The incident may be linked with 9:33-34 and the teaching that follows, on serving others. James and John came to Jesus by themselves to ask that they might share the glory of the kingdom that they now believed he would establish. It is not entirely clear what their motives were. These two men had received the vision of the Transfiguration and were now convinced that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God to rule on his behalf in the world. They wanted to be identified with him in his coming glory but they were still far from understanding the truth of how the coming of the Kingdom would be manifested through Jesus. They ignored the other disciples when they made their request (10:37, 41) and were obviously far from understanding how severely all the disciples would be tested when they reached Jerusalem (14:50). Jesus did not rebuke them but tried to show them that they did not understand what they were asking. In 9:38 they are asked if they could share the suffering and death of Jesus (by 'baptism' Jesus meant his death). With heroic intentions, they said they could, not comprehending the reality of what they said. Jesus then prophesied that they would become martyrs of the Church (10:39); but God alone knew to whom would be given places of glory in his Kingdom.

Jesus then taught all the disciples about their role as the servants of the Kingdom of God (10:42-44), whose example was in Jesus himself. By his suffering and death he would redeem many (10:45). The disciples were being taught that the Kingdom of God was not to be equated with a worldly kingdom in which the disciples received worldly power and honour.