Can You Drink The Cup? - Mark 10:32-40 Series

Mark 10:32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will deliver him to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

Introduction

What would you do if you were in the middle of praying one day, and suddenly, after you made a request, God spoke from heaven and said, “You don’t know what you’re asking”? That happened to James and John in Mark 10, and their response and Jesus’ instruction that followed teaches us a great deal about prayer, and about what it means to be great in the eyes of God.

Jesus’ Announcement

Inspiring Us to Follow Where We Don’t Want to Go

We left off last time with the rich young ruler walking away and Jesus explaining how the first will be last and the last first. Mark picks up the story again in v.32 with a dramatic, tense scene.

Mark 10:32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.

Now, by this point we’re used to the disciples being astonished—they’ve been walking around that way for the last couple years. But this time it’s different. All the other times they’ve been astonished it’s been right after Jesus did a miracle. But not this time. There’s no miracle. So what’s so astonishing? The only thing Mark says is Jesus was walking out ahead of them—outpacing them. Why is that so astonishing? Were they saying, “Wow, Jesus is really booking it. That guy can flat-out mall walk. Look at him go!” No. If you want to know what had the disciples so amazed and the others so afraid, just look at the first line.

32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is where Jesus is going to die. The city of Jerusalem has been the center of opposition against Jesus all through the book of Mark. And the disciples had seen that. They didn’t fully understand everything Jesus said about his death, but they understood enough to know they didn’t want to understand more (9:32). They knew it was bad, and they knew it would happen in Jerusalem.

So when you see they’re approaching Jerusalem, Mark means for you to hear dark, ominous music in the background. And then he wants you to see their body language.

32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.

So there’s Jesus charging out ahead, the disciples dragging their feet, and another group of followers trailing behind even further, shaking in their boots because Jesus is leading them straight into the lions’ den.

I love this verse because it’s a snapshot of what the church looks like when Jesus leads us somewhere we don’t want to go. There’s a crossroads with a bunch of signs, and one of them says, “lowliness, humiliation, suffering, and death,” and Jesus takes that road. And his followers are standing there saying, “Really? We’re taking that road?” And they follow, but in slow motion—like when your kids are watching TV and you tell them they need to go to bed.

But Jesus is pushing out ahead of them because it’s time to get this nightmare over with. He didn’t want to suffer, but he was eager to accomplish the work.

Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!

Jesus is about to teach them (and us) some important principles about following him down that road, and the whole lesson is illustrated in this dramatic snapshot in verse 32. Our heroic Savior leads the way, a fixed purpose stamped upon his face, urgency in in his pace, confidently striding ahead of us with determination and poise. And even in our confusion and fear and timidity, we look at him and we’re are inspired to follow. This is the very definition of heroism—an iron will, incapable of deflection, plunging ahead into a world of suffering to follow his Father’s will. If I were an artist, I think this is the verse I would try to depict. What a marvelous image.