James, John, and the Cup
” ‘Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ And they said unto him, ‘We are able’ ” (Matthew 20:22).
The setting of this event (Matthew 20:20-23) was when our Lord was returning to Jerusalem with his Apostles for the observance of Passover. He had reached Jericho just before the Sabbath and paused there for a day as it was not in accord with the Law to make long journeys on the Sabbath. At this point the company was within two hours of Jerusalem. It was Nisan second and this would be Jesus’ last trip to the holy city. Jesus was confronted by Salome, mother of James and John, “desiring a royal favor” according to Professor Lange.
At first we may consider this request presumptuous, but in light of her close relationship to Jesus (John 19:25) she felt free to ask.1 Salome appears to be the first one to acknowledge our Lord as King, “worshipping him” by “kneeling” before him. Evidently she had heard of his promise to the Apostles (Matthew 19:28) respecting the thrones of glory in the regeneration when the Son of man was to sit in the throne of his glory. Hence, let us view this request in an understanding light and excuse her boldness.
Our Lord asked, “What wilt thou?” She wished to have one of her sons, no doubt James for he was the elder, sit on Jesus’ right hand place of honor and John on his left. Jesus turned to the two Apostles and said, “Ye know not what ye ask.” Despite all our Lord’s explanations regarding a future kingdom, and their close fellowship with the Lord, the Apostles had an incorrect view. They failed to comprehend that Messiah must suffer and die first.
THE BAPTISM
Jesus placed before them two conditions: “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” The references to baptism in Matthew 20:22-23 are spurious but they are included in the manuscripts for Mark 10:35-45.2,3 Hence, in Mark 10:38, “Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
Our Lord’s baptism took place at the beginning of his ministry, some three years before. He knew then that he was to die in order to fulfill his Father’s plan and his true baptism, “Pouring out his soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12). These prophetic words use the present tense, indicating that he was laying down his life daily. An example of this is in Mark 5:30, when he felt “virtue,” power, or strength leave him during this miracle. Also Luke 6:19, “The whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.” Thus it was “fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:16, 17).
THE CUP
Jesus spoke of the cup as future, “That I shall drink of.” He referred to this cup also in John 18:11, “Put up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” The cup is used again in Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer, “If this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matthew 26:39, 42).
In Psalm 23:5, the cup that “runneth over” may seem to be a cup of pleasure, of joy. But our Lord’s cup of suffering overflowed also, and this Psalm is prophetic of Christ and his church in this Gospel Age. Our Lord and his followers rejoice in this cup because of the glorious results.
Psalm 116:13 speaks of a cup also, referred to in the Vow Unto The Lord, “I will take the cup of salvation.” Christ and his followers rejoice in tribulation, not counting this earthly life dear to them that they may attain the great prize. “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
The word cup represents various experiences of life, a cup mingled with joy as well as sorrow. But in Matthew 20:22 our Lord used it in a special sense. He meant, are ye able to drink the cup of ignominy, shame, injustice, even the taking away of their lives. Are you willing to share in these experiences? The reply of James and John was that they were willing. Jesus then replied, “Ye shall indeed drink of my cup and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.”
John 6:53, 54 speaks about eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man. Many of his disciples were confused by these sayings of Jesus, for Jews were prohibited from drinking blood.4 This was a hard saying and many of his disciples “walked no more with him.” Jesus asked, “Will ye also go away?” and Simon Peter answered, “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” But what is the meaning here of the blood and the flesh?
This expression, “eat his flesh and drink his blood,” had a deeper significance than the Jews could receive. In the primary sense the Church participates in “eating” our Lord’s flesh, that is, appropriating his merit to themselves. In a secondary sense this is applicable in the next age, when the world will need to eat of this symbolic bread (John 6:51).
But the cup of suffering is only for the Church during this Gospel Age. When the Church is complete in glory, there will be no further opportunity to share the sufferings of Christ. It is for us, the Church Class, to fill up that which is left of the afflictions of Christ, participating in the sin-offering as indicated in the Tabernacle types (Colossians 1:24).
The same thought also is expressed in Romans 6:3, “We are baptized into his death.” Here we have a connection with the baptism of Matthew 20:20, “Are we willing to be baptized with his baptism?” We are counted with him, in as much as we are members of the body of Christ.
The two disciples said that they were willing. So it is with the Church. In following our Lord there is no earthly gain, no ease or worldly honor, no present reward, except the blessed consciousness of being a coworker and entering into the fellowship and joys of Christ. “Whosoever will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
JAMES AND JOHN
James and John did not realize the full import. But they were willing, even anxious. They were indeed living up to the name “sons of thunder,” probably given them because of their eloquence, forcefulness, and eagerness. They manifested a similar willingness, a quick and positive decision, when Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, selecting those who were to be Apostles. “They immediately left the ship and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21, 22).
Jesus at the Shore of Galilee
James and John were among the first to be called of Jesus to become fishers of men. They were also with him in his last hours of freedom in the Garden of Gethsemane. James and John had the spirit of discipleship, willing to leave all – even family and occupation – in order to follow Jesus. This promptness of answering the call is worthy of our imitation.
It was a special test on the Apostles, for privation and persecution would be their immediate reward – while their future reward was obscured, not clearly discerned, because they had not yet received the holy Spirit. “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11, 12).
All that is suffered here is a storing up for us of an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. This does not mean that we should strive for persecutions, or endeavor to bring it upon ourselves unnecessarily, but we should not avoid it. Our Lord was not surprised at the attitude of the Chief Priests and religious leaders of his day. He knew from the beginning that he would have their opposition and hostility. He warned the Apostles and Disciples that they should not expect otherwise. They would be persecuted because “darkness hateth the light.” “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16, 20, 22, 23).
THE CRUCIFIXION
How did James and John withstand the trials which accompanied our Lord until his crucifixion? Evidently James fled with the others when Jesus was taken prisoner. John and Peter followed Jesus; John being personally acquainted with the High Priest Caiaphas was able to gain entrance into his palace, while Peter remained outside, where he denied the Master three times, then left. Inside, John remained unmolested. John was also the only Apostle present at the cross when Jesus charged him with the care of his mother (John 19:25-27).
After the events of the cross, the Apostles did keep their promise, “we are able.” Shortly after Pentecost, John and Peter were seized while preaching in the Temple and were brought before Caiaphas and Annas the high Priest. Peter had a chance to witness before the Elders of Israel. Finding no justification to detain them longer, they were released. When the Apostles continued to witness of Jesus and the resurrection, the High Priest became angry, and they “laid their hands on the Apostles and put them in a common prison” (Acts 5:18). This time they were beaten, or according to the Greek, “flogged” or whipped. But they departed rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Nor did they desist from teaching every day in the Temple telling about the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah.
In the early persecution against the Church at Jerusalem the Apostles did not flee, though many disciples were scattered (Acts 8:1). After these events the activities of James and John are obscure. Approximately 10 years later, in AD 44, James was seized by King Herod and slain with the sword (Acts 12:1-3). Note the brief, simple description regarding the death of James. Peter also was imprisoned and chained between two soldiers. Herod intended to execute him after the holidays, but Peter was miraculously freed by an angel.
The question naturally arises – why was Peter spared and James taken? Was he less worthy than Peter of participating further in the Gospel work?
Apparently James had been the leader of the Apostles in Jerusalem. Herod felt that his execution would shock his followers, dealing a decisive and final blow. Instead, it awakened in our Lord’s followers greater zeal, greater energy, in proclaiming the truth. Among the brethren it also caused a greater appreciation for the other Apostles, and desire to abide in their teachings.
James was slain just before the Passover. His promise to Jesus was made shortly before the Passover. James had now fulfilled his portion of the promise that both he and John had made, to partake of Jesus’ cup and baptism. “He was able.”
John was still in Jerusalem as late as 15 years after Paul’s conversion and helped in settling the strife between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Paul spoke of John at this time as a Pillar of the Church (Galatians 2:9). After this we lose trace of John’s activities, for during Paul’s last visit to Jerusalem he was no longer there. That was AD 59. Tradition says John left Jerusalem and went to Ephesus. There he was seized during the short but severe persecutions under Emperor Domitian in AD 95-96, when over 40,000 Christians were slain, and John was banished to the penal colony on the Isle of Patmos.
This is recorded in Revelation 1:9, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Here John had the high and singular honor of receiving the glorious vision of Revelation, and the commission to convey it to the Church. He received it humbly as a simple brother and companion of them in their tribulation, as members of the Kingdom suffering violence, patiently awaiting the Kingdom of glory. Patmos was a rocky and barren island about 13 square miles, located five miles off the coast of Asia Minor. Because of its isolation, the island was used as a place of banishment for prisoners sentenced to hard labor. It was common practice to send exiles to the most desolate and rocky islands. Despite the severe conditions to which he was exposed, the Lord’s favors and revelations given to him more than offset these persecutions.
When Nerva succeeded Domitian as emperor, it was the Roman custom to free all political prisoners. According to Eusebius, John returned to Ephesus where he settled the matter as to the canon of Gospel authenticity by formally attesting the truth of the first three Gospels, and also by writing his own, which he probably started on Patmos. He died in Ephesus, a natural death, the only one of the Apostles who was not martyred.
Yet in a certain sense he suffered the deepest and longest martyrdom among the Apostles. He died at the age of approximately 100 years. Now he, too, had fulfilled his pledge to the Lord, “Yes, we are able.”
When we partake of the emblems annually, we as James and John should be affirmative in our answer to the question “Are ye able?”, “Are ye willing?” We should be of the same frame of mind as when we consecrated. Have we done all in the past year to present a testimony for the truth? Have we continued as an example of the believer to the world? How much of the world have we partaken of – its pleasures, its worries, its concern for the future?
Or have we by faith put aside all of these worldly fears? Have we been carrying out our commission this past year of Isaiah 61 to “Preach good tidings to the meek?” For the Apostle Paul admonished us in 1 Corinthians 9:16 “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.”
Paul worded it well in Colossians 2:6,7, “As we have therefore received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him, Rooted and built up in him stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. ”
Have we remained established in the faith, not blown about by every wind of doctrine? No human doctrines should be mixed with the divine message. Our roots of faith must push down deep into the knowledge of God’s plan, while the tree of character grows higher and higher, developing and maturing the rich fruits of the spirit. Once we have seen the plan of God and have given ourselves to the study of his word, the only way to retain our spiritual growth is to continue in the doctrine. A tree is not always flooded with sunshine, but needs the rains, winds, and storms, for its full development. So we need varied experiences to develop all the fruits of the spirit. Our Father knows how much sunshine, rain, wind and cold is best. Only by a careful scrutiny of ourselves in the light of his word, can we progress in this narrow way. Following thus in the Lord’s leading we can find the only true joy and can make the only true progress (2 Timothy 1:10-11).
Unless we partake of his cup and unless we are immersed into his death, we can have no share in his kingdom glory – we can never sit with him in his throne. We must count worldly things as merely transitory, in order to gain that pearl of great price.
– Adapted from a discourse by Bro. John Tryzna
(1) There is a suggestion that Salome was the sister of Jesus’ mother.
(2) Editor’s note: The alteration of the text of Matthew is from the well-known tendency of copyists to revise and standardize readings.
(3) One may also notice that Mark omits reference to the mother of James and John while Matthew includes it.
(4) The instructions to Noah indicate that abstaining from blood is a commandment to all mankind (Genesis 9:4).