).
Compare verse 38b in this version, the New Living Translation with this rendering of verse 38b in the New Revised Standard Version: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” This is a case when comparing versions illuminates our study. In this case the New Living Translation has imbedded a little commentary in the text whereas the original Hebrew is ambiguous. In the OT (Old Testament) “the cup” can refer to joy and salvation (see Psalm 23:5 or Psalm 116:13) or it can mean woe and suffering (see Psalm 11:6 or Isaiah 51:17 & 22). With their simple reply “we are able” (NRSV) perhaps they misinterpreted the situation and heard joy and salvation rather than woe and suffering as Jesus spoke.
Going Deeper: One more time we see the disciples fail to grasp what Jesus is trying to teach them. These two disciples, the sons of Zebedee are also called the “sons of thunder.” They struggle with a “vice of the flesh” in the words of John Calvin. They are suffering from a serious case of ambition and hunger for power … they only hear what they want to hear.
Jesus was surrounded by some of the most human, human beings. They were a motley group of sometimes sinful, sometimes saintly, sometimes loyal, sometimes weak and fallible regular guys. Deep down we understand them because we are human too. With amazement, we see and we feel Jesus’ patience as he interacts with his devoted followers. As we have journeyed carefully through recent passages with the disciples perhaps we begin to feel that same patience from Jesus when we don’t “get it” over and over again. Amazing Grace!
Pondering: Jesus says, “You don’t know what you are asking.” Do we ever truly know what we ask for when we approach God in prayer and supplication? Don't we often hear what we want to hear? And then we continue to walk the path as it unfolds before us.
Praying: Light of Christ, shine on my path. Chase away all darkness and lead me to the heart of God. Amen.
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