Note 3 at Mt 20:22: The Greek word for "cup," "POTERION," denotes primarily a "drinking-vessel" (Strong's Concordance) of any sort. However, "the cup" was a common Jewish metaphor used figuratively to describe the "undergoing" or "experience" of something such as salvation (Ps 116:13), joy (Ps 23:5), punishment (Ps 11:6), wrath (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17, 22; Re 14:10, and 16:19), shame (Hab 2:16), fury (Jer 25:15), abominations and filthiness (Re 17:4), consolation (Jer 16:7), blessing (1Co 10:16), and astonishment and desolation (Eze 23:33).

This phrase is frequently used in the New Testament for the sufferings of Christ (Mt 20:22, 26:39, 42; Mr 10:38, 14:36; Lu 22:42; and Joh 18:11). Jesus applied this figure to Himself (see note 6 at Lu 12:50), for He was to voluntarily suffer drinking the cup of God's judgment for our sins (Mr 10:45, 14:36, and 15:34). Likewise, James and John would share His sufferings even to the point of death but not in a redemptive sense. James was the first apostle to be martyred (Ac 12:2), and John endured many years of persecution and exile (Re 1:9).

Note 4 at Mt 20:22: The Greek word for "baptized" is "BAPTIZO." This word was used by Plato (fourth century B.C.) to describe a man being "overwhelmed" by philosophical arguments, by Hippocrates of people being "submerged" in water or sponges being "dipped" in fluid, and by Strabo (first century B.C.) to describe people who could not swim as being "submerged" under water. Josephus (first century A.D.) used the word to describe the city of Jerusalem as being "overwhelmed" or "plunged" into destruction by the Romans, and Plutarch (also first century A.D.) used this word in referring to a person being "immersed" in the sea. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the O.T.), BAPTIZO is used to describe Naaman dipping himself in the Jordan River (2Ki 5:14).

From classical Greek right down to New Testament Greek, the same basic meaning has been retained: "to immerse, submerge, dip or plunge." Jesus was stating that the disciples would indeed be plunged into the same sufferings that He would be experiencing (see note 7 at Mt 5:10).