Mark wrote how Jesus told His disciples, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that you should do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would you that I should do for you?”, and in chapter ten and verse thirty-seven of his book, Mark shared how James and John answered, “grant unto us that we may sit, one on your right hand, and the other on your left hand, in your glory” where we read:
They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit,
one on your right hand, and the other on your left hand, in your glory.
The verse reads, “They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, ... ” Mark began with the words, “they said” which means “James and John uttered, declared, proclaimed and answered” “unto him” or “to Jesus”, “Grant unto us” which means “bestow, give, furnish and supply to James and John” “that we may sit” or “that James and John may be seated, fixed and established”. Mark shared how James and John desired to have exalted positions when the following event occurred.
The verse goes on to say, “... one on your right hand, and the other on your left hand, in your glory.” Mark continued with the words, “one on your right hand” which means “either James or John sitting on the right side of authority next to the throne”, “and the other on your left hand” or “and either James or John on the left side of authority to the throne”, “in your glory” which refers to “in Jesus' honor, magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace and majesty”. Mark shared how James and John desired to be seated in the “prominent places” beside Jesus' throne when He comes into “authority and majesty”.
When we think through Mark's words in this verse, we discover the desire of James and John. They wanted to be in positions of authority directly next to Jesus when He began to rule. Maneuvering for prominent seats of power is not anything new among people, and today there are people who do the same. However, God knows who will be in the “seats of authority” and that is left to Him. His desire is for everyone to be in a loving personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. Those who are wise will yield themselves to Him and allow the Lord to decide who will sit in “positions of authority” in His Kingdom.
Next time Mark shares how Jesus answered, “you know not what you ask” , so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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