And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?
In the verse Jesus draws out James and John, inviting them to state plainly the favor they had already asked Him to grant and giving them opportunity to voice their petition. What they voice is a request brought through their mother for the chief and highest places at His right and left in His kingdom and glory. They still expect Him soon to reign as a temporal prince in Jerusalem, and in their confidence that the kingdom will soon be established they fail to grasp His prediction of betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection, which seems vague to them. Following Him was to mean sharing His cup and baptism of suffering, not merely claiming honor for themselves, yet they sought places of honor in the coming kingdom while failing to understand that cost.
The request comes from pride and ambition for status and from desire for worldly honor and distinction, which is contrary to following Christ. Such seeking of distinction can arise alongside envy and a wish for worldly advancement, especially when people are tempted to make the cross less prominent. They do not know what they ask or the true import and cost of their prayer, and fall far short of understanding the situation. They think the highest place can be gained simply by asking, and when asked if they can drink His cup and share His baptism they answer that they can, yet they little comprehend what that baptism signifies.
The glory they seek is the glory Christ was to receive through infinite sacrifice in humiliation, agony and shedding of blood, whose joy was to see souls saved. Sharing that glory requires first bearing His yoke and burdens and daily learning His meekness and lowliness, so the cross comes before the crown and the way to the crown of eternal life runs through a race and a battle. Jesus tells them they shall indeed drink His cup and share His baptism, but the places at His right and left are not His to give and shall be given to those for whom they are prepared. Jesus reproves their pride by contrasting Gentile lordship and authority with greatness in His kingdom, where whoever would be great must be a minister and whoever would be chiefest must be servant of all, for even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Their request for the most honored places therefore leads to jealousy and a heated dispute among the disciples about who is greatest.
Their desire for worldly honor is an error not to be imitated. Great spiritual blessings such as the baptism of the Holy Spirit are not given without complying with the conditions God Himself has laid down, and God first tries those who ask to see if they can live without dishonoring Him.
In the verse Jesus draws out James and John, inviting them to state plainly the favor they had already asked Him to grant and giving them opportunity to voice their petition. What they voice is a request brought through their mother for the chief and highest places at His right and left in His kingdom and glory. They still expect Him soon to reign as a temporal prince in Jerusalem, and in their confidence that the kingdom will soon be established they fail to grasp His prediction of betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection, which seems vague to them. Following Him was to mean sharing His cup and baptism of suffering, not merely claiming honor for themselves, yet they sought places of honor in the coming kingdom while failing to understand that cost.
The request comes from pride and ambition for status and from desire for worldly honor and distinction, which is contrary to following Christ. Such seeking of distinction can arise alongside envy and a wish for worldly advancement, especially when people are tempted to make the cross less prominent. They do not know what they ask or the true import and cost of their prayer, and fall far short of understanding the situation. They think the highest place can be gained simply by asking, and when asked if they can drink His cup and share His baptism they answer that they can, yet they little comprehend what that baptism signifies.
The glory they seek is the glory Christ was to receive through infinite sacrifice in humiliation, agony and shedding of blood, whose joy was to see souls saved. Sharing that glory requires first bearing His yoke and burdens and daily learning His meekness and lowliness, so the cross comes before the crown and the way to the crown of eternal life runs through a race and a battle. Jesus tells them they shall indeed drink His cup and share His baptism, but the places at His right and left are not His to give and shall be given to those for whom they are prepared. Jesus reproves their pride by contrasting Gentile lordship and authority with greatness in His kingdom, where whoever would be great must be a minister and whoever would be chiefest must be servant of all, for even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Their request for the most honored places therefore leads to jealousy and a heated dispute among the disciples about who is greatest.
Their desire for worldly honor is an error not to be imitated. Great spiritual blessings such as the baptism of the Holy Spirit are not given without complying with the conditions God Himself has laid down, and God first tries those who ask to see if they can live without dishonoring Him.