The Cup and Baptism!

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

1 Pet 1:18-25; Mk 10: 32-45

Today’s Gospel highlights discipleship as participation in Christ’s life. 

Jesus and his retinue of disciples are journeying towards Jerusalem. Jesus leading the way shows his determination. Some of his disciples were astonished and others afraid. But Jesus moves towards Jerusalem to meet his end, about which he makes a prediction as well. 

While Jesus foretells his death and leads his disciples towards a reflection on it, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come up with a request for assurance of their status. 

Their request reveals their misunderstanding of discipleship. Here, others becoming indignant at them could probably mean that they too shared their ambition. If so, we realize that the disciples imagined the Kingdom largely in political or earthly terms.

Here is where Jesus steps in to clarify. He talks through two symbolisms. 

The Cup: Jesus asks the two, ‘Can you drink the cup I drink…?’ Here the cup symbolizes suffering. We may recall Jesus praying at Gethsemane with the words, ‘Lord, if you will, remove this cup from me.’ However, Jesus never wanted to escape the cross. Instead, as we read in the Gospel, he walked towards Jerusalem, leading the way. Hence, for a follower of Christ, discipleship is not some passive admiration of Jesus but active participation in his way of love. 

The Baptism: Jesus asks the two, ‘Can you be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?’ Much like the cup symbolism, the baptism symbolizes being overwhelmed by the thoughts of suffering and death. The thoughts of his torturous death pushed Jesus into an intense emotional agony that he sweated blood. But when James and John placed their request, they said it without knowing the cost of discipleship. Jesus reveals his greatness through his unflinching gaze at the cross and his steady walk towards Jerusalem. 

Thus, when Jesus finds his disciples lost in the dreams of honor, status, respect, and recognition, he reminds them that true authority lies in humble service. Moreover, by washing the feet of others, Jesus reveals a new dimension of leadership as responsibility and service, thus shaping forever the Christian understanding of authority as reflecting Christ-like humility. 

Let us pray that we may develop a right understanding of discipleship as love and service. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar