Whoever is least among you

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.’ While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.’ But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you shall be great.’

John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.’

- Luke 9:37-50

This grouping of passages from Luke, in my opinion, are hidden teachings about love and faith. That is, they teach us about the nature of this love and faith in this kingdom, and how relationship works in this spiritual realm of reality and being.

We first have the father, who out of love and concern for his only son, seeks Jesus out in the crowds to heal his son. We have here the familiar model of persistence: the disciples fail to heal his son, and so the father seeks Jesus himself for assistance. Jesus teaches us about relationship in this kingdom when he rebukes his own disciples for their lack of faith or belief. After the demon once again afflicts the son, Jesus himself "rebukes" the "unclean spirit" and the son is healed. So, we have here a kind of setting up of an order: there are those aligned with Jesus in love and faith, and there are those (the demon) who are set apart because they do not share in this relationship. Jesus shows his power in two ways: by telling his disciples their faith isn't strong, and by saving the child in rebuking the demon. I often ponder on this word translated as "rebuke" and it seems to me it is a kind of strict authority that is used - it's like giving an order, to charge someone in the sense of laying down authority, a command. So in this world of faith, we have help to protect us against that which is not a part of this world of healing and goodness (and which has clearly chosen not to be so), and at the same time it is our link in relatedness via faith that strongly cements us into that world. Again, the focus in Luke the Physician's gospel is on healing. Love, faith and health (in all senses of what it means to be human) are all linked.

But then there is interjected here, after Jesus' display of power and authority, the prediction Jesus reiterates to his disciples (after the Transfiguration vision) that he will be betrayed "into the hands of men." This power and authority does not extend to coercion of the free will of human beings. Jesus seeks out love and relatedness from willing hearts - and just so, he voluntarily goes to his fate as meted out at the hands of men as well. This is part of his plan, part of teaching what it means to be related in this world of faith and spirit. Human beings have free will; ultimately for judgment to work, for "death" to be defeated, Jesus must face his life and his death with regard for the truth about whatever is in the hearts of men - and not by compelling any of us to love him. This is a hard teaching about authority in this kingdom, but the apostles are not ready to hear it and to understand it.

We are given an illustration next about the notions of authority and rank that the apostles (predictably) continue to hold. They are still expecting Lordship, messiahship that is all-powerful as in the worldly notions of power and authority. So they begin to dispute about who will have rank in this kingdom, and which ones among them should occupy the places of highest honor. Jesus' teaching here is very poignant: even a little child (the lowest social rank possible, with no authority whatsoever, and a symbol of dependency) ranks not only equal with Christ, but those who receive the child in his name also receive the Father in his name. If we are related in love and faith, it gives us radical spiritual citizenship of equality in a kingdom. The lowest among us represents even the Father himself by acts committed in the name of Christ, so the child carries even the image of the Father. In this kingdom, rank and citizenship are synonymous with faith and relatedness, so that all other notions of rank disappear. Again, this is a voluntary citizenship, and its rules do not apply as rules of authority and power in worldly kingdoms.

And finally, we have yet another teaching on authority and relatedness. Somewhere there are disparate believers: another man is calling himself a believer and casting out demons in Jesus' name - another expression of healing power that acts against that which is not part of this kingdom. But even those whom Jesus' closest companions do not know are related in faith. Jesus goes far enough to explain this very explicitly to us: Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you. We are to understand that those who share our faith, even if they are not part of our immediate group, are also working with us. Faith and relationship are extended through this kingdom, wherever it may be found, and we must respect that relationship.

I have to remark on these notions of healing and health, and correctness in relationship and relatedness - prior to his death, Jesus teaches about authority and power in this kingdom, who is eligible for citizenship, and what does not belong. Presented in this book of Luke, where so much emphasis is on health and healing, I cannot help but see these teachings and this writing in terms of what is spiritually healthy and what constitutes healthy relationship. Jesus is laying down a pattern for authority that respects human will, that is not coercive but wishes to know what is truly present in each heart - if this were not so there could be no judgment that was honest either. But for those in this voluntary relationship of the kingdom, the nature and tone of our relationship is essential for us to understand; what constitutes healthy relationship and relatedness, and true authority and leadership, are also essential for us as followers to understand so that we remain healthy ourselves in this kingdom. How could we improve our relationships (or at least our tolerance) via this model - even with other believers with whom we don't necessarily see eye to eye in day to day practice or are not a part of our group? Or even with those who are the least among our own?