John Calvin Commentary Matthew 20:22

"But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They say unto him, We are able." — Matthew 20:22 (ASV)

You know not what you ask. Their ignorance deserved blame on two accounts: first, because their ambition led them to desire more than was proper; and secondly, because, instead of the heavenly kingdom of Christ, they had formed the idea of a phantom in the air.

Regarding the first of these reasons, whoever is not satisfied with the free adoption of God and desires to elevate himself, such a person wanders beyond his limits. By unseasonably pushing himself forward beyond what was proper for him, he is ungrateful to God.

Now, to evaluate the spiritual kingdom of Christ according to the feeling of our flesh is highly perverse. Indeed, the greater the delight the human mind takes in idle speculations, the more carefully we ought to guard against them, as we see that the books of the sophists are stuffed with useless notions of this kind.

Can you drink the cup which I shall drink? To correct their ambition and withdraw them from this wicked desire, He holds out to them the cross and all the hardships which the children of God must endure. It is as if He had said, “Does your present warfare allow you so much leisure that you are now making arrangements for a triumphal procession?”

For if they had been earnestly engaged in the duties of their calling, they would never have given way to this wicked imagination. In these words, therefore, those who are eager to obtain the prize before the proper time are instructed by Christ to devote themselves to the duties of piety.

And certainly, this is an excellent bridle for restraining ambition. For as long as we are pilgrims in this world, our condition is such that it ought to banish vain luxuries. We are surrounded by a thousand dangers. Sometimes the enemy assails us by ambush, and in a variety of ways; and sometimes he attacks us by open violence. Is he not worse than stupid who, amidst so many deaths, entertains himself at ease by drawing pictures of a triumph?

Our Lord instructs His followers, indeed, to feel assured of victory and to sing a triumphal song in the midst of death, for otherwise they would not have courage to fight valiantly.

But it is one thing to advance courageously to the battle, relying on the reward God has promised them, and to labor with all their might for this object; and it is another thing to forget the contest, turn aside from the enemy, lose sight of dangers, and rush forward to a triumph for which they ought to wait until the proper time.

Besides, this foolish haste, for the most part, draws people away from their calling. For just as in battle the greatest coward is the keenest to seize the booty, so in the kingdom of Christ, none are more eager to obtain superiority than those who shrink from all the hardship that attends toil.

Most properly, therefore, Christ instructs those who were puffed up with vainglory to stay at their post.⁶⁵⁵ The sum of it all is that the crown is prepared for none but the one who has fought lawfully; and especially, that no one will be a partaker of the life and kingdom of Christ who has not previously shared in His sufferings and death.

In the word baptism, the force of the metaphor is very evident, for we know that by baptism believers are instructed to deny themselves (Matthew 16:24), to crucify the old man (Romans 6:6), and, in short, to bear the cross. It is uncertain if, by the word cup, (ποτήριον,) our Lord alluded to the mystery of the Holy Supper. But as it had not yet come into use, I choose to interpret it more simply as denoting the measure of afflictions which God appoints to each one. For as it is His right to lay on each one his own burden according to His pleasure, in the same manner as a householder distributes and allots the portions for the members of his family, so He is said to give them a cup to drink.⁶⁵⁶

These words contain extraordinary consolation for alleviating the bitterness of the cross, when in the cross Christ associates Himself with us. And what could be more desirable than to have everything in common with the Son of God? For thus, those things which at first sight appear to be deadly are made to yield us salvation and life.

On the other hand, how will he be reckoned among the disciples of Christ, who desires to be wholly exempt from the cross? For such a person refuses to submit to the baptism of Christ, which is nothing less than to withdraw from the earliest lessons.⁶⁵⁷

Now whenever baptism is mentioned, let us recollect that we were baptized on this condition and for this purpose: that the cross may be attached to our shoulders.

The boast made with such confidence by John and James, that they were prepared to drink the cup, manifests the presumption of the flesh; for when we are beyond the reach of darts, we think nothing impossible. And not long afterward, the melancholy result exposed their rashness; but insofar as it was good in them, when they were free to make a choice, they presented themselves to bear the cross.

⁶⁵⁵ “A bon droict done Christ royant ses deux disciples eslevez d’une vaine gloire, les arreste a penser aux choses qui concernent le devoir de leur vocation;” — “with good reason, then, does Christ, seeing his two disciples carried away by vain glory, make them stop to consider the things which belong to the duty of their calling.”;” — “with good reason, then, does Christ, seeing his two disciples carried away by vain glory, make them stop to consider the things which belong to the duty of their calling.”

⁶⁵⁶ “Il est dit pour ceste cause, que Dieu donne la coupe a boire;” — “for this reason it is said that God gives the cup to drink.”;” — “for this reason it is said that God gives the cup to drink.”

⁶⁵⁷ “Car cela n’est proprement autre chose que se retirer des commencemens, et ne vouloir entrer a la premiere lecon de son eschole;” — “for that is properly nothing else than to withdraw at the beginning, and to refuse to enter into the first lesson of his school.”;” — “for that is properly nothing else than to withdraw at the beginning, and to refuse to enter into the first lesson of his school.”