Mark 10:30-34
‘(Jesus said:) “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem! And the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock Him and shall scourge Him and shall spit on Him and shall kill Him. But the third day, He shall rise again!… Can you drink of the cup that I drink of?… You shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of!”‘ Mark 10:33-39.
Calvin comments: “Mark represents (Zebedee’s sons) themselves as making the request (that they should sit at His right hand in His glory)…. Christ replied to them…, when themselves according to Mark applying for a general engagement that whatever they ask, shall be granted to them….
“(Asked Jesus:) ‘Can you drink the cup which I shall drink?’… He holds out to them the cross!…
“Our Lord indeed enjoins His followers to feel assured of victory and to sing a triumphal song in the midst of death…. For none but Him who has fought lawfully, is the crown prepared….
“Especially…, none will be a partaker of the life and Kingdom of Christ. (None but he) who had not previously shared in His sufferings and death….
“It is uncertain if, by the word ‘cup,’ our Lord alluded to the mystery of the Holy Supper…. As it had not yet come into use, I choose to interpret it more simply as denoting more simply the measure of afflictions which God appoints to everyone….
“It is His right to lay on every one his own burden, according to His pleasure…. He is said to give them a cup to drink….
“The words contain no ordinary consolation, for alleviating the bitterness of the cross. When in ‘the cross’ Christ associates Himself with us….
“‘You shall indeed drink My cup!’… Christ warns them of what will take place, so that they may be prepared to endure it with patience….
“Many believers die a natural death…without violence or shedding of blood. Yet it is common to all of them…to be conformed to the image of Christ. And therefore, ‘during their whole life, they are sheep appointed to the slaughter’ (Romans 8:36).”
But after that, follows life everlasting, for evermore! As Calvin also says in his Institutes III:18:3: “As the very words of Christ express it — ‘in the world to come, eternal life!’ (Mark 10:30).
Yes, Christ is indeed to be killed. But to rise again, the third day! For us who believe!
