Mark 10:36 (YLT)

Passage

and he said to them, `What do ye wish me to do for you?'

Nearby Context

Mark 10:34 and they shall mock him, and scourge him, and spit on him, and kill him, and the third day he shall rise again.'

Mark 10:35 And there come near to him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying, `Teacher, we wish that whatever we may ask for ourselves, thou mayest do for us;'

Mark 10:36 and he said to them, `What do ye wish me to do for you?'

Mark 10:37 and they said to him, `Grant to us that, one on thy right hand and one on thy left, we may sit in thy glory;'

Mark 10:38 and Jesus said to them, `Ye have not known what ye ask; are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized with--to be baptized?'

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 35's "And there come near to him James..." into verse 37's "and they said to him Grant to...", so "said" and "wish" 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 "wish" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.