Mark 10:35-45, The Request of James and John

³⁵ And James and John [likely Jesus’ cousins], the sons of Zebedee [whose wife Salome was Mary’s sister], came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” [They want Jesus to write a blank check.] ³⁶ And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” [He will put limits on the request but let them reveal themselves first.] ³⁷ And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” [At least they believe that Jesus will indeed establish his kingdom and desire to be a vital part of it. However, their request annoyed their fellow disciples because they asked for the highest places of honor in the kingdom, displaying their selfish ambitions rather than their loyalty.] ³⁸ Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. [Cold reality sets in. The ones on Jesus’ left and right will be common criminals on Golgotha.] Are you able to drink the cup [an Old Testament symbol of suffering, enduring the wrath of God] that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism [another Old Testament symbol of suffering God’s wrath] with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ And they said to him, “We are able.” [A thoughtless answer?] And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized [this is simply the price of following Jesus, not of the Christian greatness that they sought], ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” [Jesus is fully submitted to the Father. We Christians are called to the same humility and submission of Jesus.] ⁴¹ And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. ⁴² And Jesus called them to him and said to them [as he prepares to rebuke the two and the ten for their ignorance of the very nature of Christian leadership], “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. [The whole understanding of lordship changes with Jesus and the cross, where he became the servant of all.] ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” [Jesus gathers several Old Testament strands into this saying: the Son of Man from the Psalms, Ezekiel, and Daniel; the concept of the suffering servant from Isaiah; the great ransom from Psalm 49:7. This is perhaps the greatest biblical statement of the atonement and the cost of the life of Jesus. This verse is considered the heart of the Gospel of Mark.]