Bible Strands
Mark 10:38
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to James and John immediately after they request positions of honor at his right and left in his glory. He addresses their request by questioning their understanding of the suffering their ambition entails.
The words — The Greek οἴδατε (oidate) literally means "you know," and Jesus uses it to mark the gap between their claimed knowledge and their actual ignorance. The expression "drink the cup" functions as a direct idiom for undergoing a divinely appointed destiny or judgment.
The thread — The cup imagery parallels Psalm 75:8, where God holds a cup of foaming wine to pour out on the wicked. Jesus later references the same baptismal language in Luke 12:50, while Matthew 20:21 records the identical request that triggers this dialogue.
Why it lands — The text explicitly states that claiming a place in glory requires first enduring the suffering Jesus himself will undergo. It asks readers to verify their willingness to share in the cost before pursuing the reward.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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?
Cross-references
- Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
- Matthew 20:21 “What do you want?” He inquired. She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- John 18:11 “Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”
- James 4:3 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- 1 Kings 2:22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
- Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.
- Luke 22:42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
- Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
- Mark 14:36 “Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”