"And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto 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 upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But 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? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
In the beginning of today's lesson Jesus warns His Apostles of His upcoming death, burial, and resurrection.
We should note the reaction of James and John upon hearing that their savior Jesus was about to be killed, was to try to secure for themselves a special place in heaven. Their response to what Jesus had just told them was so very typical of today's "me first" Christianity.
Jesus asked James and John if they were willing to go through what He was about to suffer. When they agreed they would, Jesus assured them that they would indeed suffer for His sake.
He also said that positioning in heaven was not to Him, it would be God the Father that would determine who sat where in His kingdom.
NOTE: A thorough study of the New Testament ministry of Jesus, demonstrates that it is attributed to Him as having used some grammatical variation of the word "baptize", a total of nine times during His ministry. Today's lesson contains six of those uses. It is very important to note that none of these six usages imply that water is the medium into which"baptism" is to occur. In each usage, Jesus was referring to the suffering He was about to endure as He was crucified to remit the sins of the world.
Contrary to what many modern isms contend, the "baptism" Jesus referred to in today's lesson, as well as the "baptism" Peter mentioned in 1Peter 3:21, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" had nothing, at all, to do with water. Peter made that clear with the parenthetical comment in the quote wherein he says "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God". In other words, washing by water had nothing to do with the baptism to which he was referring.
There will be much more said on this issue as these lessons continue.~
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