Mark 10:39

And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(39) And with the baptism.—Here, as before, the clause is omitted in the best MSS. of St. Matthew, and is therefore, strictly speaking, peculiar to St. Mark.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:32-45 Christ's going on with his undertaking for the salvation of mankind, was, is, and will be, the wonder of all his disciples. Worldly honour is a glittering thing, with which the eyes of Christ's own disciples have many times been dazzled. Our care must be, that we may have wisdom and grace to know how to suffer with him; and we may trust him to provide what the degrees of our glory shall be. Christ shows them that dominion was generally abused in the world. If Jesus would gratify all our desires, it would soon appear that we desire fame or authority, and are unwilling to taste of his cup, or to have his baptism; and should often be ruined by having our prayers answered. But he loves us, and will only give his people what is good for them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 20:20-28.

Mark 10:35

And James and John ...came unto him - They did this through the instrumentality of their mother. They did not come in "person," but they got their mother to make the request for them. Compare the notes at Matthew 20:20.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

39. And they said unto him, We can—Here we see them owning their mother's petition for them as their own; and doubtless they were perfectly sincere in professing their willingness to follow their Master to any suffering He might have to endure. As for James, he was the first of the apostles who was honored, and showed himself able to be baptized with his Master's baptism of blood (Ac 12:1, 2); while John, after going through all the persecutions to which the infant Church was exposed from the Jews, and sharing in the struggles and sufferings occasioned by the first triumphs of the Gospel among the Gentiles, lived to be the victim, after all the rest had got to glory, of a bitter persecution in the evening of his days, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Yes, they were dear believers and blessed men, in spite of this unworthy ambition, and their Lord knew it; and perhaps the foresight of what they would have to pass through, and the courageous testimony He would yet receive from them, was the cause of that gentleness which we cannot but wonder at in His reproof.

And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized—No doubt this prediction, when their sufferings at length came upon them, cheered them with the assurance, not that they would sit on His right and left hand—for of that thought they would be heartily ashamed—but that "if they suffered with Him, they should be also glorified together."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 10:35"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they said unto him we can,.... That is, drink of Christ's cup and be baptized with his baptism which is another instance of their ignorance; for as they knew not the glorious state of things and the nature of it they desired places in so they were unacquainted with themselves; they were ignorant of their own weakness as well as of the greatness of the sufferings Christ should endure or even they should be called unto: had they had a just notion of either, they would not have expressed themselves in this manner without any mention of the grace of God or any dependence on the strength of Christ; See Gill on Matthew 20:22.

And Jesus said unto them, ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized; meaning, not that they should undergo the same sufferings he did and much less for the same end and purpose: he trod the winepress alone and bore the whole punishment due to the sins of his people himself; and of them there were none with him to take a part: but that they should endure sufferings in some sort like to his for his sake as they both afterwards did; See Gill on Matthew 20:23.

Geneva Study Bible

And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

39. And they said unto him, We can] They knew not at the time what they said, and their words were recorded in heaven. They had yet to learn how serious their words were, and afterwards they were enabled to drink of that Cup, and to be baptized with that Baptism. To St James was given strength to be steadfast unto death, and be the first martyr of the Apostolic band (Acts 12:2); to St John (a) to bear bereavement, first, of his brother, then of the other Apostles; (b) to bear a length of years in loneliness and exile in sea-girt Patmos (Revelation 1:9); and (c) then to die last of the Apostles, as St James first.

the cup] Comp. John 18:11, “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” and Mark 14:36, “Take away this cup from me.” Their thoughts were fastened on thrones and high places; His on a Cup of Suffering and a baptism of blood. For this use of the word “baptism” here, compare Luke 12:50, “I have a baptism to be baptized with.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 39. - James and John seem to have understood the meaning of the cup; and perhaps also of the baptism. They both of them drank the cup, though in different ways. St. James, preaching Christ more boldly and fervently, became an early martyr, having been slain by the sword of Herod (Acts 12:2). St. John also drank of this cup, and was baptized with this baptism, when, if we may trust the authority of Tertullian ('De Praescript.' c. 36.). He he was cast by order of Domitian into a caldron of boiling oil, before the Porta Latina at Rome, although the oil had no power to hurt him. Another legend states that he drank a cup of poison, and took no harm. On this account he is frequently represented with a cup in his hand. Mark 10:39