Both men ultimately suffer. James was executed as a martyr by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1–2). John was persecuted and banished to the island of Patmos (Rev 1:9), but it is not clear whether he was martyred. According to writers in the early church, John died as an old man in Ephesus (see note on John 21:23).

Matthew’s account suggests that her sons put her up to it, since Jesus shifts his address from the mother in v. 21 to the sons in v. 22 (“You don’t know what you are asking” uses second-person plural pronouns). The pathos of a mother’s plea would presumably tug at Jesus’ heartstrings all the more, but Mark may legitimately speak of the request as coming from the sons.

but even Matthew’s account suggests that her sons put her up to it, since Jesus shifts his address from the mother in v. 21 to the sons in v. 22 (“You don’t know what you are asking” uses second-person plural pronouns).