Mark 10:38–39

Context

The scene takes place immediately after Jesus, on the way up to Jerusalem, foretells his death and resurrection for the third time (Mark 10:32–34). James and John, the sons of Zebedee, ask to sit at his right hand and his left when he comes into his glory (10:35–37). Jesus replies, "Ye know not what ye ask," and asks whether they are able to drink the "cup" that he drinks and to be baptized with the "baptism" that he is baptized with. When the two disciples answer, "We can," Jesus tells them that they will indeed drink the cup and receive the baptism, but that the places at his right hand and his left are not his to give (10:40). When the other ten disciples become indignant over the matter, Jesus teaches them about service and concludes with the words, "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (10:45). In the parallel passage in Matthew 20:20–23, it is the mother of the two men who makes the request.

Interpretation

The "cup" and the "baptism" here are generally read as metaphors rather than as references to rites.

• Reading as suffering and death: Many commentators connect the "cup" with Old Testament imagery for God's wrath or an appointed destiny (Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15) and understand "baptism" as being overwhelmed by suffering, as one is immersed in water. They read "this cup" in the Gethsemane prayer (Mark 14:36) and the "baptism to be baptized with" in Luke 12:50 in the same sense.
• Reading that distinguishes substitution from participation in suffering: Many Reformed and evangelical commentators take this view. Because Jesus' cup is the cup of atonement, in which he bears the judgment of sin in the place of others, the disciples cannot share in that aspect of it. What is promised to the disciples is participation in the sufferings that come on the path of following him.
• Reading in connection with the sacraments: In the early church, martyrdom was sometimes called a "baptism of blood," and this verse, along with Luke 12:50, was cited as its background. Some scholars suggest that Mark's first readers would have heard these words with the church's baptism and Lord's Supper in mind, and they compare the passage with the idea in Romans 6:3–6 of being "baptized into his death."

Questions of Application

• Fulfillment of the promise: James is recorded as having been killed with the sword by King Herod (Acts 12:2). John, by contrast, is said in church tradition to have lived a long life before his death. For this reason, many interpreters do not limit the promise to martyrdom but read it broadly as a lifetime of suffering, including John's time on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).
• Assessing "We can": Those who see this answer as confidence offered without knowing what was being asked contrast it with the flight of all the disciples at Jesus' arrest (Mark 14:50). Others note that Jesus does not rebuke the answer but receives it as a promise.
• Translation and manuscripts: Korean Baptists render the Greek baptizō, translated "baptism" here, as chimnye ("immersion"). Because this verse uses the term figuratively, however, it does not serve as a central proof text in the debate over the mode of baptism and immersion. In addition, in the parallel passage in Matthew 20:22–23, the "baptism" clause appears only in later manuscripts and in the King James Version. Because the earliest manuscripts lack the clause, many translations, including the Korean Revised Version, mention only the "cup."

In the Korean Church

Together with 10:45, this passage is frequently cited at ordination and installation services and in training for church officers. In these settings, it is used to explain that church office is a call not to high position or honor but to service and suffering. It is also read during Holy Week as a text for meditating on the sufferings of Jesus.

Related Passages

• Matthew 20:20–23
• Mark 14:36
• Luke 12:50
• Acts 12:2
• Romans 6:3–4