Speaking From Experience

James and John were fishermen by trade, the rough and tumble sons of Zebedee. With these two, everything must have been a competition. Jesus chose them to be among his closest followers and nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder.” (Mark 3:17) Even before they were called out by the Christ, these boys must have been pretty high and mighty. Their bravado certainly got them into hot water on one occasion.

“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him.

“Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”

“What is your request?” he asked.

They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering.

But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left.

God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.

So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.

But among you it will be different.

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

Mark 10:35-45 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.10.35-45.NLT

From the start, Jesus knew His purpose. Before His public ministry began, He was “the Lamb slain before the creation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) This knowledge never slowed His resolve (Luke 9:51) though it did give Him pause in Gethsemane. (Mark 14:36) He knew He had the power to stop it if He chose, (Matthew 26:53-54) but He allowed Himself to suffer in my place.

So when Jesus said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me,” (Luke 9:23) He knew exactly what He was asking.

“The God of justice knows injustice himself, not only out of his omniscience, but out of his experience on a cross.”

Quoted from The Gospel Coalition, YouVersion For The Love Of God: Day 52 • Devotional

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/786/day/52?segment=0

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”

1 Peter 3:18 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/1pe.3.18.NASB1995

Yes, Jesus knew what was coming. He warned his followers more than once, yet His foreknowledge did not spare Him the pain. If anything, His suffering was magnified by knowing. The knowledge of what awaited on the other side did not take the sting from death. Only Christ’s ultimate resurrection could do that.

““The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said.

“He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law.

He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.””

Luke 9:22 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.9.22.NLT

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Isaiah 53:3-6 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.53.3-6.NIV

Jesus also gave fair warning to our generation, and He left an example for us to follow, saying “among you it will be different.”

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.

But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian.

Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household.

And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?

And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?”

So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.”

1 Peter 4:12-19 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.4.12-18.NLT

“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you.

He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.

He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered.

He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.

By his wounds you are healed.”

1 Peter 2:21-24 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.2.21-24.NLT

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.4.15.NLT

We follow in Christ’s steps empowered by His Indwelling Spirit when we choose obedience in the face of persecution or suffering. When we take up our cross daily and follow Him, we never walk alone.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?””

Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.13.5-6.NIV

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.28.19-20.NIV

Self aggrandizement has no place in the life of a Christ follower. In His kingdom, the first will be last and the last first. (Matthew 20:16)

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others.

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:3-11 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/php.2.3-11.NLT