Dispute over Greatness

Dispute over greatness is a story told by the three synoptic gospels – Mark, Matthew, and
Luke. The events of the story happen in the days leading up to the death of Jesus. Some disciples
raise the issue of greatness and Jesus teaches them to be humble. Even though the story is
contained in all of the three synoptic gospels, there are some differences in what each of the
gospel chooses to emphasize.
The story as recorded in Mark
Mark, reputed to have been the first gospel written, covers the story in chapter 10. Jesus
and his disciples are headed to Jerusalem. Jesus tells them that once in Jerusalem he is going to
be handed over to religious authorities who will condemn him to death and then hand him over
to Gentiles who will kill him but on the third day he will arise from the dead (Mark 10: 32-34).
After delivering such a sad prophesy about his coming end, his apostles James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, come to him requesting that in his glory he allows one of them to sit on his left and
another one to sit on his right (Mark 10: 35-37). Instead of rebuking them, Jesus asks them
whether they can drink what he will drink. When they answer in the affirmative, he tells them
that he cannot grant them their request because the places they were asking for had been reserved
for whom they had been prepared for (Mark 10: 38-40). Noticing how indignant the other
disciples were at James and John, Jesus teaches them that unlike the rulers of Gentiles, those who
wish to be first among them must be slaves or learn to serve (Mark 10: 43-42). After the teaching
he proceeds to Jericho where heals a blind man (Mark 10: 46-52).
How Matthew and Luke covered the story
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are reported to have used Mark as a reference. With
regards to the story of disciples seeking greatness, the gospel of Matthew is the one that provides
a version of events closest to that provided in Mark. Like in Mark, the issue of John and James
seeking greatness arises after Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, explains to them that he is going to
be killed (Matthew 20: 17-23). It ends with Jesus teaching the disciples about humility and the
need for those who seek to be first to be slaves first (Matthew 20: 25-26). After the lesson, Jesus
heads to Jericho where he heals a blind man (Matthew 20: 29-34). There are some differences
though. Unlike in Mark where James and John make the request to sit with Jesus in his glory, in
Matthew it is their mother who makes the request to Jesus on behalf of her sons. Apart from this
difference, the version given by Matthew is almost exactly as the one given by Mark.
The version of the story given by Luke is significantly different from that provided by
Mark. For instance, Luke simply talks of a dispute arising among disciples as who among them
is the greatest (Luke 22:24). There is no mention of John and James. More significantly, unlike
in the version presented by Mark and Matthew where the dispute arises when the disciples are

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headed to Jerusalem, in Luke the dispute arises during the Last Supper after Jesus had served the
disciples bread and wine (Luke 22: 17-18). The similarity between Luke’s version and those of
the other two is the lesson that Jesus provides to settle the dispute. He tells the disciples that that
the greatest among them is the youngest and one who serves others (Luke 22: 26-27).
The reason Luke might have ignored some details in the story, such as the identities of
the disciples who were arguing about greatness could be because Luke sought to present Jesus as
a great teacher. Thus, he emphasized the teaching of Jesus (which he almost directly quotes from
Mark) and ignored the other details. Mark, on the other hand, sought to present Jesus as someone
who was misunderstood by his disciples. His detailed presentation of the story may, therefore,
have sought to emphasize not just the teaching of Jesus about humility but also the fact that two
of his closest disciples, John and James, misunderstood the nature of Jesus’ kingdom. Matthew
sought to present Jesus as a Messiah. He might, therefore, used the mother of James and John in
the story to show that everyone, not just the twelve disciples, knew about his identity as Messiah.
Greatness story in Martin Luther King’s “Drum Major Instinct” Sermon
On 4 th February 1968, two months before his death, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered the
“Drum Major Instinct” sermon. In the sermon, King uses the story of John and James request to
be made great by Jesus as presented in Mark, to teach the virtues of humility (King par. 10).
Even though he used the Gospel of Mark, he could still have delivered the sermon using the
version presented in either Matthew or Luke. This is because both of these books contain the
teaching of Jesus about the need to be humble and not to have the desire to be great or to have
the drum major instinct.

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Works Cited

King, Martin Luther. “The Drum Major Instinct,” Sermon Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Stanford University, 1968. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-
papers/documents/drum-major-instinct-sermon-delivered-ebenezer-baptist-church
The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford University Press, 2011