The Way to Glory

​May 30
The Way to Glory
 
Mark 10:36-40 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don't know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
 
THE cross is drawing near, and the disciples are anxious. Let’s stop and look back about three years before this conversation. One day in Capernaum Jesus walked up to James and John, who were fishing with their dad. He commanded, “Follow me.” Life has dramatically changed! These two young fishermen who had envisioned life fishing Galilee’s waters want to confirm their future at the right and left hand of the Messiah’s throne! Jesus, indeed, will dramatically reframe our lives when we follow him.
   But wait. This is the disciples’ idea. Is this what God wants for them? Always the Good Shepherd, Jesus seeks to protect his confused sheep. He knows his baptism of the cross is near. You read here an intense, powerful dialogue as Jesus warns the men about the cost of glory. When James and John see the cup and baptism Jesus endures, he wants them to remember this conversation and consider their desire. They must be girded for their own cup and baptism as Satan wages war against them.
   What do you hope for in your relationship with Jesus? As Jesus’ followers, we should seek to “sit” with him in his glory. We can joyfully anticipate our eternal presence with the Holy God. In the meantime, we must understand that following Jesus requires we drink the cup and experience the baptism God directs to us. This always requires moving from our past lives as James and John did, so we can live as God wants us to experience.
   James’ and John’s lives were very different. James was martyred about 15 years into his ministry, and we know very little about him. John became an elderly apostle who wrote the many remarkable New Testament words of Jesus’ ministry, deity and prophecies.
   Jesus prepares us for our cup and our baptism with his eternal Word. We must know what God says, so we will be ready to do what God wants us to do. We have the foundation of the apostles’ teaching and the testimonies of many saints (people of the church) throughout the church’s history. Relying on the strength of these things revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, we can faithfully wear the armor of God (Ephesians 6) to encounter the life God has anointed for us.
 
Think of This: What joy to know the Good Shepherd lovingly warns you, completely sustains you and thoroughly empowers you to sit with him forever.