Mothers tend to want the best for their children and in this incident Salome, on behalf of her sons James and John, makes a request to Jesus. It was that the two sons would have the chief positions, on the immediate right and left of the Lord in glory. They wanted prominence in the coming Messianic kingdom.
Such a request should never have been made. It was presumptuous, selfish and revealed ignorance of God’s ways. They should have known better; Jesus had previously talked about the wrongness of debating who should be the greatest, Mark 9. 33-37. That teaching had not been heeded by John and James.
The Lord’s response to this request was gently to instruct them rather than sharply rebuke them. He drew their attention to suffering and pain, and away from glory and reigning. He talked of the cup and baptism of suffering which He must experience and in their ignorance they claimed that they would do likewise. Though they would eventually suffer, the Lord turns their minds from selfish ambition to selfless concern and care for others. Thus they had to learn the lesson that coveting important positions was not the aim of being a disciple.
The lesson had to be given to all the disciples as the others were not pleased with the request of James and John, for they too harboured selfish ambitions. Jesus explained that power and domination were the pursuit of those who do not know God. His followers had to be different, for greatness is witnessed in service and the chief place is one of ministering to others.
The supreme example of such an attitude and way of life was the Saviour Himself. His whole mission was not to get but to give. He came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many.
Like John, we must learn that the Christian life is one of humility and a willingness to serve. It may involve menial tasks, small acts of kindness or inconveniencing ourselves for the good of others. It may involve self-sacrifice and there may be little appreciation for what we do. Indeed, few may see any worth in our work of service. Yet when we do it unto the Lord and for His glory it takes on eternal worth.
