Luke 22:24

There was also a strife among them - There are two different instances of this sort of contention or strife mentioned by the evangelists, each of which was accompanied with very different circumstances; one by Matthew, in Matthew 18:1, etc., by Mark, Mark 9:33, etc.; and by Luke, in Luke 9:46, etc. That contention cannot have been the same with this which is mentioned here. The other, related in Matthew 20:20, etc., and Mark 10:35, etc., must be what Luke intended here to record; and this strife or contention was occasioned by the request which Zebedee's wife made to our Lord in favor of her sons, James and John; but, then, Luke has mentioned this very much out of the order of time, it having happened while our Lord and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem: Matthew 20:17; Mark 10:32. See Bp. Pearce.

A strife - A contention or debate.

Which of them should be the greatest - The apostles, in common with the Jews generally, had supposed that the Messiah would come as a temporal prince, and in the manner of other princes of the earth - of course, that he would have officers of his government, ministers of state, etc. Their contention was founded on this expectation, and they were disputing which of them should be raised to the highest office. They had before had a similar contention. See Matthew 18:1; Matthew 20:20-28. Nothing can be more humiliating than that the disciples should have had "such" contentions, and in such a time and place. That just as Jesus was contemplating his own death, and laboring to prepare them for it, they should strive and contend about office and rank, shows how deeply seated is the love of power; how ambition will find its way into the most secret and sacred places; and how even the disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus are sometimes actuated by this most base and wicked feeling.

22:24 There was also a contention among them - It is highly probable, this was the same dispute which is mentioned by St. Matthew and St. Mark: and consequently, though it is related here, it happened some time before.