And there come to him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying [to him], Teacher, we would that whatsoever we may ask thee, thou wouldst do it for us.
Jesus had just told His twelve disciples that He would be condemned and killed. At that moment two of His closest followers step forward with a request of their own. It opens one of the sharpest contrasts in Mark's Gospel: a Master walking toward a cross, and disciples asking for a throne.
The Lord had just set His coming death before them in plain words. One writer points to who it was that asked:
Then we have the persecution unto death — and what a death! — fully laid before us. James and John at this critical time show how little the flesh, even in the servants of God, ever enters into His thoughts. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," no matter in whom. Again, the ugliness of the flesh showed itself most, not in unknown people, but in those who seemed to be somebody. Their mother appears in another Gospel — the Gospel where we would expect such a family tie to show up. But here, sadly, it is the servants themselves, who ought to have known better.
Another writer looks at the same moment from the Lord's side:
At that time not one of the twelve could enter into His mind, feel with Him, or understand the need of His sufferings. Their minds were full of a kingdom on earth. So James and John come forward, wanting a high position in the kingdom, close to the Lord Himself.
They do not say what they want at first. They ask for a blank promise, and only afterwards name it. One writer is blunt about what that shows:
What unashamed self-seeking, in the presence of His complete surrender of self to do His Father's will! How terrible to see the flesh cropping up in such a scene! And what was their desire? To be nearest to Christ in His kingdom. This was what suited man — not the cross, but the ease and peace and prosperity of the kingdom. Yet the cross was the necessary path to it.
The request was not unbelief. They were sure the kingdom was coming — that was the point of asking. What went wrong was who stood at the centre of the picture:
James and John had faith. They saw the dangers on the road to Jerusalem. Even so, they believed that Jesus would have the glory and the kingdom, and they said, "At all events, give us a good place." But about whom were they thinking? About James and John.
The same commentary elsewhere describes it as faith being used to carry a very different cargo — they "use their faith in the royalty of Christ to present the carnal desires of their heart."
He does not scold them and walk on. He takes the question and makes it a lesson for all twelve:
The Lord is always full of goodness for His own. His answer turns the fleshly question into a lesson for His disciples. He was not the only one who was to bear the cross. He alone could carry out redemption by offering Himself: the Son of God who gave Himself in His love to be the Lamb of God. But as to the path, the disciples had to walk the same path He walked, if they wished to be with Him.
So He grants what they never asked for — suffering for His Name. And He holds back what they did ask, because of the place He Himself had taken:
He could promise them the privilege of suffering for His Name's sake. But He could not give them a place at His right hand in the kingdom. He had taken the place of the Servant. He leaves it to the Father to say who will have a place of special privilege in the day of glory.
Commentators differ on how much blame the two deserve. Most read it as plain self-seeking. One is gentler: the reader who condemns them may want the same thing:
We might say at once — "presumption"! But do we not want a place in that glory? … We do want a place in the glory and in the kingdom; we should not be following the Lord today if we did not have that in view. If the motive is pride of heart, that would be another matter. Their request was quite all right in itself, but the Lord applied the test. John was one of the few who stood by the cross. Did he think about this desire of his when he saw a criminal on the right hand and another on the left of the Lord?
- Cross first. They ask right after the Lord foretold His death. Their hearts were far from the road He was walking.
- Faith misused. They truly believed the kingdom was coming. But their thoughts were on themselves, not on Him.
- Suffering shared. What the Lord could give them, He gave — the privilege of suffering for His Name.
- Throne reserved. The seats beside Him were not His to hand out; as the Servant, He left that to the Father.
- Test applied. Wanting a place in glory is not wrong in itself. The Lord tests the motive, and the cross is where the test falls.
And he said to them, What would ye that I should do for you?
Jesus had just told His twelve disciples what would happen to Him in Jerusalem. Two of them answered by asking for a blank promise, and His question here makes them say out loud what they want.
Instead of granting an unnamed favour, He asks them to state it. One writer sees here the difference between a prayer shaped by God's will and one shaped by our own.
Where the asking flows from our own will, it cannot be the prayer of faith. It only bends God and His purposes to our fallen wills. So, "We know that whatever we ask according to His will, He hears us." … The "What do you want" is God's part. The "We will" comes wrongly from us. It marks a lack of trust, or a failure to own our need of mercy first. And then we often "do not know what" we ask.
Their answer was not unbelief. They were sure the kingdom was coming. The problem lay in what they wanted from it.
There was true faith that the kingdom would be set up. But, as so often with ourselves, a good deal of unjudged flesh pushed its way into the realm of faith. They saw the kingdom as a chance to advance themselves, not as the place where the glory of Christ would shine. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," whether in unknown believers or leading apostles.
Commentators differ here. Some see nothing in it but ambition. The reaction of the other ten, they say, shows the rest wanted the same thing.
This shameless hunt for position by James and John might make us blame them more than the rest. But verse 41 shows that all of them held the same selfish desires. The ten objected not to what the two had asked, but to the fact that the two had got in ahead of them.
Another writer is slower to condemn, and turns the Lord's question back on the reader.
We might say at once — "presumption"! But do we not want a place in that glory? … The Lord tested these men, but He did not tell them they would not be in the place they sought. Equally, He did not tell them that they would. … Their request was quite all right in itself, but the Lord applied the test. John was one of the few who stood by the cross. Did he think about this desire of his when he saw a criminal on the right hand and another on the left of the Lord?
A few verses later a blind man cries to Him for mercy, and He puts the same question to him.
When the blind man cried, "Have mercy," Jesus stopped at once. To that cry of need He offered the very thing He had reproved and set aside in the two brothers: "What do you want me to do for you?" The same words mean one thing in the mouth of unbelief — a selfish, grasping claim of the flesh — and quite another in grace. This man knew what he asked for, and the sense of our need is true knowledge in asking.
They claimed they were able for His cup. He did not accept the claim, but He did give them a promise.
They put themselves on a level with Him and say: "We are able." The Lord, in His wondrous grace, puts them on a level with Himself by grace. He does not say: "You are indeed able," but "You shall indeed drink." As we might put it, "You shall indeed suffer with me." The reward of glory I leave to the Father to appoint. It is not mine to give, but belongs to those for whom it is prepared.
He could have settled the seating and did not. The reason lies in the place He had taken.
Places of honour in the coming kingdom will go to those who have served this wonderful Servant. Each will receive according to the measure in which he accepted suffering and death on His behalf. Yet even so, the Lord does not assign these places of distinction. That rests with the Father, for He remains true to the place of Servant which He has taken. We are set in the place of identification with our rejected Lord. Unless we stay true to it, we cannot expect any special recognition in the glory of the kingdom.
- Asked — The Lord will not act on a blank promise. His question makes the two men name what they want, and naming it exposes it.
- Exposed — Faith and flesh come out together. They believed the kingdom was coming, but saw it as room to advance themselves.
- Weighed — Commentators differ on the request itself. Some call it plain place-hunting shared by all twelve. Another says the wish for a place in glory was fair, and the Lord tested it.
- Granted — He gives them His cup instead of the seats they named: "You shall indeed drink" — not because they were able, but by grace.
- Deferred — The seats stay with the Father, because the Son keeps the Servant's place. Honour in the kingdom follows those who stay with a rejected Lord.
And they said to him, Give to us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory.
Jesus had just spoken of His own suffering and death. Two of His closest followers answered by asking for the two best seats beside Him. So is it wrong to want a place in His glory? And if it is not, what road leads there?
The timing is what makes the request so jarring.
Verses 35-37 show a painful contrast to the Lord's willingness to take the lowest place in suffering and death. James and John had missed the spirit of the Lord's words. They ask instead that He will do for them whatever they want. They do not answer with the same spirit of self-sacrifice. They want the Lord to give in to their selfish desires! He spoke of suffering and death. They speak of glory and honour in His kingdom, with themselves in higher positions than others.
Their request was not unbelief. They were sure the kingdom was coming — that much was faith. The problem lay in what they wanted the kingdom for.
James and John were full of the thought of a kingdom on earth. They came forward wanting a high position in it, close to the Lord Himself. They truly believed the kingdom would be set up. But, as so often with us, a good deal of unjudged flesh was pushing its way into the realm of faith. They saw the kingdom as a chance for their own advancement, not as the place where the glory of Christ would shine out.
Notice the place they asked for. There are only two such seats. Granting them would leave everyone else out.
The circle drawn round self may grow larger, but self remains the centre still. Their request was self — a good place which others would not have.
Matthew's account of the same scene has their mother speaking. The seats themselves had a recognised meaning in that world.
Eastern kings had a custom of seating one person at their right hand and one at their left. So the wish here is for places of honour in His Kingdom. The mother of Zebedee's sons here leads; from the Gospel of Mark we learn that John and James made the request. This is no discrepancy... Both mother and sons came together, with the same wish.
His answer draws a line. He does not claim the right to hand out those seats. What He does offer is a share in His own path.
He claims no power to hand out places in the kingdom, for He will receive that kingdom in obedience to His Father's will. But in grace He will join those He loves to Himself in His path of suffering and rejection.
Commentators differ here. Most read the request as plain self-seeking. Another asks the reader a searching question first, and notes that the Lord neither promised the seats nor refused them.
We might say at once — "presumption"! But do we not want a place in that glory? Would we not like to sit on that left hand and that right hand? The Lord tested these men, but He did not tell them they would not be in the place they sought. Equally, He did not tell them that they would... Their request was quite all right in itself, but the Lord applied the test. John was one of the few who stood by the cross. Did he think about this desire of his when he saw one criminal on the right hand of the Lord and another on His left? This is what I asked for — a place on His right hand, a place on His left. Is this what it means for me to get that place in glory?
They were shaping His kingdom after the kingdoms of this world.
"You are making it a kingdom of the Gentiles!" is what He is really saying to them. "You are thinking of earthly rank, such as is found among the nations — of what would satisfy ambition and self-seeking greed! Do you think these are the places that are Mine to give? No. With Me the highest is the lowest. Greatness is in lowliest service. Blessedness is in giving, not receiving."
- Timing. He spoke of suffering and death. They spoke of glory and honour. Their asking is a painful contrast to His willingness to take the lowest place.
- Faith. Their confidence that the kingdom was coming was real. The flaw was seeing it as a chance for their own advancement, not as the place for Christ's glory.
- Self. A place others could not have keeps self at the centre, however wide the circle drawn around it.
- Gift. He claims no power to hand out those seats. What He gives is a share with Himself in suffering and rejection.
- Road. With Him the highest is the lowest, and greatness is lowliest service. Their asking showed how little they knew of the road to what they wanted.
And Jesus said to them, Ye do not know what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup which *I* drink, or be baptised with the baptism that *I* am baptised with?
Two disciples have just asked for the seats nearest the throne. The Lord does not refuse them. He asks a question instead — about a cup and a baptism. Both images point to His death. The real issue is whether their road and His road are the same.
The Lord's first words tell them they asked in the dark. Their confident reply proved the point.
How often the carnal mind betrays itself in the faithful, even in the area of faith! How weak as yet were those destined to be pillars! How the Master shines even in the presence of the most blessed among His servants! They did not know what they were asking. This was no question to put to the suffering Son of Man on His way to the cross. The real question was this: could they drink what it was His to drink? Could they be baptized with the baptism that was before Him? Sadly, ambition, even in the things of the kingdom, is soon followed by confidence in self: "We are able." What an answer!
The two images are not the same picture twice. One is a cup handed to Him. The other is a death.
The more important question at that moment was whether they could drink the cup He drank, and go through the baptism He was going through. They did not understand this either. He meant taking the cup of suffering from His Father's hand, and going through the death of crucifixion as His baptism. How great a contrast this was to their desire for glory and honour!
Taken together, the two words leave no kind of suffering out.
He took in two different kinds of suffering. The cup is inward suffering. The baptism stands for what we are plunged into on the outside. The two together include every kind of trial, inward and outward.
The word "baptism" points back to His own baptism in the river Jordan. It also points forward to the cross.
The Jordan, where He was baptized, is truly the river of death. In the death He took, He was confessing sin and what sin deserved. At a later time, He spoke of it under the same figure as here, a baptism with which He was to be baptized (Mark 10:38).
The cup has a depth no follower can enter.
There was a cup He alone could drink; when it is a question of atonement He is all alone in that. His cup was beyond the power of all created intelligences to share. One only, Himself alone, could drink it. He suffered for sins at the hands of God. He suffered for righteousness at the hands of man. The atoning sufferings of Christ always stand apart. He suffered at the hands of God — not of the Father.
He would not hand out the seats they wanted. What He offered instead was a share in His own suffering.
Christ's humiliation is so perfect, and His self-abandonment so complete, that He says: I have no place to give in My kingdom. It is not Mine to give, except as My Father may desire. And He is the only One who, by His personal glory, had perfect knowledge of everything and a right to everything. But I have something to give you now: it is suffering. Yes — suffering for and with Him is what Christ gives His servants now. It is a high privilege… The highest honour we can have here is suffering with and for Christ.
Their mistake was not wanting glory. It was wanting glory by some other route than the one He was taking.
This was what suited man — not the cross, but the ease and peace and prosperity of the kingdom. Yet the cross was the necessary path to it… It was this He could give: His own portion of rejection and suffering, involving death in this world… The match on earth for that heavenly glory, and for Christ known there, is the cross and rejection — giving up everything here for His sake!
- Ignorance. They asked for thrones. They did not know what stood between Him and the throne. His reply does not crush their hope; it corrects their route.
- Cup. The cup is suffering handed to Him by His Father. The baptism is the death of the cross — the death His baptism in the Jordan already pictured.
- Alone. The atoning part of that cup He drank by Himself. He suffered from God for sin, and that is His alone. He suffered from men for righteousness, and His servants share that.
- Gift. He would not promise the seats. He promised something else: a share in His rejection now, the highest honour available on earth.
- Order. Cross first, glory after. The path they wanted was the one they were unwilling to walk, and there is no other.
And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, The cup that *I* drink ye will drink and with the baptism that *I* am baptised with ye will be baptised,
James and John have just asked for the two best seats in the kingdom. Jesus answers with a question about a cup and a baptism, then tells them they will share both — but that is not the honour they came asking for.
Their quick confidence grows straight out of the request.
They did not know what they were asking. This was no question for the suffering Son of Man on His way to the cross. Rather — could they drink of what it was His to drink? Could they be baptized with the baptism that was before Him? Sadly, ambition even in the things of the kingdom is soon followed by confidence in self: "We are able." What an answer! Need we wonder that these two also forsook Jesus and fled in the hour of the cross? Yet the Lord seals their answer with His promise of His own bitter portion, inward and outward.
Both words are pictures of one thing:
The word is used to picture the overwhelming sufferings the Lord Jesus endured, to finish the work He came to earth to do... He asked the sons of Zebedee if they could drink that cup, and be baptized with the baptism He was to be baptized with. They did not know the depths of suffering the question involved, and they said they could.
The promise has a boundary. There is a part of what Christ drank that no created being can enter.
There was a cup He alone could drink; when it is a question of atonement He is all alone in that. His cup was beyond the power of all created intelligences to share. One only, Himself alone, could drink it. He suffered for sins at the hands of God. He suffered for righteousness at the hands of man. The atoning sufferings of Christ must always stay distinct.
The other side of the cup is open to them — and to us:
They would drink His cup. That cup held more than the suffering from God; it held sufferings from men, rejection, reproach, and much else besides. In His rejection and sufferings from men they had to enter in. And to this we are also called. "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you might follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21).
They asked for thrones. What He offers instead is a gift, not a consolation prize — and it covers every kind of trial.
Christ's humbling is so complete, His self-surrender so full, that He says: I have no place to give in My kingdom. It is not Mine to give, except as My Father may desire. And this is the One who, by His personal glory, had perfect knowledge of everything and the right to everything. But I have something to give you now: it is suffering. Yes, suffering for and with Him is what Christ gives His servants now — a high privilege... The highest honour we can have here is suffering with and for Christ... He took in two different kinds of suffering: the cup, which is inward suffering, and the baptism, which pictures what we are plunged into outwardly. The two cover every kind of trial, inward and outward.
His "you will" rests on something other than their "we can".
Yet He did not explain what they did not understand. They would only learn it through hard experience. They would indeed drink the same cup as He did, and be baptized with the same baptism. That meant being identified with Him in His suffering and death. This was not because they were able for it, but because His grace would sustain them in it. Later, looking back, they would deeply realize this, and marvel that they had been so ignorant.
The two men who overestimated themselves were not written off.
They said they were able to follow Him to death. They are two of the most honoured names of the New Testament. They gave up all to follow the Lord. James was the first of the twelve apostles to die a martyr's death. John was the last to die, after his sufferings on the lonely island of Patmos... They had a Master who knew them better than they knew themselves. He used their fall, like Peter's fall later, for nobler work and a greater place in His testimony than they had imagined or their faith had yet laid hold of.
- Cup asked. Two disciples wanted the highest places. Their ambition turned at once into self-confidence: "We are able."
- Cup explained. The cup and the baptism are pictures of overwhelming suffering and death. They said yes without knowing what they had agreed to.
- Cup reserved. One part of that cup was His alone: He suffered for sins at the hands of God, and no created being can share that.
- Cup shared. What He hands His servants now is suffering from men. Commentators call this a high privilege, not a loss.
- Cup carried. They drank it in the end — not because they were able, but because His grace held them. James died first; John last, after Patmos.
but to sit on my right hand or on my left is not mine to give, but for those for whom it is prepared.
James and John, two of Jesus' twelve disciples, had just asked for the top seats in the coming kingdom. So why does He say those seats are not His to grant, and what does "prepared" tell us about who gets them?
James and John believed the kingdom was coming — that part was faith. What spoiled the request was where they placed themselves in it.
There was true faith that the kingdom would be set up. But, as so often with us, a good deal of unjudged flesh was pushing its way into the realm of faith. They saw the kingdom as a chance for their own advancement, not as the place where the glory of Christ would shine. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," whether it be in obscure saints or leading apostles.
The refusal is not weakness. It is the Lord keeping the Servant's place He had taken.
He had a cup to give them to drink. At least He could lead them to drink it, and tell them they would have it. But He claimed no right to hand out favours in His kingdom. All moral perfection was His, and all the more because of this very position. What is real does not push itself forward like that. He came as His Father's Servant, and He held that place perfectly. All this is in the spirit of perfect submission and nothingness, so that the Father, and He only, may be perfectly glorified.
Commentators differ here. Some read the words as giving up the right to appoint at all. Others hold that the Lord still hands out what the Father has settled.
It was His to give only to those for whom the Father destined it. Christ is the administrator of the rewards of the kingdom. As He was the Servant in suffering, He also shall dispense the rewards and glories of the kingdom.
The word cuts both ways. A place is prepared for people, and grace prepares people for the place.
He does not have the right to hand out promotion in His kingdom. He leaves the choosing to the Father. He gives the special glory that belongs to special work to those for whom it is prepared, and whom grace has prepared for that glory. His portion is the cross; and the cross can give the glory, if anyone will follow Him as His disciple.
The Son leaves this to the Father for a reason. He receives His own kingdom the same way.
Jesus answered with a question. It showed that honour in the coming kingdom will match how far someone has shared His sufferings and rejection. At the same time He showed that rewards in the kingdom go according to the Father's award. The Son of Man Himself is going to receive the kingdom from the hands of the Father, as Psalm 8 and Daniel 7 showed. So the saints too will receive their place in the kingdom at the Father's hand.
He withholds the seats and offers the cup instead. That is not a smaller gift — it is the only road there is.
Moreover if He could assure to them the privilege of suffering for His Name's sake, He could not give them a place at His right hand in the kingdom. He had taken the place of the Servant, and He leaves to the Father to say who shall have a place of special privilege in the day of glory.
The two men were never told they would miss what they asked for. One of them lived to see what the right and left of Jesus looked like.
The Lord tested these men, but He did not tell them they would not be in the place they sought. He also did not tell them that they would. Their request was quite all right in itself, but the Lord applied the test. John was one of the few who stood by the cross. He saw a criminal on the right hand of the Lord and another on His left. Did he think then about this desire of his — this is what I asked for, a place on His right hand, a place on His left; is this what it means for me to get that place in glory?
The Lord had nothing at His own disposal. So His followers can stop campaigning for position.
Wonderful self-renunciation! It is for the Father, for us, that He works. He disposes of nothing. He can give to those who will follow Him a share in His sufferings: everything else shall be given according to the counsels of the Father. But what real glory for Christ, and what perfection in Him! What a privilege for us to have this motive only… And what a purifying of our carnal hearts He sets before us here, making us act only for a suffering Christ, sharing His cross, and leaving our reward with God!
- Prepared, not requested. Asking does not win the seats. They go to those for whom they are prepared, and whom grace has prepared for them.
- Prepared by the Father. The Son of Man receives His own kingdom from the Father's hand, so the saints receive their places the same way.
- Prepared through the cup. He refuses the seats and grants the cup. Honour in that day matches how far someone shared His rejection.
- Prepared in a Servant's hands. He claimed no right to hand out favours. He kept the Servant's place. Commentators differ on whether He will still hand out what the Father has settled.
- Prepared for us, not by us. Since He kept nothing for Himself, we can act for a suffering Christ alone and leave the reward with God.
And the ten having heard [of it], began to be indignant about James and John.
Two of Jesus' twelve disciples had just asked for the seats of honour on either side of Christ. The other ten heard about it. Their reaction looks like loyalty to the Lord. Commentators read it as a mirror instead. The same ambition sat in all twelve hearts.
The ten had someone else's fault in front of them. What they did with it is the real test.
These two disciples were not the only ones to betray themselves. The ten made the secret of their heart plain enough. The flesh does not become visible only through the fault of one person or another. How do we behave when the faults of others are on display? The indignation that broke out in the ten showed the pride of their own hearts, just as much as the two brothers' desire for the best place. If unselfish love had been at work, their ambition would certainly have been a matter for sorrow and shame.
Verse 41 could look like ten men defending the Lord against two schemers. Their reason for the annoyance says otherwise.
This shameless hunting for position by James and John might make us blame them more than the rest. But verse 41 stops us. It shows that all of them held the same selfish desires. They objected, not because of what the two had asked, but because the two had beaten them to it in the way they asked. Their annoyance, however, only gave the Lord one more occasion to display His perfect grace.
The scene has two sides, and both sides trace back to the same source. Remove that source and the argument disappears.
Look at the scene between the two sons of Zebedee and their ten brothers, in the tenth chapter of Mark. What was at the bottom of it? Self. The two were thinking of a good place for themselves in the kingdom; and the ten were angry with the two for thinking of any such thing. Had each set self aside, and sought the good of others, such a scene would never have taken place.
Something really was wrong in what James and John wanted. The question is what the right response to it was.
Verse 41 reveals the same desire for honour in the other disciples. They were very displeased with James and John for asking this. Such a spirit of rivalry is not faith. It would no doubt be right to be truly sorry that any believer, ourselves included, should aim at such recognition. But to be displeased shows that we need the same correction.
No doubt it seemed a very right thing to put down these two brothers who were so full of themselves. But why were they so indignant? Their pride was wounded; they too were full of themselves. Christ was not filled with indignation; it was a sorrow to Him. But hot feeling stirred them against the two brothers. We have to be careful. Often where we try to pull down those who try to exalt themselves, there is self on our part too... Those who feel most for God feel also most deeply for those who have slipped away from Him.
This flare-up was not a one-off bad day. One writer links the same rivalry to Peter's later fall.
Peter was full of self-confidence and claimed he would not stumble even if all the others did. The others did not want to be outdone by him and so committed themselves to a similar claim. What accounted for it was the unholy rivalry that existed among them, as to who should be the greatest. Mark makes this especially clear. Compare Mark 9:33-34; Mark 10:35-37, and 41... Peter's fall seemed to come very suddenly. But all this shows us that its secret roots went back a long way into the past.
Christ does not take sides between the two and the ten. He gathers all of them and points to a different road.
Jesus calls them to Himself. He corrects the fleshly thoughts of both the two disciples and the ten by setting the path of true greatness before them. If He cannot give them the chief place in glory, He can show them the path that leads there. The One who takes the lowest place on earth as the slave of all will have the highest place in glory.
- Same root. Pride lay at the bottom of both the request and the anger. Two wanted the top place; ten resented being beaten to it.
- Same evidence. The ten's anger proved their pride, just as the two brothers' request proved theirs.
- Same reproof. Sorrow over another's ambition would have been love. Their anger showed they needed the same correction they were handing out.
- Same warning. Rivalry left unjudged does not stay small. The same root ran on to Peter's fall.
- Same remedy. Christ answers all twelve with one road: be content to be little now, and the lowest place becomes the path to the highest place in glory.
But Jesus having called them to [him], says to them, Ye know that those who are esteemed to rule over the nations exercise lordship over them; and their great men exercise authority over them;
Jesus has just heard James and John ask for the top seats in His kingdom, and the other ten have grown angry about it. Instead of settling the argument on their terms, He calls them all near. He points to the way power works among the nations. Then He tells them their own circle runs on the opposite principle.
His first move is not a rebuke but an invitation. The example He picks was already in front of them.
The kindness with which the Lord speaks to them is precious. He first calls them to Him. He does not drive them away with harsh words; He wants them near Himself. Then He reminds them of what they already knew about the way the world governs. Men may be called "public servants," yet they hold places of dignity and authority above ordinary people. Of course they saw this in the rule of the Gentiles over Israel.
Why say this at all? Because the world's way looks normal, and disciples copy it without noticing.
How easy it was, and still is, for the disciples of Jesus to take on the standards and customs of the world around them. It is just as easy to take for granted that, because everybody seems to be doing it, it must be the right thing to do. Again and again our Lord would say to us, "But it shall not be so among you." The nations have their great men, who use their authority to lord it over people. Among the disciples of the Lord, greatness shows itself in a completely different way. There true greatness takes the lowly place of service to others — serving the Lord in serving them.
The contrast is not just between two styles of leadership. It reaches down to what a person enjoys.
Anyone who seeks to be great, and to take the lead among Christians, has completely falsified the Christian character. He will be the last of all. The true way to have the highest place is to serve, counting yourself the slave of the needs of other disciples… Seeking to be raised up yourself is only the selfishness of the flesh, the spirit of the world, which is enmity against God. Love delights to serve — this is what Christ did; pride and selfishness love to be served, and to take precedence over others.
The rulers in the verse hold power everyone can see. Authority among Christ's people starts somewhere else, and it aims at something else.
The world's officer carries all the marks of present power. He demands to be recognised as a man with power, and he should be. Everyone can see where his authority comes from, and everyone can watch him use it. The source of authority in the church is invisible. It comes from above, from the ascended Jesus, and it works as real spiritual control and guidance. The great aim is that the man who carries it should so lose his prominence that Jesus, and not the man himself, is exalted.
So who counts as great in the kingdom? One writer answers plainly, and the help he names is not always spiritual.
We gather from this that the great men in the kingdom are those who do all they can — simply, humbly, earnestly and with devotion — to help the saints of God on their path through this world. It may not always be in spiritual matters; it may be in material matters.
Jesus had told the two brothers that the chief places were not His to give. He does not leave them with nothing.
Jesus calls them to Himself and corrects the fleshly thoughts of the two disciples and the ten by setting before them the path of true greatness. If He cannot give them the chief place in glory, He can show them the path that leads there. The One who takes the lowest place on earth as the slave of all will have the highest place in glory. The Son of Man was the perfect pattern of such a path.
- Cause. Ambition for place is the flesh at work. It showed in the two who asked, and in the ten who resented them for asking.
- Call. Jesus does not drive the ambitious away. He calls them near and teaches them from the government they already saw over their heads.
- Contrast. The world's authority is visible and demands recognition. Authority among Christ's people comes from the ascended Jesus. It works so that He, not the man, stands out.
- Conversion. Greatness is not abolished but turned around. Love delights to serve; pride loves to be served. The great are those helping God's people in spiritual and material things alike.
- Crown. The chief seats were not His to hand out. But He could show the road: lowest on earth, highest in glory, with Himself as the pattern.
but it is not thus among you; but whosoever would be great among you, shall be your minister;
Two of Jesus' twelve disciples asked Him for the best seats in His coming kingdom. The other ten were furious when they heard it. So Jesus called them all together and overturned their idea of greatness. His answer sets the world's way of rising against the way of His kingdom, where the ladder runs downward.
The two who asked were not unbelievers. They were sure the kingdom was coming. What spoiled their asking was what they wanted out of it.
They truly believed the kingdom would be set up. But, as so often with ourselves, a good deal of unjudged flesh pushed its way into their faith. They saw the kingdom as a chance for their own advancement, not as the place where the glory of Christ would be displayed.
The ten who objected stood on no higher ground. Their anger exposed them just as much.
The flesh does not become plain only through the fault of one person or another. How do we behave when the faults of others are on display? The anger that broke out in the ten showed the pride of their own hearts, just as much as the two men wanting the best place.
The danger Jesus names is copying what everyone around us does.
How easy it was, and still is, for the disciples of Jesus to accept and take up the standards and customs of the world around them. Because everybody seems to be doing it, they take for granted that it is the right thing to do. Again and again our Lord would say to us, "But it shall not be so among you." The nations have their great men, who exercise their authority in a lordly way. Among the disciples of the Lord, greatness shows itself in a completely different way. There true greatness lies in taking the lowly place of service to others — serving the Lord in serving them.
This verse and the next use two different words, and the second goes lower. Kelly quotes an older translation: where the ESV has "servant" and then "slave of all", it has "minister" and then "bondman".
There is a difference between the two words. The word translated "minister" means a servant. But in the next verse it is a bondman or slave. Do you want to be really great according to the principles of My kingdom? Go down as low as you can. Do you want to be the greatest? Go down the lowest of all. Whoever has least of self is greatest in the Lord's eyes.
Greatness measured by serving cannot be won by any title. Kelly points to Paul as the man who lived it out most fully.
This is love which serves, not flesh which seeks to be served. What counts is the motive and spirit behind it, not a position held in the church or in ministry. I have no doubt that the one who was not a bit behind the very greatest of the apostles was the one most filled with the mind which was in Christ Jesus. That was true in his own soul and in his service too. Paul was bondsman of all.
So what happens when the day of glory comes and they do rule?
Service was the road to rule, and this could only be because rule itself would be fuller service. Whoever would be great among them would be their minister, and the chief among them by that very fact be bound to serve them. Must it not be plain that the Son of Man, the King, "came not to be served but to serve"? Glory might change the character of this service — not the spirit nor the fact of it.
He would not hand out the seats, but He did not leave them empty-handed. He gave them the road.
If He cannot give them the chief place in glory, He can show them the path that leads there. The One who takes the lowest place on earth as the bondman of all will have the highest place in glory.
And the One who commands this walked it first, further than anyone can follow.
Who was so great as He in His original state? Then "a thousand thousands served Him" (Dan. 7:10). Who took so lowly a place, ministering to others? Who carried service to such a length as "to give His life as a ransom for many"? For this reason alone, apart from anything else, the place of pre-eminence must be His. Those who follow Him most closely in lowly service in this day will be greatest in that day.
- Cause. Real faith can still carry self-seeking inside it. The two wanted the best place. The ten's anger showed the same pride.
- Contrast. Disciples soak up the world's way of ruling without thinking. Jesus rules it out among His own.
- Cost. The two words rise in weight — servant, then slave. To be great, go low; to be greatest, go lowest.
- Character. Greatness is love that serves, not a rank to hold. Paul, behind none of the apostles, was bondsman of all.
- Crown. Service is the road to rule, because rule itself is fuller service. Those who follow Him closest in lowly service now will be greatest then.
and whosoever would be first of you shall be bondman of all.
James and John had just asked for the top seats in Jesus' kingdom, and the other ten disciples were angry about it. His answer turns the word "first" upside down: the road up runs downward.
Jesus uses one word in verse 43 and a stronger one here. Kelly weighs the difference, working from Matthew's record of the same words, where the stronger word falls in verse 27.
There is a difference between the two words. The word translated "minister" means a servant. But in verse 27 it is a bondman or slave. Do you want to be really great according to the principles of My kingdom? Go down as low as you can. Do you want to be the greatest? Go down the lowest of all. Whoever has least of self is greatest in the Lord's eyes.
Wanting the lead is not a small flaw. It contradicts everything a follower of Christ is meant to be.
Anyone who seeks to be great and to take the lead among Christians has completely falsified the Christian character. He will be the last of all. The true way to have the highest place is to serve, counting yourself the slave of the needs of other disciples. This is what Jesus did. He did not come into this world to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. The lesson is simple and clear, but it is of the greatest importance! Seeking to lift yourself up is only the selfishness of the flesh, the spirit of the world, which is hostile to God. Love delights to serve — this is what Christ did. Pride and selfishness love to be served, and to go before others.
Darby pins the phrase down: the slavery is to other people's needs.
It is easy to read this verse as a rebuke aimed only at the two brothers who asked. The other ten had just given themselves away too.
The flesh shows itself in the ten as well. Their indignation with James and John proved that jealousy was at work in their own hearts. One writer has said, "The flesh does not show itself only in the fault of this person or that. How do we behave when the faults of others are on open display? The indignation that broke out in the ten showed the pride of their own hearts, just as much as the two who wanted the best place."
Jesus did not set a standard He kept clear of Himself. He went lower than anyone He was speaking to.
The Son of Man Himself is the shining example of this kind of service. Who was ever as great as He was in His original place? "A thousand thousands served Him" (Daniel 7:10). Who ever took so low a place, serving others? Who ever carried service so far as "to give His life as a ransom for many"? For this reason alone, apart from everything else, the highest place must be His. Those who follow Him most closely in lowly service today will be the greatest in that day.
Another writer adds that His self-humbling also showed He was fit to rule.
So He Himself showed the beautiful marks of self-humbling that lead to exaltation. The wise man, in Proverbs 30:22, tells of three things that make the earth tremble, and the first is "a slave when he becomes king." Position by itself does not make a person fit for it. In our blessed Lord we see the beautiful marks that fit someone for righteous rule. The Servant of all shall be the Lord of all — "Therefore God has highly exalted Him"!
If serving is the road to ruling, what happens when the ruling arrives? It does not cancel the servant spirit; it enlarges it.
No: service was the road to rule, and this could only be because rule itself would be nothing but fuller service. Whoever would be great among them would be their servant, and the chief among them would by that very fact be bound to serve them. Must it not be plain that the Son of Man, the King, "came not to be served but to serve"? Glory might change the character of this service — not the spirit nor the fact of it.
- Down. Greatness in Christ's kingdom runs downward. "Minister" in verse 43 means a servant; the word here is stronger — a bondman, a slave.
- Down to all. The place Jesus names is not servant of one person but slave of all — bound to the everyday needs of everyone around you.
- Down in the heart. The two who asked and the ten who were angry showed the same pride. Anger at someone else's ambition can expose your own.
- Down first, by Him. Thousands once served Him. He took the lowest place and gave His life as a ransom, so the highest place must be His.
- Up, and still serving. Lowly service now is the road to rule then — and that rule will be service on a larger scale, not an escape from it.
For also the Son of man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and give his life a ransom for many.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.