In verses 35-45, a comparatively long content, the author continued with the story of James and John. They asked, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
In a parallel phrase, Matthew 20:20-28, their mother requested the same demand. There are many reasons for our inability to explain why different subjects appear in the same story. One of them was to acquire their honor. In anybody’s point of view, the demand of James and John was rather childish. So if the Bible said that the disciples directly did it then their dignity might be damaged. The author of Matthew considering their dignity put their mother on it instead.
The authors of gospels could exercise such discretionary power in the process of writhing. The way of writing in the ancient time also had a share in it. Despite such differences within the parallel phrase, the spiritual authority of gospel is not at all affected. The authors of the gospel were only interested in the incidents happened to Jesus, that is, elucidation of kerygma (preaching).
One of the reasons of the demand of James and John exclusively lies on the fact that Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. Jesus’ way to Jerusalem involved a series of his Passion and the subsequent crucifixion. The author of Mark had already pointed out this earlier. It was really an egregious step to make their future security amid such risky and vulnerable situation.
It is not merely the matter of James and John. Most of the time, human naturally acts that way. We all the time think only of oneself. We try to catch up our own fortune at the cost of other’s misfortune. We do not try to eradicate a secular thought while we are doing something sacred. We are the very James and John.
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