Mark 10:39

39 And they said to him, We be able. And Jesus said to them, [Truly] Ye shall drink the cup that I drink, and ye shall be washed with the baptism, in which I am baptized;

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 And they said, Grant to us, that we sit the one at thy right half [that we sit the one on thy right half], and the other at thy left half, in thy glory.
38 And Jesus said to them, Ye know not what ye ask; be ye able to drink the cup, which I shall drink [+which I drink/which I am to drink], or be washed with the baptism, in which I am baptized?
39 And they said to him, We be able. And Jesus said to them, [Truly] Ye shall drink the cup that I drink, and ye shall be washed with the baptism, in which I am baptized;
40 but to sit at my right half or left half is not mine to give to you, but to whom it is made ready.
41 And the ten heard, and began to have indignation of James and John.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.