When they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, Jesus went ahead of them, and they were terrified, and following Him, they were afraid. And when he had called the twelve, he began to speak to them again concerning what would happen to him, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered up to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him up to the Gentiles, and mock him, and beat him, and spit on him, and kill him; and on the third day he will rise again.

Why does Jesus foretell to His disciples what will happen to Him? To strengthen their spirits, so that they, having previously heard about it, would bravely endure when it came to pass, and would not be struck by the suddenness; and at the same time they must have known that He suffers according to His will. For whoever foresaw suffering could avoid it, and if he did not flee, it is evident that he willingly gives himself over to suffering. But since only the closest disciples had to reveal His suffering, He precedes everyone on the way, wishing to separate the disciples from the people. Moreover, by anticipating all and haste on His way, the Lord also shows that He hastens to suffering and does not flee from death for the sake of our salvation. Everything that He says in this case, although deplorable, nevertheless consoles with the fact that "on the third day He will rise again."

Then the sons of Zebedee, James and John, came to Him and said, "Teacher! we want Thee to do to us what we ask. He said to them, What do you want me to do to you? They said to Him; let us sit with Thee, one on the right hand and the other on the left, in Thy glory. But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking." Can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

Another Evangelist (Matt. 20:20) says that their mother (James and John) came to Jesus. But it was probably both: these two apostles, ashamed of the others, sent their mother in advance, and then they themselves approached separately, as the Evangelist signifies, saying: "They came to Him," that is, they approached separately, departing from the others. What did they ask for? The ascent of Christ to Jerusalem, about which He conversed with His disciples, they understood that He was coming to receive the kingdom of the senses, and already after His enthronement He would endure the sufferings of which He had prophesied. Thinking in this way, they ask to sit on the right and left side of Christ. That is why the Lord also rebukes them, as those who do not understand what they are asking: "You do not know," he says, "what you are asking." You think that My Kingdom will be sensual, and therefore you ask for the sensual to sit; no, this is not so: it is beyond the concept of man, and to sit at the right hand of Me is the greatest deed, surpassing even the ranks of angels. Moreover, you dream of glory, and I call you to death. He calls the Cross the Chalice and Baptism — the Chalice because the Cross, like the cup of wine, was soon to bring Him to the sleep of death — and He was ready to accept the cup of suffering as a sweet drink for Himself; and by Baptism, because by the Cross He made the cleansing of our sins. But the disciples, not understanding the words of the Lord, give a promise on their part, thinking that He is speaking about the sensual cup and about the baptism that the Jews had, who washed themselves before eating food.

They answered: we can. And Jesus said to them, "The cup which I drink, you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you shall be baptized; and to let them sit on My right hand and on my left does not depend on Me, but on whom it is prepared.

Вы, — говорит, — войдете в подвиг мученичества и умрете за истину, «а дать сесть не от Меня зависит». Но здесь представляются два недоумения. Первое: уготовано ли кому это сидение? Второе: ужели всеобщий Владыка не может дать сего сидения? Отвечаем: никто не будет сидеть ни одесную, ни ошуюю. А если и слышишь, что в Писании многократно говорится о таком сидении, то разумей не сидение (в собственном смысле), но высшее достоинство. А слова: «не от Меня зависит» имеют такой смысл: Мне, праведному Судье, не свойственно дать вам такое достоинство по одной любви к вам; иначе Я не был бы правосуден; но такая почесть уготована только подвизающимся. Это подобно тому, как если бы правосудный царь посадил выше других какого-либо подвижника, а любимцы его, придя, сказали бы ему: «дай нам венцы»; тогда царь, конечно, ответил бы: «не от меня зависит», но кто будет подвизаться и победит, тому и венец уготован.- Итак, вы, сыны Зеведеевы, можете быть и будете мучениками за Меня; но если кто вместе с мученичеством будет иметь и всякую другую добродетель больше вас, тот будет иметь преимущество пред вами.

И, услышав, десять начали негодовать на Иакова и Иоанна. Иисус же, подозвав их, сказал им: вы знаете, что почитающиеся князьями народов господствуют над ними, и вельможи их властвуют ими. Но между вами да не будет так: а кто хочет быть большим между вами, да будет вам слугою; и кто хочет быть первым между вами, да будет всем рабом. Ибо и Сын Человеческий не для того пришел, чтобы Ему служили, но чтобы послужить и отдать душу Свою для искупления многих.