Mark x. 35 — 40. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, ive would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you ? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask : can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ? And they say unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal
shall ye be baptized : but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give ; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
THERE is a fund of instruction in the Scriptures, which the superficial reader entirely overlooks. A thousand little circumstances that are incidentally mentioned in them, serve to confirm each other for the establishment of our faith a; whilst others, that are not mentioned at all, but only supplied by the attentive reader, afford lessons of the greatest import- ance for the regulation of our conduct. To administer reproof well, is an art exceeding rare and difficult to be attained. When called to attempt it, we in general either pass over the fault so slightly, as to convey no adequate idea of its malignity ; or insist upon it so strongly, as to incense, rather than conciliate, the offending person : taking no notice of what we might approve, we are apt to look only at what we dis- approve ; and to search out occasion for blame, even beyond what the occasion requires. But, instead of this, we should be forward to applaud what is good in the spirit of any person, when we cannot commend the terms in which he speaks ; or to put a favourable construction on the terms he uses, when we are con- strained to shew our disapprobation of his spirit. Our Lord has set us an example in this respect, which well deserves our imitation. Two of his Disciples, James and John, had come to him with a request, which argued lamentable ignorance and a highly culpable ambition. But how did our Lord correct their folly ? Did he expatiate upon their fault, and aggravate it to the uttermost ? No : he apparently overlooked it ; and annexed to their words a favour- able meaning which they were never intended to convey ; and then founded on them such instruction as was calculated silently and effectually to counter- act the evils of the heart.
In speaking of the request which these Disciples offered to him, we shall notice it,
a This is beautifully illustrated in that masterly work, Paley's Horae Paulina?.
1442.1 AMBITION OF JAMES AND JOHN REPROVED. Ill
I. As it was intended by them —
Whether the idea originated with them or their mother, we do not know : perhaps the Disciples, con- scious of the unreasonableness of their desires, had engaged the good offices of their mother, to veil their own ambition : or, possibly, the mother, anxious for the aggrandisement of her family, had urged on her sons to unite in the request : but at all events it is evident, that they hoped by their joint influence certainly to prevail.
Notwithstanding all that our Lord had just said about his sufferings and death, his Disciples still ex- pected that he would establish a temporal kingdom. Though he had spoken of his being crucified, yet, as he had talked also of " rising again the third day," they conceived, that he spoke only of some transient trials, which would issue in a complete triumph over all his enemies. They remembered that promise which he had very recently given them, that they should at a future period " sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel13;" and they concluded, that it must relate to some temporal dominion. Emboldened by this, they presumed to ask that they might be invested with the two highest places of dignity and power in his kingdom. Not a thought did they bestow on his sufferings, though described in such awful terms : nothing found any place in their minds, but a hope of speedy elevation to the highest honours upon earth. Nor did they affect only a superiority over the world at large, but even above their own brethren also, even above all the other Apostles ; so blind were they to their own incompetency for such a post, and so regardless of their own eternal interests. Consider their request in this view :