A Request Too Far

Jesus: Lord of all, King of Kings. Yet he cannot grant the request of the sons of Zebedee (Mark 10:35 - 45). Their request, it seems, is a request too far.

Compare v35 with 11:24. Just a chapter apart, using the same words 'whatever (you/we) ask', and yet entirely opposite ends of the spectrum. Its not even as if James and John were going to skimp on their commitment - v39 indicates they are to go the same way as Jesus, a scary way that he has just spelt out for a third time (v32-33). Yet the 'whatever' in this case cannot be promised.

The difference is surely the object of faith and the intended purposes. The incident in chapter 11 is a call to put one's faith in God and what He is doing. If you line up with that, anything is possible - from withering fig trees to dramatically changing circumstances.

The contrary is one's own purposes which all too quickly boil down to self-glorification (10:37). I guess that now seems obvious. The worrying thing, though, is that these contrasting verses indicate that the dividing line between the two can sometimes be incredibly thin.