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comfort and suffering. By asking for thrones in glory, they
wanted comfortable security in addition to honour and power.
Jesus’ passion or resurrection predictions and the glory’
response of the disciples are at the very centre of Mark’s theology
of the cross. The disciples, who left home, family, and comfort
behind to follow him and risking their lives to change the world,
travel “on the way” with Jesus misunderstood the matter of the
cross rather they clamoured for glory.

Mark’s documentation has been considered as a fitting
climax highlights delusions of discipleship where James and John
the chief characters that we encounter approaching Jesus with a
request that reflects ambition, honour, lordship, authority and
competitions which are the primary focuses of modern empire.
Here we witnesses sudden shift in their attitude as they approach
the cross. They sought from Jesus a monarch’s gift; they would
have seen it as a natural caution, not spiritual insight. They were
fully influenced by the delusions of the empire such as kinship
delusion in view of the familial relationship that encouraged
them to come to Jesus.

By asking Jesus to grant them their own desire which
could be seen as ambitious, vanity and self-centredness, the two
disciples perceived discipleship as pursuing self-interest. It is
called ambition delusion. Later they thought that discipleship
was the place that a person sits in, or a position that one occupies.
This is called honour delusion

James and John are being moulded by Jesus

The request James and John comes from a
misunderstanding of who Jesus was; at this time they likely
regarded Jesus as the military messiah. They believed he was
going to lead a revolution against Rome and re-establish a
Jewish kingdom. Here the two disciples want to be regarded as
some of the first rulers, the chief officials when it happens. Like
many people today, the disciples were making the mistake of
following the wrong examples. Instead of modelling themselves
after Jesus, they were admiring the glory and the authority of the
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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People