Mark 10:39

39 “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.

Mark 10:39 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 10:39

And they said unto him we can
That is, drink of Christ's cup and be baptized with his baptism which is another instance of their ignorance; for as they knew not the glorious state of things and the nature of it they desired places in so they were unacquainted with themselves; they were ignorant of their own weakness as well as of the greatness of the sufferings Christ should endure or even they should be called unto: had they had a just notion of either, they would not have expressed themselves in this manner without any mention of the grace of God or any dependence on the strength of Christ; (See Gill on Matthew 20:22).

And Jesus said unto them, ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I
drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be
baptized;
meaning, not that they should undergo the same sufferings he did and much less for the same end and purpose: he trod the winepress alone and bore the whole punishment due to the sins of his people himself; and of them there were none with him to take a part: but that they should endure sufferings in some sort like to his for his sake as they both afterwards did; (See Gill on Matthew 20:23).

Mark 10:39 In-Context

37 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.”
38 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?”
39 “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.
40 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.”
41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.
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