Mark 10:38 (DRB)

Passage

And Jesus said to them: You know not what you ask. Can you drink of the chalice that I drink of or be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?

Nearby Context

Mark 10:36 But he said to them: What would you that I should do for you?

Mark 10:37 And they said: Grant to us that we may sit, one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

Mark 10:38 And Jesus said to them: You know not what you ask. Can you drink of the chalice that I drink of or be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?

Mark 10:39 But they said to him: We can. And Jesus saith to them: You shall indeed drink of the chalice that I drink of; and with the baptism wherewith I am baptized you shall be baptized.

Mark 10:40 But to sit on my right hand or on my left is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "said", "drink", "chalice", "baptized", "baptism", and "wherewith". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 37's "And they said Grant to us that..." into verse 39's "But they said to him We can...", so "jesus" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.