Mark 10:38-40 (NIV): “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?”
“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, 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.”
James and John were incredibly naïve at this point. They wanted the top two spots in Jesus’ administration, believing that they knew what those top spots were, and believing that they knew what Jesus’ administration was all about. They were dead wrong on both counts.
Jesus asked them clearly if they could drink the cup that He would drink, or be baptized with the baptism that He was baptized with. The implied answer was “absolutely not.” But they both gave a hearty, “We can!” They had no idea that the cup Jesus was preparing to drink was a cup full of such agony, such physical suffering and torment of soul, that Jesus Himself asked to be spared from it if there was any other way (cf. Mark 14:35-36). But they had no idea what this cup really was, or they would not have been so quick to believe that they were up to it.
They had no idea that the baptism Jesus referred to was not a single event, a ceremony or ritual. He was referring to being completely inundated by the Holy Spirit at all times, to the point that His life was not His own. He was possessed by God, completely submissive to His will, to the point that He no longer had any plans, hopes or dreams apart from God’s plans, hopes, and dreams. His baptism meant that he had completely committed Himself to God in a way that these two disciples could not begin to fathom.
Jesus knew that the mere earthiness of these disciples, their cocksureness that they could, in their own strength, do whatever was required of them, was a clear indicator that they were nowhere close to being ready to do that. But He knew what lay in the not too distant future for both of them. He knew that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit, and at that moment, they would throw their lives completely at the feet of God – they would be totally committed to all that He would call them to be and to do. He knew that they would indeed drink from His cup of suffering for the kingdom, although not to the same measure as Jesus Himself would. They would go through great physical suffering and loss for the sake of the gospel, and would not turn back because of it.
But neither of them were ready to hear all of this yet. That understanding would have to wait until the far side of the cross; until the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would burn the dross of the world from their hearts, and give them incredible power to be a witness to Jesus’ life and ministry, to His death and resurrection, and to the grace and love of God.
Father, it is easy for us to get cocky, to think that we are strong enough, or smart enough, or even committed enough in our own strength to serve You and your kingdom effectively. But, like James and John, all of our confidence turns to mush when the going gets tough; when things turn powerfully against us. Lord, we need the powerful baptism of Your Holy Spirit if we are going to be effective for You. We need all of the earthy parts of us consumed in Your fire, so that we come forth pure of heart, clear of mind, focused completely on Your agenda, and empowered to be and to do all that You are calling us to. Help us, Lord, to surrender ourselves to Your hand, to Your Spirit. Melt us, mold us, shape us, fill us, so that we can be all that You need us to be. Amen.