James and John asked to sit in positions of esteem with Jesus, which wasn't the kind of work Jesus was about. Over and over, even using the visual aid of a child, he tried to show his followers how glory looks in the Kingdom of God. Ironically, according to Christian tradition, James may have been the first apostle to die, and John may have been the last. The positions of importance they both sought certainly didn't look like what they were chasing, but they eventually became the kind of disciples Jesus tried to model.