Mark 10:36 (LSB)

Passage

And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

Nearby Context

Mark 10:34 And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

Mark 10:35 Then James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

Mark 10:36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

Mark 10:37 And they said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

Mark 10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said" and "want". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "want", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 35's "Then James and John the two sons..." into verse 37's "And they said to Him Grant that...", so "said" and "want" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "want" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.