For the last five years or so, I've been studying Gothic via
Joseph Wright's A Primer of the Gothic Language. Part of the book contains fragments of the Gospels in Gothic, and as I was stumbling through Mark last year, I noticed a significant contrast in chapter 10. In the second half of the chapter (verses 35-52), Jesus twice asks the question "What do you want me to do for you?" - first to James and John (in verse 36) and then to Bartimaeus (in verse 51). The identical* form of this question highlights the different contexts in which it appears, specifically the opposite ways in which these two parties approach Jesus. James and John come to Him as if they have authority over Him, expecting their demands to be met ("We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you"), but Bartimaeus begins with humility ("Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!").
About a week after I noticed this similarity, I ran across the parallel in Matthew 20:20-34. In this account, it's James and John's mother who asks on behalf of her sons, and Jesus' questions aren't identical ("What do you want?" in verse 21, but "What do you want me to do for you?" in verse 32). Because there are two blind men here, however, the account draws a sharper contrast between the two parties. The two brothers who aspire to high positions are more evenly balanced against the two blind men who demonstrate humbleness.
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*It's identical in English, but it differs slightly in other languages, principally depending on whether you is singular or plural.
