Asking And Receiving

Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης, οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου, λέγοντες· Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἕνα ὁ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμεν, ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς · Τί θέλετε ποιῆσαί με ὑμῖν ; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου , καὶ εἷς ἐξ εὐωνύμων σου καθήσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Οὐκ οἶδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. Δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὁ ἐγὼ πίνω, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι, βαπτισθῆναι; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Δυνάμεθα. ῎Αλλος εὐαγγελιστής φησιν ὅτι ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῶν προσἦλθε τῷ Χριστῷ . Εἰκὸς δὲ ἐστιν ἀμφότερα γενέσθαι· καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους αἰσχυνομένους προβαλέσθαι τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν , εἶτα καὶ αὐτοὺς προσελθεῖν ἰδίᾳ· διὸ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐπισημαίνεται τοῦτο, λέγων· Προσπορεύονται , ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἰδίᾳ προσέρχονται, τῶν ἄλλων ἀποχωρισθέντες. Τί δὲ ἦν ὁ ᾐτοῦντο, μάθωμεν. Ἐνόμιζον ὅτι τοῦτο ὁ ἀνέρχεται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, διὰ τὸ βασιλεύσειν ἀνέρχεται αἰσθητὴν βασιλείαν. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ βασιλεῦσαι, τότε πείσεται ὁ ἔμελλε παθεῖν. Ταῦτα οὖν ἐννοοῦντες, αἰτοῦνται καὶ τὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ τὴν ἐξ εὐωνύμων καθέδραν· διὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐπιτιμᾷ αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀνόητόν τι ζητοῦσιν. Οὐκ οἶδατε γὰρ, φησὶ, τί αἰτεῖσθε . Ὑμεῖς γὰρ νομίζετε αἰσθητὴν εἶναι τὴν ἐμὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ αἰσθητὴν τὴν καθέδραν αἰτεῖσθε. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα ὑπὲρ νοῦν εἰσι. Καὶ τὸ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου μέγα ἐστὶ , καὶ τὰς ἀγγελικὰς ὑπερβαῖνον τάξεις, καὶ ὑμεῖς μὲν ἐπὶ δόξαν κεχήνατε, ἐγὼ δὲ εἰς θάνατον ὑμᾶς καλῶ. Ποτήριον γὰρ καὶ βάπτισμα τὸν σταυρὸν ὀνομάζει· ποτήριον μὲν, ὡς εἰς ὕπνον εὐθὺς ἄγον καὶ ὡς ἡδέως ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ προσδεχθέν· βάπτισμα δὲ, ὡς καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενον· οἱ δε, μὴ νοήσαντες τί λέγοι, ὑπέσχοντο, νομίζοντες λέγειν περὶ ποτηρίου αἰσθητοῦ, καὶ βαπτίσματος οἶῳ ἐβαπτίζοντο οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, πρὸ τοῦ φαγεῖν πλυνόμενοι. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τὸ μὲν ποτήριον ὁ ἐγὼ πίνω, πίεσθε, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι, βαπτισθήσεθε. Τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων μου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι , ἀλλ᾿οἷς ἡτοίμασται. Τὸ μὲν μαρτύριον, φησὶν, ὑπεισελεύσεσθε, καὶ ἀποθανεῖσθε τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας θάνατον. Τὸ δὲ καθίσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ δύο τινὰ ζητοῦνται. Εν μὲν τόδε. ῎Αρα ἡτοίμασταί τινι τὸ καθίσαι; ἕτερον δὲ, ἆρα ὁ πάντων Δεσπότης οὐ δύναται ταύτην τὴν καθέδραν δοῦναι; Λέγομεν οὖν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐκ δεξιῶν καθίσει ἢ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν. Ἀλλὰ κἂν πολλαχοῦ τῆς Γραφῆς καθέδρας ἀκούῃς, μὴ καθέδραν νόει, ἀλλὰ τιμὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν. Τὸ δὲ, Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, τοιοῦτον ἔχει τὸν νοῦν· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμοῦ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ, τὸ δοῦναι ὑμῖν κατὰ χάριν τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δίκαιο; εἴην· ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀγωνισαμένοις, ἐκείνοις ἡτοίμασται ἡ τιμὴ αὕτη , ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ βασιλεὺς δίκαιος προεκάθητο ἀγῶνός τινος , εἶτα προσέλθοιεν αὐτῷ τινες φίλοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἴποιεν · Δὸς ἡμῖν τοὺς στεφάνους , εἶπεν ἂν , Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν τὸ δοῦναι , ἀλλ᾿εἴ τις ἀγωνίσεται καὶ νικήσει, ἐκείνῳ ἡτοίμασται ὁ στέφανος· ὥστε καὶ ὑμεῖς , οἱ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου παῖδες, μαρτυρήσετε μὲν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, ἐὰν δὲ τις εὑρεθείη μετὰ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἔχων ὑπὲρ ὑμᾶς, ἐκεῖνος προάξει ὑμᾶς Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Μάρκον, Κεφαλ. I’ Source: Migne PG 123.605a-607a

And the sons of Zebedee, James and John, came to Him, saying, 'Teacher, we wish to ask you to do one thing for us.' And He said to them, 'What do you wish?' They said to Him, 'Grant to us that one of us may sit at your right hand and one at your left hand in your glory.' Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I shall drink and be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?' And they said to Him, 'We can.' 1 Another evangelist says that it was their mother who approached Christ. But both accounts are true, for it was out of modesty that the apostles first sent their mother, and then they themselves approached. Therefore the evangelist here attends to the latter pair, saying that they came to Him, that is, they brought themselves near and so separated themselves from the others. What it was they sought, let us consider. They thought that He was going up to Jerusalem to reign in some temporal kingdom and that after He had reigned those things which He had spoken of that He would suffer would occur. Thinking such things they sought a seat at his right and at His left hand, and therefore the Lord warned them that they were asking foolishly. 'You do not know,' He said, 'what you are asking.' 'For you believe my kingdom to be a material thing and you seek a temporal seat, but it is not so, but all these things are above the minds of men. And to sit at my right hand is a great thing and excels the angelic orders. You are certainly keen for glory, but I am called to death.' For He speaks of the cross under the name of a cup and baptism. Certainly the cup is what swiftly brings sleep and because of that is taken up with joy, and baptism is purification from sins. But they did not understand what He said was promised, thinking He spoke of a material cup and the washing the Jews would perform so as to be clean before eating. Jesus said to them, 'The cup I shall drink, you shall drink, and the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but to sit at my right and left is not for me to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.' 2 You shall come to martyrdom, He says, and die for the truth, but to give the seat is not mine to give. In this place two questions are often asked: firstly, for whom is the seat prepared, and then how is it that the Lord of all things is not able to give this seat? We say, then, that no one shall actually sit at His right hand and at His left hand. For when you often hear in Scripture about a seat you should not understand a seat, but an excellence of dignity. And 'it is not for me to give,' has this meaning: it is not for me, the righteous judge, to give to you this honour for free, for that would not be right, but this dignity is prepared for those who labour. It is as if a righteous king presided over a contest and then certain friends approached him and said, 'Give us laurels.' He would say 'That is not for me to give, but if a man will compete and triumph, for him a crown is prepared.' And thus even you, O sons of Zebedee. You shall be martyrs for me, but if some youth shall come to martyrdom, and if he possess all the other virtues more than you, he shall precede you.' Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 10 1 Mk 10.35-39 2 Mk 10.39-40

Labour and Reward

Τὴν αἴτησιν τῆς μητέρος τῶν υἱων Ζεβεδαίου οὐχ ὡς ἀδύνατον αὐτῳ παραιτ εἶται  ὁ Κύριος· ὁ γὰρ βούλεται δύναται· ἀλλ' ὡς ἄτοπον ἀπεπέμψατο. Εἰπὲ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἵνα οἱ δύο υἱοι μου καθίσωσιν, εἶς ἐκ δεξιῶν σοι, καὶ εἶς ἐξ εὐωνύμων σου ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου. Ὁ δὲ δίκαιος μισθαποδότης, εὐλόγῳ τινὶ κρίσει σωφρονίζει τὸ ἄτοπον. Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμον δοῠναι ἁπλῶς τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ παρασχεῖν μισωὸν τοῖς καμοῦσιν· οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ δικαίου κριτοῦ τοὺς ἱδρῶτας παριδεῖν, καὶ ῥᾳθύμοις παρασχεῖν. Εἰ τοίνυν τῆς καθέδρας ἐρῶσι, τοὺς ἀγῶνας οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσιν, ὦν ἐκείνη βραβεῖον τοῖς νομίμως ἀθλοῦσιν ἠτοίμασται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΑΖ' Νειλῳ

The question of the mother of the sons of Zebedee was not for something that exceeded the power of the Lord, since had He wished He was able, but it was refused as something absurd. 'For say,' she said, 'that my two sons will sit with you, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.'  1 But that righteous one who gives reward with reasonable judgement chides the absurdity. It is not mine to give what you have asked, but to furnish reward to those who have toiled, for it is not of correct judgement to have contempt for the sweat stained righteous and to reward those who are indolent. If then it is so for those who love to sit in seats, ignorant of struggle, so He has ready the prize for those whose custom it is to run the race. Saint Isidore of Pelustium, Book 1, Letter 137 To Nilus 1 Mt 20.21

Sons of Thunder

Nec Jacobus et Joannes mortui filii tonitrui, quibus in usum gloriae coelestis assumptis non praevalent terrena, sed subjacent. Esto ergo et tu Petrus, devotus, fidelis, pacificus; ut portas Ecclesiae aperias, et portas mortis evadas. Esto filius tonituri. Dicis: Quomodo possum esse filius tonitrui. Dicis: Quomodo possum esse filius tonitrui? Potes esse, si non in terra, sed in pectore Christi recumbas. Potes esse filius tonitrui si te terrena non moveant, sed ipse potius ea quae terrena sunt, mentis tuae virtute concutias. Tremat te terra, non capiat: vereatur caro potestatem animi tui, et concussa subdatur. Eris filius tonitrui, si fueris filius Ecclesiae. Dicat et tibi de patibulo crucis Christus: 'Ecce mater tua'  Dicat et Ecclesiae: Ecce filius tuus ; tunc enim incipis esse filius Ecclesiae cum in cruce victorem videris Christum. Nam qui crucem scandalum putet, Judaeus est, Ecclesiae filius non est: qui crucem stultitam putat, Greacus est. Ille autem est Ecclesiae filius, qui crucem triumphum putat, qui crucem Christi triumphantis agnoscit.   Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VII

Neither James nor John, the sons of thunder, 1 died; they were taken up to the enjoyment of heavenly glory because earthly things did not prevail over them but they subdued them. Be then a Peter, devout, faithful, peaceful, that you may open the gates of the church and avoid the gates of death. Be a son of thunder. You may ask, 'How am I able to be a son of thunder?' You are able to be one if you recline on the breast of Christ, 2 not on the earth. You are able to be a son of thunder if earthly things do not move you, but rather you, with the virtue of your mind, crush down worldly things. Let the earth fear you, rather than seize you, let flesh fear the power of your soul and let it be subdued with a blow. You shall be a son of thunder if you become a son of the Church. Let Christ say from the yoke of the cross: 'Behold your mother.' 3 And let it be said to the Church 'Behold your son' 4 Then you shall begin to be a son of the Church when in the cross you see the victory of Christ. For he who thinks the cross scandalous is of the Jews; he is not  a son of the Church. He who thinks the cross is foolish, is of the Gentiles. He is a son of the Church who deems the cross a triumph, who knows the cross as the victory of Christ. Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7 1 Mark 3.17 2 Jn 13.23-25 3 Jn 19.27 4 Jn 19.26