Mark 10:39

39 And they said to him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,

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 So they said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit one at your right hand and one at [your] left in your glory."

38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

39 And they said to him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,

40 but to sit at my right hand or at [my] left is not mine to grant, but [is] for those for whom it has been prepared."

41 And [when they] heard [this], the ten began to be indignant about James and John.