Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 10:38
But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:38
Ye know not what ye ask.
Prayers offered in ignorance answered in love
1. They did ask. Whatever be thy desire, go to Him.
2. These brothers had a definite purpose in coming to Him. Our prayers are often vague and indefinite.
3. These brothers were honest and sincere in their request. What, then, was there to be blamed in the matter? They had a false conception of Christs glory; also as to the things which were involved in the granting their request. Holiness is a character which is formed within a man; it is not a gift conferred from without. He is the highest in the peerage who has served his Master best. By the cross Christ was elevated to the throne. The text means, Ye do not know what is implied in the terms you employ in making your request, or what is involved in granting it to you. We may have a definite object in view, we may think it good and desirable; but we cannot trace it through all its bearings; we cannot see how it would affect us if bestowed; nor can we tell what may be required from us before it can be granted. The omniscient One alone can discern what is involved in our petitions. He will answer our prayers, if not in the letter, yet in the spirit. You ask for success in life, having in mind external prosperity. But Gods view of success is a very different affair; in His estimation, success consists in what a man is, not in what he has; and He gives you that success by denying you the other. You ask for forgiveness, and expect it in joy. God answers by showing you more thoroughly your sins. We pray for holiness; it comes through sore trial. Thus God answers the prayer for purity. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Ignorance in prayers
A beautiful instance of this in the life of the great Church father, Augustine, has often given both consolation and light. He wished to leave Carthage, where he had become deeply entangled in the snares of sin, and to visit Rome, then the metropolis of the world; but his pious mother, Monica, restrained him with her tears, and would not let him go, being afraid that he would encounter still more dangerous snares in the great city. He promised to her to remain; but, forgetful of his duty, he embarked in a vessel under the cloud of night, and in that very Italy to which her affection was afraid to let him go, he found salvation and was converted. Pondering in his mind how the Eternal Love had conducted him to where he himself had thought of going only in the forwardness of his heart, he says, in his Confessions, But thou, my God, listening in Thy high and heavenly counsels to what was the scope of my mothers wishes, refused her what she prayed for, at that time, that Thou mightest grant her what was at all times the subject of her prayers. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Mistaken prayer
A tradition current in Wales is a striking illustration of these words. It is said that an old woman, who was very ungodly, was once travelling from Cardiff to a neighbouring town, some twelve miles distant, for the purpose of selling her vegetables. It was a winters day, the east wind was blowing, and drove the hail and sleet right in her face, causing her to give vent to sundry curses and evil exclamations. When she was nearing the end of her journey, she began in a most irreverent manner to pray that the wind might turn to her back. Extraordinary to relate, the wind did turn, and for about five minutes she had the comfort of a tolerably easy journey. But, alas, poor short-sighted creature! she finished the sale of her goods, and at almost dark started to return home; but the wind, which she had been so anxious should change, had done so, and was therefore again in her face. She had forgotten, when she prayed in the morning that it might turn, that to go home she would have to turn too, and then be exposed to its violence during the cold and dark night. The storm, too, had increased in fury, and it was not till the next morning that the old woman reached her native town.
Christs cup of suffering
We cannot drink Christs cup of suffering so-
I. Willingly.
II. Intelligently.
III. With such bitter ingredients.
IV. So capacious.
V. Deadly. (Plans of Sermons.)
Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of
I. Consider the cup presented to our Saviour and the manner in which he drank it. David speaks of a cup of joy (Psa 23:5; Psa 116:13); but there is a cup of affliction (Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15).
1. It was a bitter cup, consisting of the bitter ingredients of sin and wrath.
2. It was deep and large, and contained much like that which was presented to Judah in her captivity (Eze 23:32).
3. It was a cup without mixture, it had torment without ease. In what manner did our Saviour drink this bitter cup?
(1) He did it not ignorantly, but knowingly.
(2) He did it not reluctantly, but freely.
(3) He drank it not partially, but entirely.
II. The share which believers take in the sufferings of Christ. Can ye drink, etc.
1. As no one can do what Christ did, so no one can suffer what He suffered.
2. Though no one can suffer what Christ suffered, yet His people must have some fellowship with Him in His sufferings, and be conformable to His death.
3. The people of God must expect trials. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
38. But Jesus said unto them, Yeknow not what ye askHow gentle the reply to such a request,preferred at such a time, after the sad announcement just made!
can ye drink of the cup thatI drink of?To “drink of a cup” is in Scripture afigure for getting one’s fill either of good (Psa 16:5;Psa 23:5; Psa 116:13;Jer 16:7) or of ill (Psa 75:8;Joh 18:11; Rev 14:10).Here it is the cup of suffering.
and be baptized with thebaptism that I am baptized with?(Compare for the language, Ps42:7). The object of this question seems to have been to try howfar those two men were capable of the dignity to which theyaspired and this on the principle that he who is able to suffer mostfor His sake will be the nearest to Him in His kingdom.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Jesus said unto them,…. Not by granting them what they desired, but by observing their ignorance to them;
ye know not what ye ask: for sometimes good men are ignorant petitioners at the throne of grace; they are under the influence of their own spirits, and not the Spirit of God; they are prompted to ask things from a selfish principle, and not with a view to the glory of God, and their own spiritual welfare, and that of others: and indeed, the best of saints know not what they should pray for as they ought; and always stand in need of the help, assistance, and intercession of the Spirit of God; who is a Spirit of grace and supplication, and searches the deep things of God, and knows his mind and will, and what is suitable and convenient for his people; and whenever they pray without him, there is much darkness and ignorance in them, and in their petitions. In particular, these disciples knew not what they were asking for; they had no true notion of Christ’s kingdom and glory, they were asking the chief places in; they were dreaming of worldly glory and grandeur, in which they imagined the kingdom of the Messiah would quickly appear: whereas his kingdom, in the present state of things, is not of this world, but of a spiritual nature; namely, the Gospel dispensation, which lies in the ministration of his word and ordinances, and in the distribution of his gifts and grace; and his kingdom and glory in the world to come, are things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard: they talked of things which would never be, either in Christ’s kingdom, in earth or in heaven; fancying there would be posts of honour and profit, which some would be advanced to in it, signified by sitting at his right hand and left; whereas in the Gospel church state, the apostles, governors, and officers of the church were alike, and had no superiority over one another, but were all brethren, having one master, Christ; and the members of the churches are of the same body, and members one of another; and in the ultimate glory, there will be no degrees, but all the saints will share the same happiness:
can ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Which Christ speaks of in the present time, partly because his sorrows and sufferings were already begun: he had already been drinking of the cup of sorrows, being a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs, all his days; and he was wading in the waters of affliction, though as yet they were not come into his soul, and he as it were immersed in them; he was not yet baptized with the bloody baptism he came into this world for, and he was desirous of, Lu 12:50, and partly because of the certainty of these things, the cup was not to pass from him, and the baptism of his sufferings was to be surely accomplished; [See comments on Mt 20:22].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ( ). Cognate accusative with both passive verbs. Mt 20:22 has only the cup, but Mark has both the cup and the baptism, both referring to death. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane will refer to his death again as “the cup” (Mark 14:36; Matt 26:39; Luke 22:42). He had already used baptism as a figure for his death (Lu 12:50). Paul will use it several times (1Cor 15:29; Rom 6:3-6; Col 2:12).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But Jesus said unto them,” (ho de lesous eipen autois) “Then Jesus explained to them,” chided them for their covetousness, for positions of exaltation, because it is His Father’s decision to grant such exaltation, Php_2:5-11; Jas 4:6; Jas 4:10; 1Pe 5:5-6.
2) “Ye know not what ye ask:” (ouk iodate ti aiteisthe) “You two do not comprehend, perceive, or realize what you request:” They asked selfishly, for covetous purposes, thus amiss, Jas 4:3; 1Jn 5:14.
3) “Can ye drink the cup that I drink of?” (dunasthe piein to poterion ho ego pino) “Can you (two) drink the cup which I drink?” are you able to do it? to drink the ”cup of passion,” or suffering, symbolized by the passover.
4) “And be baptized with the baptism,” (e baptisthenai to baptismal “Or are you two able to be baptized (immersed) with the (kind of) baptism,” to be immersed or submerged with the kind of submersion, Psa 76:8.
5) “That I am baptized with?” (ho ego baptizomai) “With which I am baptized?” or with which I am immersed or submerged? as He led the way to Jerusalem, even up to the place of His crucifixion, Mat 20:22.
The cup of His suffering, the innocent for the guilty, to atone for sins of the whole world they could not bear, though they could die for His name’s sake, even as Paul did, 2Ti 4:7-8; Isa 53:4-6; 2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13; 1Pe 2:24; 1Pe 3:18; Act 4:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(38) And be baptized with the baptism.The clause seems to have been found originally in St. Mark only, and to have been added afterwards by the transcribers of St. Matthew to bring the reports of the two Gospels into more entire agreement.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Or to be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?”
Jesus’ reply was veiled, and yet open to those who would see it and who had listened to all His warnings of what was to come. The king’s cup was drunk by his favourites and both Jesus and His disciples had been baptised by John. This was probably what his statement initially meant to the disciples. They felt well able to fit in with the requirements. Yes, they would say confidently, we can do both.
‘You do not know what you are asking.’ Jesus warned them to appreciate that they might be asking more than they realised. To take their position by His side meant being involved in what He was going to be involved in. Were they prepared for that? Did they even know what it was? (Did they, for example, want to be on each side of Him when He was on the cross, as Mark will later point out that the insurrectionists were (Mar 15:27)?) They little realised how they must have been grieving Jesus at their lack of understanding.
‘Are you able to drink the cup that I am drinking?’ With His eyes ahead on the sorrows that awaited Him He had already begun to drink the cup, and He knew that He would have to drink it to the full. The cup was the cup of suffering (Mar 14:34; Mar 14:36) and the cup of God’s wrath, regularly mentioned in the Old Testament, to be drunk by the One Who was made sin for us. ‘In the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red’ and it is for all the wicked of the earth (Psa 75:8). Jerusalem had ‘drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury’ (Isa 51:17). ‘Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it’ (Jer 25:15 see also Jer 49:12; Lam 4:21; Eze 23:31-34; Hab 2:16; Psa 60:3; Isa 63:6; Oba 1:16 compare Rev 14:10). In the words of Job, ‘let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty’ (Job 21:20).
‘Or to be baptised with the baptism I am being baptised with?’ Jesus was here thinking of being overwhelmed with suffering (compare Luk 12:50). The word ‘baptizo’ was used by the Greeks of overwhelming calamities. Isa 21:4 LXX renders ‘horror has frightened me’ from the Hebrew into the Greek as, ‘lawlessness has baptised me’ with the same idea of being overwhelmed. Aquila also in his Greek translation of the Old Testament translates Psa 69:2 ‘the floods overflow me’ by using baptizo. The idea of such overwhelming appears regularly in the Old Testament (Psa 42:7 – ‘all your waves and your billows are gone over me’; see also Jon 2:3-5; Psa 69:15; Psa 124:4-5; Isa 43:2). So Jesus was thinking of being overwhelmed by suffering, including, in the light of the cup, the horror of the wrath of God which He would bear for us (Mar 10:45).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Christ’s gentle reprimand:
v. 38. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask; can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
v. 39. And they said unto Him, We can. 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;
v. 40. but to sit on My right hand and on My left hand is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. Jesus here shows a little of the wealth of kind consideration which He is always ready to give to those that sin from weakness. “He deals with them in the most gentle manner, does not give them a harsh word; but instructs them with all kindness that they desist from their request and have other thoughts of His kingdom and their ministry, as a father admonishes his children in all goodness. ” In order to do this, He asks them whether they think they are able to drain the cup of suffering which would shortly be offered to Him, and be baptized with the baptism of blood which would soon be His lot. They answered in the affirmative, not knowing what they were affirming. “That is Christ the Lord’s kingdom, and He Himself, the King in this kingdom, opens the work. He drinks the cup, that is, He suffers, and suffers more and more severely than all His subjects, as we see from His gospel. Such example all those must follow who acknowledge Christ as their Head and Lord, as Paul says to the Rom 8:17, that we must become like to the image of the Son of God in suffering, and thereupon in glory. ” The same cup they would not and could not drink, in spite of their protestations. But they would learn to imitate Him in following the road of suffering and death after Him, and for His sake, for that is the Christian’s lot and the Christian’s distinction, incidentally also his assurance that God is a loving, kind Father. “For when Christ, our dear Lord, offers us His cup and wants to baptize us with His baptism, that is, when He lays His cross upon us, we are apt to conclude that such cup and baptism is an indication that God is angry with us and does not mean well with us. For thus reason looks upon it: if one is happy and everything goes well, he has a gracious God; but he with whom things do not go well, he has an ungracious God. But here we see that this judgment is wrong. For Christ Himself drinks the cup and permits Himself to be baptized; and yet He is God’s dear child, in whom the Father has the highest and greatest pleasure, and with whom He cannot be angry. Now Christ has only the best and kindest intentions toward His Christians, for otherwise He would not have given Himself into death for them… Therefore the Christians should have no horror of the cross, but should rather (as it is in truth) accept it as a sure sign that they are God’s children and in the kingdom of Christ. ” At the same time Christ, gently, but firmly, informs them that the fulfillment is a matter of the majestic counsel of God. He has prepared the places of honor and selected those that are to occupy them. As the entire salvation is a matter of God’s mercy, so also are the rewards of mercy. They cannot be distributed as earthly monarchs and rulers dispense their bounty, according to the whim of the moment.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Ver. 38. See Trapp on “ Mat 20:22 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
38. ] Observe the present tenses, and . The Lord had already the cup of His suffering at His lips: was already, so to speak, sprinkled with the first drops of spray of His baptism of blood [or they may be merely official, ‘ that I am to drink of and to be baptized with ’].
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 10:38 . : in Mk. there is a double symbolism for the Passion, a cup and a baptism; in Mt.’s true text only the former. The cup is an Old Testament emblem; the baptism not so obviously, yet it may rest on Psa 42:7 ; Psa 59:2 ; Psa 124:4-5 . The conception of Christian baptism as baptism into death is Pauline (Rom 6 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
can ye drink . . . ? = are ye able to drink . . . ? the cup. Denoting the inward sufferings. Compare Mat 26:39.
the baptism. Denoting the outward suffering,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
38.] Observe the present tenses, and . The Lord had already the cup of His suffering at His lips: was already, so to speak, sprinkled with the first drops of spray of His baptism of blood [or they may be merely official, that I am to drink of and to be baptized with].
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 10:38. – , the cup-the baptism) To drink this cup was difficult (as often death itself is taken in the act of drinking). Baptism also, among the Jews, was a thing to be shuddered at, inasmuch as the whole body was dipped in a stream, however cold. Accordingly, by both words the passion of Christ is denoted: by the cup, His inward passion; the cup is therefore placed first: by the baptism, chiefly His external passion, He was distended inwardly with His passion [referring to the cup; He was filled with the cup of anguish]: He was covered over [as a person baptized is with water] with His passion. Moreover, both are appropriately employed; for they who take the sacraments, are partakers of the baptism and the cup of Christ; 1Co 12:13 : and the baptism of Christ and our baptism, as also the Holy Supper, have a close connection with Christs passion and death, and with ours also.–, ye shall drink-ye shall be baptized) James, when slain with the sword, drank the cup [Act 12:2]; afterwards John was baptized in boiling oil, as Ecclesiastical History represents. Boiling oil is in consonance with the term, baptism. Our Lord Himself, in Gethsemane, also calls His suffering of death a cup. It is in consonance with this, that the cup is placed before the baptism.[20]
[20] Just as Jesus and James cup of suffering was before Johns baptism in sufferings.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Ye know not: 1Ki 2:22, Jer 45:5, Mat 20:21, Mat 20:22, Rom 8:26, Jam 4:3
drink of the: Mar 14:36, Psa 75:8, Isa 51:22, Jer 25:15, Mat 26:39, Luk 22:42, Joh 18:11
baptized with the: Luk 12:50
Reciprocal: 1Ki 3:5 – Ask what Luk 9:33 – not Act 12:2 – James
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTS SUFFERINGS
Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?
Mar 10:38
In more or less degree the great sacrifice of the Master must be reflected in the disciples. All suffering, mental, bodily, and spiritual, is to be for service of God or men.
I. The cup is in the Fathers hand.The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? (Joh 18:11). If He teaches us to see the loving fingers of God holding out to us the mixed cup of life, and if by His patient example we drink thereof, content to know that Gods will, and not ours, is being done, He has taught us all we need to know.
II. Christ said to His Father, The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them. Part of the gift to His followers was the heritage of suffering. This heritage is the preparation for the revelation of Gods glory. To be a partaker now with Christ in suffering, is nothing else than sharing His glory.
III. Christs answer to His ambitious disciples leads to the certain conclusion that nearness to Him in this world, and especially in the next, largely depends upon our capability of sharing the cup of sorrow. To sit on His right hand and on His left will be given to those for whom it is prepared; and those who will sit near to Him at the Lambs great supper will be clothed in the robes of salvation, which have been washed in the waters of tribulation, and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Illustration
Some seem marked out to drink the cup of self-denial to the bitter dregs with a cheerful and unshaken heart. Their names are in all mens minds, and their memory is green upon the earth. Of our own time such may be mentioned as Livingstone, Gordon, Patteson, Hannington, Sister Dora, Father Damien. Livingstone wrote, in the central savagery of Africa, I feel I am not my own; I feel I am serving God when shooting a buffalo for my men, or when taking an astronomical observation. Father Damien said, when the fatal signs of the foul leprosy appeared upon him, I would not be cured if the price of my cure was that I must leave the island and give up my work. These are Gordons words: I do nothing; I am a chisel which cuts the wood. The Carpenter directs it. If I lose my edge, He must sharpen me; if He puts me aside and takes another, it is His own good will. For the most of humankind this heroic spirit of martyrdom, although an effectual incentive, is too idealistic to be attained. The daily round, the common task furnish, nevertheless, plenty of opportunity for proving the power of Christs example.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8
The disciples did not realize what was involved in their request. They thought only of the glory that was supposed to come upon those in positions of authority in the kingdoms of the world. The cup and baptism that Jesus mentioned were figurative, referring to the trials that were in store for those who were associated with Christ in the kingdom of heaven.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Verse 38
Can ye drink, &c.; are you prepared to share the sorrows and sufferings which I shall have to endure?
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Those who share Jesus’ honor in the kingdom must also share His sufferings in this age. The cup often is a symbol of trouble and suffering in the Old Testament (Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15-28; Jer 49:12; Jer 51:7; Eze 23:31-34; Hab 2:16; Zec 12:2). Likewise baptism, being under water, pictures inundation with trouble (Job 22:11; Psa 18:16; Psa 69:1-2; Psa 69:15; Isa 43:2).
James and John confidently affirmed that they could endure all the trouble and suffering that Jesus might have to endure because they had not understood what He had predicted about His passion. They would indeed experience a measure of suffering themselves as Jesus’ disciples but not as much as Jesus would have to endure. James was the first apostle to experience martyrdom (Act 12:2), and John may have been the last. [Note: See Lane, p. 381, footnote 87.] However, God the Father would determine who would receive the positions of authority and honor in the messianic kingdom (cf. Mat 20:23).