You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo? You will drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I undergo. But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom they have been prepared.
Mark 10:38-40
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The cup and the baptism
James and John wanted the places of honour beside Jesus. He answered with two images. In the prophets the cup often stands for what God gives someone to bear, sometimes a cup full of wrath. And to baptise literally means to immerse, to go under. They said at once: we can.
They didn't know what they were saying, and yet it came true. James was later put to death with the sword, Acts tells us. And about the places of honour Jesus says: I don't hand those out myself. Even that he leaves to God.
Question for today
Do I sometimes ask God for something without realising what it costs?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I ask you for things I can't see the end of. Give me what is good, rather than what I want. Amen.
My prayer
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