I. THE REQUEST OF AMBITION. There is scope in every position of human life for the display of this principle of human nature. The desire to be wiser and better and more influential for good than we are is to be commended ; but the desire to have more power and honour than our fellow-men ig bad, unless it be cherished with a view to their advantage. There is such a thing as religious ambition, as the history of the Church in all ages abundantly shows. And the passage in the Gospel history now before us exhibits the working of this principle in the breasts of some of our Lord’s first followers and apostles. Observe: 1. By whom this request was preferred. Salome was the wife of Zebedee, the owner of fishing-boats upon the Galilean lake. As the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, she may naturally have thought she and hers had some claim upon the Founder of the new kingdom. Her sons, James and John, joined with her in this petition for pre-eminence, so that it was in all likelihood discussed and arranged beforehand. It is remarkable that these ambitious followers of Jesus, who herein showed so little of the Master’s spirit, were, with Peter, his most ‘utimate and trusted friends, who might have been supposed the most to resemble him in disposition and character. A warning which none should neglect, as to the possibility of even eminent Christians falling into this snare. 2. On what oceaston was this petition pre- sented? It is observable that, shortly before, Jesus had promised his disciples honour and dignities; in fact, thrones of dominion and judgment in the kingdom that was to be. Yet more recently, however, he had amazed his disciples by informing them of events which he plainly foresaw—his own approaching persecution, sufferings, and death. The end was indeed near, and Jesus seems to have foretold its accompaniments the more clearly the nearer the time approached. It is singular that the ambition of the brothers, instead of being subdued by the mournful prospect, was inflamed by the glorious promise. They thought of their thrones more than of his cross. 3. There was some good in this request. It recognized Christ’s authority, for the petition was urged upon him as upon a King who was able to grant it. It evinced faith in his eharacter and in his future; for unless the kingdom had been a real thing to them they would not have sought participation in its glories. Not only did they refer the appointment to him; they evidently desired above all things to rule, not only uncer him, but with him. 4. Yet there was still more manifestly what was bad in the request. ‘Their great error was that they overlooked the sublime truth, that fellowship is spiritual and not circumstantial. To be Christ’s, whether upon a throne, or in a hevel, or a dungeon— that is the aspiration of the true Christian’s heart; the aspiration to share in his outward glory (as if that were the best) is mean and contemptible. What a carnal conception was theirs of the kingdom! ‘They laid hold of the emblem, but the underlying truth and reality escaped them altogether. And yet, again, we discern in the request a selfish desire for personal aggrandizement. They were thinking of themselves when they should have been thinking of their Lord. They ought to have asked, “ How, Lord os re Kd thee, ay) suffer Rie thee, and so please and glorify thee?” Instead ol which they were scheming what they might get from Christ, and ho i him might be turned best to their pills aavaniage ; ee
II. THE REBUKE OF AMBITION. Our Lord had on several occasions to ret ke the pride, vain-glory, and strife for pre-eminence which broke forth now and again even in the chosen band of the twelve. This he did by symbolical acts, as when he set the little child in the midst and exhorted them to a childlike spirit; and again when he washed their feet, bidding them follow his example of condescension and humility. On the occasion before us our Lord censured the conduct of the brothers with a peculiar and memorable solemnity. 1. Remark what he refused. The places asked for he would not grant them. He gave them to understand that the bestowment of honours in Christ’s kingdom is not a matter, 8o to speak, of favouritism, of private and personal feeling. It is governed by great moral laws. It is the result of their operation in the heart and in society. There is nothing arbitrary or capricious init. It is the expression of the Father’s wisdom, The future shall reveal what for the present lies hid from all 2. Remark what Jesus promised. He first puts it to them in the form of a question ;
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but he very graciously passes from interrogation to assurance and promise. These two men who asked for thrones were promised—what? The cup of sorrow and the baptism of suffering. But it was to be Acs cup, Ais baptism. What Jesus meant we are at no loss to decide. The cup he drank in the garden of Gethsemane; the baptism all but overwhelmed him upon the cross of Calvary. Of all this they should know something by bitter, yet blessed, experience. They had some foretaste of their portion when they saw their Master in his humiliation and in his death. After years enlarged their experience. James fell a victim to the sword of the persecutor; John lived a long life of witness, both by work for Christ and by steadfastness in suffering for Christ. Both were faithful unto death. Both lost all taint of earthly ambition, and knew the fellow- ahip of their Lord’s cross and passion. 3. Consider how contrary to their expectations was this revelation of the mode in which Christ’s disciples should share with him. The manner in which the Lord dealt with them showed alike his knowledge of human nature and his habitual power of spiritual sympathy. How fitted was his treatment of them to draw out and encourage their better feelings! How much higher and nobler @ view of human nature and its possibilities and destinies was this which Jesus pre- sented! And he did it in such a way as not to discourage those whom yet he felt it
needful to rebuke ; in such a way as to prepare his friends to give, in due time, the con- vincing proof that their friendship was genuine, sympathetic, and unselfish.