Are Ye Able?

“Are ye able,” said the Master,
“to be crucified with me?”
“Yea,” the sturdy dreamers answered,
“to the death we follow thee.”

Refrain:
Lord, we are able. Our spirits are Thine.
Remold them, make us, like thee, divine.
Thy guiding radiance above us shall be
a beacon to God, to love, and loyalty.

Are ye able to remember,
when a thief lifts up his eyes,
that his pardoned soul is worthy
of a place in paradise?

Are ye able when the shadows
close around you with the sod,
to believe that spirit triumphs,
to commend your soul to God?

Are ye able? Still the Master
whispers down eternity,
and heroic spirits answer,
now as then in Galilee.

Based upon the passage of Scripture found in Mark 10:35-39, this particular hymn asks a tough introductory question – Are ye able?  When James and John were desiring to sit on either side of Jesus in glory, Jesus asked them “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? ” i.e. Are ye able?  Their response was “We can.”  (Matthew records a version of the story with their mother asking for her sons to sit at Jesus’ side, but their response to Jesus is the same – “We can.”).  Now, one could surmise that they didn’t exactly know what cup He was referring to.  But if you go back a few verses, you will find Jesus prophesying exactly what was to take place when He went to Jerusalem.  Here’s the words of Jesus to the 12 which included James and John:

“Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.  “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

I find it interesting that James and John responded “We can” thinking that they could drink the cup that Christ was getting ready to drink.  I wondered if they were just arrogant like Peter who proclaimed he would never deny Christ.  I also wondered if they weren’t listening to Jesus when He described what was going to happen to Him.  Or maybe, just maybe, they thought that they could endure whatever was to come if they knew they would be at Jesus’ side in Heaven.  I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know this.  Acts 12 records what happened to James on account of being a follower of Christ.  It reads as follows:  “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.”  In a sense, he did ultimately endure the cup of death that Jesus partook of.  No, not the cup for bearing the punishment of sin.  But the cup that required the ultimate sacrifice – the giving of one’s life for the cause of Christ.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

•  “the sturdy dreamers” –  Not sure exactly where the author came up with the phrase “sturdy dreamers.”  Those two words don’t seem to go together.  A dreamer is one who’s head is in the clouds.  They are imaginative and whimsical.  They like to dream about distant places and far away lands.  Sturdy means “courageous” or “strongly built.”  I like to think that these men (although not necessarily the kind of people the world would choose) were courageous and strongly built.  Men who were confident in the Lord, and had been strongly built up by the encouragement and teaching of Jesus.  I like to think that they were courageous dreamers who were confident that one day they would be at Jesus’ right hand.

• “his pardoned soul is worthy” – I think the word “pardoned” is critical in understanding this phrase.  The thief’s soul was not worthy at all.  He was guilty.  His heart was black with the sin of stealing, but I am sure it was black with other sins too.  The key, however, is that he was pardoned.  The punishment for his sin was to be paid for by Jesus’ precious blood.  Now, that didn’t mean he was pardoned from the punishment of this world.  No, he died that day on his cross.  But Jesus’ words are amazing to me.  “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”  What a promise to that “unworthy” soul!!

So I wonder today if Jesus is asking us this same poignant question?  Are we able?  Are we able to endure a life of scorn or ridicule for the cause of Christ?  Are we able to trust Jesus’ words and trust the Bible when all the world around is telling us they are not true and don’t make sense?  My answer to that is a conditional “No.”  No, we aren’t able in our own strength and power.  We aren’t able in our own wisdom and knowledge.  But with the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives and the wisdom from Scripture, we are able to do these difficult things.  We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. We are able!!