Bible Strands
Matthew 20:22
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus responds to James and John after their mother requests seats at His right and left in the kingdom. He addresses their ambition directly before His impending crucifixion.
The words — οἴδατε (oidate) means “you know,” and Jesus pairs it with οὐκ to state “you do not know” what their request entails. The phrase “drink the cup” functions as a concrete metaphor for the suffering and judgment He is about to endure.
The thread — The cup imagery resurfaces in Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer (Matthew 26:39; Luke 22:42) where He submits to the Father’s will regarding His suffering. Jesus later confirms in Matthew 20:23 that the brothers will indeed drink from this same cup.
Why it lands — The text requires followers to evaluate the actual cost of their ambitions before claiming discipleship. It demands that readers submit their desires to the Father’s preparation rather than demanding preferential treatment.
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 answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Cross-references
- Matthew 26:42 A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
- Luke 22:42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
- Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
- 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.”
- 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?”
- 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.
- 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?”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 49:12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.
- Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!