Sunday 20 October 2024
And he [Jesus] said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” (v. 36)
Background
This story immediately follows the third occasion in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus predicts his death. Not for the first time, it reveals the failure of the disciples to understand Jesus’ ministry and what it will mean for their lives. Jesus wants them to follow his radically counter-cultural priorities in a life of service and acceptance of death, but they are still focused, with the conventional wisdom of the world, on ambition and position.
This happens at the point in Mark’s narrative when Jesus heads for Jerusalem (see verse 32), where his ministry will reach its climax, and he will confront all the worldly and religious authorities at the centre of power.
Perhaps the disciples sensed that the end of Jesus' ministry was in sight and therefore worried about their place in God's kingdom. They could not cope with the notion that this new dispensation will be attained through what looks like failure (whoever wishes to become first will have to be the servant of others – v. 44). And, although Mark lays it on thick, the passage ends with hope, that Jesus is giving up his life as a ransom for many. (v. 45)
Interestingly, Matthew’s version of the story (Matthew 20:2-23) has James and John’s mother making the request for privileged positions for her sons. It’s been suggested that the story was edited to protect the two disciples’ reputations.
The image of the cup that Jesus will drink, as a symbol of what God has in store, for good and ill, figures elsewhere in Scripture. In the Old Testament we have the cup running over in verse 5 of Psalm 23 for example. In the New Testament the image appears at very important points, such as Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (“Abba, Father.. .remove this cup from me” – Mark 14:36) and the institution of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
In today’s case, both the cup and the reference to baptism speak of suffering. Jesus’ statement that James and John will indeed drink from the same cup and be baptised with the same baptism may be a foretelling of their subsequent martyrdom, which appears in the Bible only in the case of James (Acts 12:2).
The short discourse in verses 41-45 emphasises the different values in God's Kingdom (Jesus says if you want to be first, you must be last). The final sentence (v. 45) echoes the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, although we don't know how directly Jesus meant it to be a reference to that famous imagery. It is equally unclear whether “give his life a ransom for many” speaks of a substitutionary sacrifice or is meant in the more general sense that Jesus will die for the sake of humankind.
This story would have been important in the church community at the time for which Mark wrote his gospel, especially if the people were suffering persecution, or if they were tempted to ignore the call of Christ to sacrificial service.
To Ponder:
- Hear that question of Jesus: “What is it that you want me to do for you?” What do you say in reply?
- Do you have any experience that could be described as sharing in Jesus’ cup or his baptism in the sense used in today’s passage?
Prayer
God revealed in the suffering Christ, inspire us to lives of service, for the sake of your kingdom. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Alan Bolton
Alan Bolton is a supernumerary presbyter in the High Wycombe Circuit, having sat down in 2018. He preaches regularly round the Circuit and edits the ministerial obituaries for the Conference. His other occupations are family, music, model railways, walking and reading, with a close interest in politics.