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Could they be martyred -- murdered because of what they believed about Jesus?
The words they spoke were a self-fulfilling prophesy. Jesus said that John & James would be persecuted and share in His suffering. It says in Acts 12:2 that James was the first of the Twelve to meet a martyr's death, killed with the sword by Herod. John was imprisoned and beaten by order of the Jewish Sanhedrin; was sent away to the isle of Patmos by Domitian; and some say, was tortured by being put into a cauldron of boiling oil, though John did not die because of that. Jesus' answer to them was a foretelling of how they would suffer for Christ, instead of enjoying places of worldly honor and profit under Him that they were foolishly seeking.
Jesus, addressing the seating arrangement and who would sit beside Him on the throne, told them that this was for the Father to decide. Even in this question we see the humility of Christ.
Phil. 2:6-7 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
This is true humility. Only God the Father would decide who would be seated with Christ on the throne.
Now, another amazing fact is that later it was revealed to John, the same John whose mother had tried to work a deal for him. It was revealed to this same man those who would sit around the throne of Christ.
Re 4:4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and
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seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
So John would get to sit with Christ after all! Not until John had suffered for Christ and been humbled was this information revealed to him. The twelve disciples and the twelve heads of Israel will surely be the 24 elders on the 24 thrones.
But these are thrones around the throne of Christ. There was another revelation made to John about who would sit with Christ on His throne.
Rev. 3:21-22 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
This promise is for those who overcome. The third chapter of Revelation talks about the letter to the Laodecians. The word "Laodecia" means "rights of the people". Many Christian scholars think that this letter especially refers to the church in the end times, the church today. The church in the end times will be lukewarm and yet think they are rich spiritually and materially. But to those who overcome and realize that they are really wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked ... those that truly humble themselves ... to those who let Jesus in when He is knocking at their door ... it is to those that the Father has promised ultimate closeness to Jesus in the new heaven and new earth.
The other disciples were mad at the two brothers. They were probably jealous and
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didn't think it was fair for two brothers to ask such a thing of Jesus.
It is then that Jesus, the Cornerstone of the Church, had the opportunity to teach a valuable lesson about true spiritual authority. He was able to paint a very clear picture of the authority structure of the church to the disciples, whom the Bible says are the "foundation" of the church.
We can see an illustration of this in a triangle or pyramid. We'll use this shape to represent the authority structure of the world. The world system has always been a "top down" structure, starting at the apex of the pyramid and going down to the bottom. In kingdoms we have the king at the top, then the princes,
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have a "top down" structure that started with the pope, then cardinals, then bishops, then priests, then the people. Well, what about that?
Eph 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
This all sounds like a "top down" structure. But the problem is that people have not seen an important fact about these gifts of the Spirit -- man looks at function and title, God looks at aim and goal! Read on ...
Eph. 4:12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
These are not gifts given for title or to give people job descriptions. They are given because there are people out there who need our help! The church needed the Apostles. They were the ones who were the foundation of the church. They were the ones who saw Jesus in the flesh and were taught by Him personally. They wrote the New Testament Scriptures.
Though the gifts of apostleship and prophecy are different today than in biblical times, the gift of evangelism, pastoring, teaching and others are still the same. A person who is an evangelist does not just have a title so he can rule over people. The reason that he has the gift to be an evangelist is so that he can tell others the good news. Why do we have pastors? Are they supposed to rule the church and get everyone to support them and bow to their demands? No. They are to serve the church by helping people to come to a fuller knowledge of Jesus Christ, to
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common people, slaves. In a democracy we have the President at the top, the VP, the Sec. of State opn down to the citizens. In business we have the CEO at the top, upper management, lower management, office workers and the janitors.
Unfortunately, sometime in the third century, the church started to have a top down structure. This is also when the church began to be in error. The church of Rome began to
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