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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 10:35 - 10:37
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The request of Zebedee's children:
v. 35. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto Him, saying, Master, we would that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
v. 36. And He said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?
v. 37. They said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory.
Jesus had, just before leaving Capernaum, given the apostles a lesson in humility, and tried to impress upon them the chief consideration in the kingdom of God, that of unselfish service. All the more unpleasant, in view of the fact that He was on the way to do the greatest service, to make the greatest sacrifice of all, this incident must have jarred upon Him. For about this time, while they were still in the neighborhood of the Jordan, Salome, the wife of Zebedee, and her two sons, James and John, came to Christ with a request. The mother spoke first, but was seconded by her sons. Jesus, in His kindness, made allowances for their weakness and heard their petition, which was not exactly distinguished by meekness. They asked very urgently that they might be allowed to occupy the places of honor, on the right and on the left hand of Jesus, in the Kingdom of Glory. We here see "that James and John comport themselves evilly beyond measure, since they simply want to force Christ the Lord to make something special of them before the other disciples. There is not only the shameful sin (which is unusually objectionable in the case of preachers), pride and their own honor; for he that regards his own honor, benefit, and the like, and models his preaching accordingly, will not do much good; but such people also have no idea what Christ and His kingdom really stand for. For they suppose that He will begin a worldly kingdom, like other worldly lords. That He wants to forgive sins and give eternal life, and that they are in need of it, of that they do not think, but suppose if they only are great princes and lords, they would have sufficient. And the other ten disciples are not much wiser or more pious. For on account of these things they begin a murmuring, and did not want to give the two brothers an advantage."