Session 8
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, <
“Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”
38 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking.
Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We are able,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.
40 But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give;
instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
At your right and at your left
James and John had just heard Jesus explain the humiliating abuse and death He would be facing in Jerusalem.
However, they ignored what He had said about His impending suffering and death altogether.
Instead, they focused on the potential glory that awaited them in the messianic kingdom Jesus would establish.
In the first century, the seats on the right and the left of a leader were privileged positions,
and the ones who occupied these seats were seen as receiving the greatest honor.
James and John, along with Peter, had seen many things the other disciples had not seen,
including Jesus’s transfiguration (Mark 9:2-9).
But Jesus plainly told them that they had stepped over a line by seeking power and authority
rather than service and sacrifice.
Jesus did not shame James and John.
Instead, He reminded them what following Him required.
Likewise, God doesn’t shame us for our questions and doubts.
He invites us to speak our minds, while reminding us what it means to be a disciple.