Can You Drink?

Matthew 20:20-23 & Mark 10:35-40

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

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James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

Whether James and John or their mother first asked about sitting on the thrones on either side of Jesus is irrelevant. What matters is the question Jesus asked in response, “Can you drink?” They, of course, believed that they were able to do so. How hard is it to drink? They, however, didn’t know what they were saying yes to. They thought it was just about taking a sip from the same goblet as Jesus. They did not understand what he was talking about. They did not realize that he was speaking about the cup of suffering that he would soon be drinking. They were thinking about a cup of glory, after all, they were fixated with thrones and earthly kingdoms. They had no idea about the kingdom that awaited him or them, or what it would take to get there.

We, like James and John are not afraid to drink from the cup of glory. The cup of suffering is another thing all together. In both Mark’s and Matthew’s gospels, Jesus follows up his statement about the cup with a statement about service. The cup of suffering may not necessarily be a cup that leads to martyrdom, but it is always a cup to calls us to service of others. It is always a cup that challenges us to think of others and their place in the Kingdom before we think of ourselves and our place in that Kingdom.

Unlike James and John, we already know what cup Jesus offers up. We know that it is both the cup of glory and the cup of suffering – the cup of salvation and the cup of sacrifice – the cup of redemption and the cup of service to others. And knowing this, Jesus asks us, “Can you drink from this cup knowing its consequences?” – a question that needs to be taken seriously and seriously pondered. Can I drink the cup of sacrifice, the cup of suffering, the cup of service to others?