James and John came up to Jesus and asked him to grant then whatever they wish for. When Jesus asked them what they wanted, they told him that they want for one of them to sit at his right hand and the other at his left in his kingdom. In other words, James and John wanted to be the chief ministers in the new Messianic kingdom that they believe Jesus was going to set up in Jerusalem. What Jesus told his disciples was that the path to greatness in the kingdom of God is the path of suffering. But naively, they didn’t understand. They assured Jesus that they would go through whatever Jesus himself would go through in order to get the promotions they were after.