You ask and receive not, because you ask wrongly, to consume on your own lusts [vs35-37]!

“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and declared, ‘Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.’

‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ He inquired.

They answered, ‘Grant that one of us may sit at Your right hand and the other at Your left in Your glory.’”

We want to be great preachers and great Christians, so that we can boast and share glory with Christ. We want to ATTACH OURSELF to His shine, as if He should be praised, but us too, exalted because of our greatness. We want to be holy for self-righteousness sake. We even desire marriage to consume it on our own lusts, so we’re not dependent on Christ and have something besides Him to make us happy.

Lovingly, He doesn’t give it to us. He gives us our appointed portion, humility before exaltation, pain before pleasure, and sorrow before comfort. He is gracious to give us our daily bread and to keep us from perishing. The Spirit prays for us because we’re ignorant, so He keeps us in His will with secret humblings and trials for our benefit [Rom 8:26-27]. He says, “No,” to our praise and teaches us to praise Him, which is far better, and the only blessing that He can give. Thank God for unanswered prayers, and prayers that lead us to Christ.

Secondly, Jesus is so gracious [vs38-41]!

“You do not know what you are asking,’ Jesus replied. ‘Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?’

‘We can,’ the brothers answered.

‘You will drink the cup that I drink,’Jesus said, ‘and you will be baptized with the baptism that I undergo. But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom they have been prepared.’

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.”

He’s far more gracious than any human. No man could humble himself to such a degree! We’d all be filled with indignation, and we’ve got so much growing to do, until we are like Christ. Not only is He not angry by their requests, their blind ignorance, and their bold self-confidence, but He speaks of the cross, graciously, including them in His suffering without them knowing that He’d take all the pain and they get the benefits! I must learn this humility! I must grow here.

It is not enough to be right: Our attitude must be right too. “God, teach us this, so we can glorify You and minister. Make us able to deal patiently with saints, as You have with us, putting aside a thousand faults when there is love. Let us minister in gentleness and control our spirits, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake. Let us preach in tenderness, suffer in humility, and help others.”

Finally, Christ gives us the Prime Example [vs42-45]!

“So Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’”

He came to minister to sinners, and that’s the path we must take. He came to die for our foolishness, rather than blotting us from the earth, tormenting us, and giving us a taste of what we deserve. His love is so real, so atoning, and so patient. His love is the example of greatness!

We are not trying to be applauded but to serve. We don’t want to be famous, but to exalt Him and help others. We don’t want to abuse the wicked but lead them to Christ by message and method! Oh, we can be so ungracious, so hard, and so cold. We can hide behind truth and care nothing for people. God help us to be Christlike - to honor the Son in doctrine and life… in attitude and accuracy of words.