"And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. (25) But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. (26) But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; (27) And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: (28) Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
In the conduct of the disciples towards James and John, we behold a renewed instance of the effects of our fallen nature. No man hath ever calculated, or can indeed calculate, the vast injury sustained by Satan's seduction of our first parents, and the whole race of human nature in them. Oh! how doth the thought of it tend to heighten the immense mercies in the recovery of the Church by Christ. Reader! see in the disciples of Jesus, the proof of a body of sin and death, though the soul he renewed by grace. They were men of like passions with ourselves. How many heart aches would it have saved me in days past, had I learnt of Jesus the humbling lesson he here taught them, in what the growth of grace consists: namely, in being more and more lowly in heart, from a conviction of unworthiness, and more and more to see my need of Jesus. Precious example in this minister of salvation; who came not to be ministered unto, but though Lord of all, became servant of all, and who gave his life a ransom for many. John 13:14; Philippians 2:7; 1 Timothy 2:6.