February 22, 2026 -Right Hand Man

Psalms 53:1-6

Mark 10:1-52

Leviticus 15:1-33

Leviticus 16:1-34

Bible in a Year Through Song - Day 53 of 365

Mark 10:38-39 NIV

[38] “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” [39] “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,

I am struck by the blind confidence of James and John. How could they have possibly known what Jesus was talking about. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist so maybe they thought they would just go and also be baptized by him. But to drink the cup that Jesus drinks. That is clearly metaphorical. I see this as an impulsive answer without actually even hearing what was being asked. They knew what they were thinking about and what they wanted. They also felt willing to do whatever was necessary to be Jesus "right hand" men. To be next in line for authority. They had a picture in their heads what that looked like and that is what they were sure they could live up to. Do we do the same thing in our zealousness to follow Jesus. We can get an idea in our heads of what it would like if we were doing the right thing to please Him. So we tell Him what He should have us do or beg Him to use us in some big way. We are confident in our love for Him and our desire to serve Him faithfully, but we don't really know how that plays out in the big picture and for the glory of God. James and John did drink the cup and were baptized with the same baptism. All the disciples did. But that meant that they were ridiculed, hunted down and were always on the run. They were beaten, imprisoned and killed for their faith. James was the first apostle to die for his faith. As it says in Act 12:2 he was killed by the sword by Herod. That most likely means he was beheaded. Church tradition (take it for what it is) says that John was boiled in oil for his faith in Rome but miraculously lived. We do know that he was imprisoned on the mining island of Patmos for preaching the gospel. There he wrote the book of Revelation. Eventually he was set free and is known to be the only disciples who died of old age not as a martyr. I can only imagine how painful that was for him not just physically for all that he suffered physically but emotionally and mentally. To know so many people that he loved deeply and watch them die terrible deaths for their faith would be awful. To outlive them and have to wait all those years in this broken world. I imagine that he longed to be taken home to be with Jesus and all of those he loved. But he never stopped working for the Kingdom. We should be careful when we tell Jesus how badly we want to serve Him and that we want to be his "number one man" because it will likely not look like what we want it to look like. It could be difficult and painful but it will be blessed. I wonder if when they saw Jesus again He said, "See I told you so." J.K. But He could.

I want to be as passionate and willing to serve Jesus as the disciples were but I also know that means I need to be ready for anything. Even things that I might not like. I can do that only if I trust in His strength, love and sovereignty.