Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Ambitious Request of James and John, MAKK X. and the Reply of our Lord.
Anil lie took again the twelve—referring to His previous announceinents on this sail subjectand began to tell fliem tvliat things should Itappen unto Iilm— baptized with his Master's baptism of blood (Acts 12. 1, 2); while John, after going through all the persecutions to which the infant Church was exposed from the Jews, and sharing in the struggles and sufferings occasioned by the first triumphs of tlie Gospel among the Gentiles, lived to be the victim, after all the rest had got to glory, of a bitter persecution in the evening of his days, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Yes, they were dear believers and blessed men, in spite of this unworthy ambition, find their Lord knew it; and perhaps the foresight of what they would have to pass through, and the courageous testimony He would yet receive from them, was the cause of that gentleness which we cannot but wonder at in His reproof. And Jesus said nnto them, Ife shall Indeed drink of the cup that I drink of) and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye b« baptized—No doubt this prediction, when their sufl'erings at length came upon them, cheered them with tlie assurance, not that they would sit on His right and left hand— for of that thought they would be heartily ashamed—but that"if they suffered with Him, they should be also glorified together." 40. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand Is not mine to give ; but [it shall V>e given to them] forwhom It is prepared—" of my Father" (Matthew 20. 23). The supplement which our translators have inserted is approved by some gooti interpreters, and the proper sense of the word rendered "but" is certainly in favour of it. But besides tliat it makes the statement too elliptical — leaving too many words to be supplied — it seems to make our Lord repudiate the right to assign to each of His people his place in the kingdom of glory; a thing whicli He nowhere else does, but rather the contrary. It is true that He says their place is " prepared for them by His Fatl\er." But that is true of their admission to heaven at all ; and yet from His great white tlirone Jesus will Himself adjudicate the kingdom, and authoritatively invite into it those on His right hand, calling them the "blessed of His Father;" so little inconsistency
' were going to befall Him.' The word expresses something iilre;iiiy begun but not brought to a head, rather than something wholly future. 33. Saylug, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem—for the last time, and—" all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man sliall be accomplished" (Luke 18. 31). the Son of man shall he delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes ; and they shall condemn Ikim to death, and shall deliver hliii to the Gentiles—This is the first express statement that the Gentiles would combine with t lie Jews in His death; the two grand divisions of the human race for whom He died thus taking part in crucifying the Lord of Glory, as Webster and Wilkinson observe. 31. And they shall mock him, and shall scourge hlni, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him : and the third day he shall rise again—Singularly lexplicit as this announcement was, Luke (18. S4) says "they understood none of these things; and this saying was liid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." The meaning of the words they could be at no loss to understand, but their import in relation to His Messianic kingdom they could not penetrate; the whole prediction being right in the teeth of their preconceived notions. That they should have clung so tenaciously to the popular notion of an MnsufTering Messiah, may surprise us; but it gives inexpressible weight to their after-testimony to a suffering and dying .Saviour.
Ambitiom Request of James and John— TTie Reply {v. 35- ir>). 35. And James aitd John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying — Matthew (20. 20) says their "mother came to Him with her sons, worshipping Him and desiring," &o. (Cf. Matthew 27. 56, with ch. 15. 40.) Salome was her name (ch. 16. 1). We cannot be sure with whicli of the parties the movement originated ; but as our Lord, even in Matthew's account, addresses Himself to James and John, making no account of the mother, it
Is there between the eternal choice of them by His Father, and that public adjudication of tliem, not only to heaven In general, but each to his own position in it, which all Scripture assigns to Christ. The true rendering, then, of this clause, we take it, is this: 'But to sit on My right hand and on Myleftliand is not Mine to give, save to them for whom it is prepared.' Wlien therefore He says, " Ikis not mine to gi ve," the meaning is, ' I cannot give it as a favour to whomsoever I please, or on a principle o{favouritism; it belongs exclusively to those for whom it is prepared,' &c. And if tliis be His meaning, it will be seen how far our Lord is from disclaiming the riglit to assign to each his proper place in His Kingdom ; that on tlie contrary. He expressly asserts it, merel.v announcing that the principle of distribution is quite different from what these petitioners supposed. Our Lord, it will be observed, does not deny the petition of James and John, or say they shall not occupy the place in His kingdom wlilch they now improperly .sought:—for aught we know, that may be their true place. All we are sure of is, tliat their asking it was displeasing to Him "to whom all judgment is committed," and so was not titled to gain their object, but just the reverse 'See what is taught in Luke 14. 8-11.) One at least of these brethren, as Alford strikingly remarks, saw on tlie right and on the left hand of their Lord, as He hungupon the tree, the crucified thieves; and hitter indeed must have been the remembrance of this ambitious prayer at that moment. 41. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John—or " were moved with indignation," as the same word is rendered in Matthew 2i). '24. The expression "bet/an to be," which is of frequent occurrence in the Gospels, means that more pas.sed than is expressed, and that we have but the result. And can we blame the ten is likely the motlier was merely set on by them. The thought was doubtless suggested to her sons by the recent promise to the Twelve of " thrones to sit on, when the Son of man should sit on the throne of His glor.v" (Matthew 19. '28); but after the reproof so lately given them (ch.
9. 38, ifcc.) they get' their motlier to speak for them. Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire—tluis cautiously approaching the subject. 3G. And he said unto them, \Vliat would ye tJiat I should do for you 1—Though well aware what was their mind and their mother's, our Lord will have the unseemly petition uttered before all. 37. Grant unto us tliat we may sit, one on thy right han X, and the other on thy left hand. In thy glory—i. e.. Assign to us the two places of highest honour in the coming kingdom. The semblance of a plea for so presumptuous a request might possibly have been drawn from the fact that one of the two usually leaned on the breast of Jesus, or sat next Him at meals, while the otiier was one of the favoured three. 38. But Jesus said unto tliein, Ye know not what ye ask—How gentle the reply to such a request, preferred at such a time, after the sad announcement just made !—caji ye drink of the cup that I drink ofI—To 'drink of a cup' is in Scripture a figure for getting one's fill either of good (Psalm 10.5; 2:i.5; 110.13; Jeremiah 16.7) or of ill (Psalm
75. 8 ; John 18. 1 1 ; Hevelal ion U. 10). Here It is the cup of suffering—and be baptize<l with the baptism that I am baptlxed with 1—(Cf. for the language. Psalm 42.7.) The objed of tliis question soems to have been to try how far those two men were capable of the dignity to whicli they aspired; and tliis on the principle that he who is able to suffer most for His sake will be the nearest to Him in His kingdom. 39. And they said unto him, We can—Here we se(; them owiilng their mother's petition for them as their own; and doubtless they wire perfectly sincere In professing their willingness to follow their Master to any sullerlng He might have to endure. Well, and they shall have to do It. .A.S lor James, he was the first of the aposfor the indignation which they felt? Yet there was prol>- ably a spice of the old spirit of rivalry in It, which in spite of our fiord's recent lengthened, divei-sifled, and most solemn warnings against it. had not ceased to stir ill their breasts. 4'/2. But Jesusfcallrd them to him, and salth unto them. Ye kikuw that tikcy which ai-e hctles who was honoured, and showed himself able to bo 82