Would become great (ος αν θελη μεγας γενεσθα). Jesus does not condemn the desire to become great. It is a laudable ambition. There…

But Jesus called them to him. That is, he called all the apostles to him and stated the principles on which they were to act.

He sai…

Whosoever will be great —Better, whoever wishes to be great. The person who is conscious of the promptings of ambition, a…

Naturally, the other ten apostles did not welcome the attempt of the sons of Zebedee to gain an advantage over them. We never hear that they resent…

St. John Chrysostom: As long as Christ's judgment on this request was pending, the other disciples were not indignant. But whe…

The indignation of the ten doubtless sprang less from humility than jealousy plus the fear that they might lose out. These verses demonstrate that …

It shall not be so among you. There can be no doubt that Christ refers to the foolish imagination by which he saw that the apostles were d…

But it shall not be so among you
This is not to be extended to Christian nations, as if there were to be no order of…

The sons of Zebedee misused what Christ said to comfort the disciples. Some people cannot receive comforts without turning them to a wrong purpose.…

In the preceding section, the Lord refuted those who attempted to obtain glory because of a long period of time; here, He refutes the one who attem…