And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Teacher, we would that you should do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
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Bede
AD 735
When the sons of Zebedee were seeking from Jesus seats in his kingdom, he at once called them to drink of his chalice, that is, to pattern themselves after the struggle of his suffering.
They knew that among the disciples they were warmly loved by our Lord, that together with the blessed Peter they had often been informed of hidden mysteries of which the rest were unaware, as the text of the holy gospel frequently indicates. Thus a new name was given to them, just as it was to Peter. As the one who was formerly called Simon was given the name of Peter on account of the strength and firmness of his unassailable faith, so they were called Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder, because they heard, along with Peter, the voice of the Father honoring the Lord, and they recognized the secrets of the mysteries more than the rest of the disciples. They sensed that they clung to our Lord with their whole heart and embraced him with the greatest love. So they did not disbelieve that it was possible that they would be sitting closely on either side of him in the kingdom, particularly when they saw that John, for his singular purity of mind and body, was held in such great love that ...
They were expecting him to enter into [the kingdom], but not to go to the cross and death. Even though they had heard it ten thousand times, they could not clearly understand. Since they had not gotten a clear and certain knowledge of his teachings, they thought that he was going to this visible kingdom and would rule in Jerusalem. So the sons of Zebedee caught up with him on the road. They thought they had found the opportune moment. They put their request to him. They had broken away from the throng of the disciples and, just as if the whole situation had turned out exactly as they wanted, they asked about the privilege of the first seats and about being first among the others. They asked for this because they assumed that everything was finished and the whole business was over and done with. They made their request because they thought that now was the time for crowns and rewards.
Another Evangelist says that the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Christ (Mt. 20:20). It is likely that both events took place. The apostles were embarrassed, and had their mother go first, and then they themselves approached Christ in private. This is what the Evangelist means here when he says that they come unto Him, that they approach Him in private, apart from the others. Let us learn what it was they asked. They thought that His going up to Jerusalem meant that He was going to ascend the throne of an earthly kingdom, and that after He had become king He would suffer those things which He said He would suffer. With this understanding, they are asking to sit at His right hand and His left. This is why the Lord rebukes them for asking for something foolish. Ye know not what ye ask, He says. You are thinking that My kingdom is an earthly kingdom, and you are asking for an earthly throne. But it is not so; rather, these things are beyond your understanding. To sit at My right ...
