Mark 10:38-40
There
are times in life when we step into the unknown. We have no idea what is on the
other side of the door, but we open it anyway. Law Enforcement personnel live
with this reality every day. They get a call and they must respond without
knowing everything they would like to know about the situation. They must open
doors knowing that death might await them on the other side. And yet they open
the door.
Two
of the disciples have made a request of Jesus, and Jesus is giving them an
answer. It is probably an answer that they didn’t expect. And I am sure in the
future they will wish He had given them a different answer! Sometimes we don’t
get the answers we want. Sometimes we get more than we bargained for.
Jesus
begins His answer by telling them they are clueless about their request. Their
perspective is so limited that they could probably be convinced that the moon
was made of cheese. They have no idea what drinking Jesus’ cup entails. They
have yet to watch His final hours. They have yet to see His suffering. They
have yet to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They are still on the foggy side of
the mirror.
There
is an identification with Jesus that requires us to follow Him in death. For
some this means actual physical death at the hands of an enemy of Christ. The
Christians living in predominantly Muslim territories, both in the Middle East,
the Far East and Africa have been facing this for years. They know what it
means to have their churches burned, their lives threatened, their pastors
killed, their homes burned, their children stolen, their women raped, their men
killed, all in the name of Islam.
The
disciples lived in a world that would soon be hostile toward Christians because
it posed a threat to both Rome and to the Jewish status quo. Because Christ
claimed supremacy, and the disciples came to understand that supremacy, the
early Christians were killed for refusing to put anyone or anything above their
loyalty to Christ.
Both
the cup and the baptism Jesus speaks about this type of identification. Jesus
affirms that these two disciples will die as martyrs. They will make this kind
of commitment. But they won’t necessarily get their request. Those seats, those
places of honor, have already been assigned. And Jesus doesn’t tell us who will
occupy those places.
Never
answer a question until you understand the question and its implications. The
disciples didn’t have a clue what they were asking. They also didn’t know what
Jesus asked them in return, and yet they answered in the affirmative. Wisdom
dictates that we answer slowly and with deliberation. The only request to which
we should jump is the request from Jesus that says, “Come.” Let’s come!