What is the meaning of Mark 10:38?

You do not know what you are asking

- James and John had just requested the highest seats of honor (Mark 10:35-37).

- Jesus exposes their misunderstanding: they are asking for privilege without recognizing the suffering that precedes it.

• Similar zeal without insight surfaces in Luke 9:54-55 when the brothers want to call down fire.

• Peter once rebuked Jesus for predicting His death (Matthew 16:22-23), showing the same blindness.

- Scripture warns against presumptuous requests (Proverbs 19:2).

- Lesson: true greatness in God’s kingdom follows humility and sacrifice, as Jesus outlines moments later (Mark 10:42-45).

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Can you drink the cup I will drink

- “Cup” often symbolizes an appointed portion of suffering or divine wrath.

• Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15 describe God’s cup of judgment.

• In Gethsemane Jesus prays, “Let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39).

- For Jesus, the cup includes:

- Physical agony of scourging and crucifixion.

- Bearing our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).

- Enduring the Father’s wrath (Isaiah 53:10).

- He challenges the disciples to count this cost (Mark 8:34-35; Acts 14:22).

- They will taste it—James is killed (Acts 12:2), John is exiled (Revelation 1:9)—but only Jesus drinks it fully for our redemption (Hebrews 10:14).

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Or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo

- “Baptism” here pictures complete immersion into suffering and death, beyond any ritual washing.

• Jesus echoes this idea in Luke 12:50, distressed until His baptism is “accomplished.”

- His baptism entails:

- Being buried under the weight of sin and the grave (Romans 6:3-4).

- Emerging in resurrection victory (Romans 6:9).

- Followers share this pattern: “If we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).

• Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20).

• Peter: “Rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 4:13).

- Yet the atoning depth remains Christ’s alone; our sufferings refine, His sufferings redeem (1 Peter 2:24).

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summary

Mark 10:38 teaches that pursuing kingdom greatness demands embracing Christ’s way of suffering. Jesus alone drinks the full cup of wrath and undergoes the unique baptism of death for our salvation, yet every disciple is called to follow His path of costly obedience, confident that sharing His sufferings leads to sharing His glory.