Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men." But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great."

Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

- Luke 9:37-50

In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' Transfiguration. Peter, James and John were witness to Jesus conversing with Elijah and Moses (about Jesus "departure"), and the great cloud and divine light that shone all around the mountain. This was a Theophany, a revelation of the Holy Trinity. See Transfiguration.

Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. My study bible notes here: "The majesty of God is His greatness and power shown through Jesus' miracles." I find it touching and important that the great cause of healing is a parent's or loved one's pleading. If the disciples cannot help, those who plead go to the Master. We always have Christ to go to in prayer - and it is love that sends us there, and love that makes us heard. Since the disciples have recently returned from their first mission in which Jesus' power worked through them, it seems to me there are several indications here of their growing understanding of this new ministry - and this is one of them. Jesus always encourages them for more, to do more, to seek more (such as in the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness immediately upon the apostles' return). In this case, it is an exhortation to a deeper faith, and a greater display of the power which He has invested in them. Evil is always an affliction, and harmful, a parasitical and destructive burden. To be "amazed at the majesty of God" is the proper understanding of a miracle, a sign which points to something beyond itself as the source of power.

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men." But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. While Jesus' signs and evidence of His power grow (including that invested in his own apostles), He warns the disciples again about what is to come. Three of them have just witnessed His Transfiguration, as He discussed His departure from his human life with Moses and Elijah. The disciples have already been warned, but here Jesus tries again to get them to accept the reality of His mission and what is coming - even as the ministry grows and spreads.

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great." My study bible notes, "The disciples themselves are not above the desire for worldly glory and power. One of the last lessons they will learn before Christ's Ascension is that of humility and service. Jesus teaches them by a simple illustration: a little child (v. 48) - an icon of dependency." This saying of Jesus about those in the kingdom reminds me of what He said when speaking of John the Baptist: "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." Here Luke gives us a similar kind of idea. The littlest child in this kingdom is great. More importantly, all those received into this kingdom are sent by the Father - to welcome even the littlest is to welcome the Father Himself. Can we remember this today? It is tied to Peter's confession of faith, and Jesus' pronouncement elsewhere in the Gospels that this faith was revealed within Peter by the Father. We make a connection of faith to the entirety of the kingdom, from the least to the greatest, with the Father acting and working in us.

Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side." A note reads, "This is an example of Jesus' tolerance and breadth of vision. It is a temptation for us to want everyone to have a spiritual practice exactly like ours, to do things the way we do, and to be in our group. How many schisms have occurred in Church history because people missed Jesus' lesson here!" It is an expanding lesson of tolerance - first to those who would call themselves the greatest, and next to those who would find their own group the greatest. My study bible is correct in pointing this out - that we can have love for one another in this discipleship and faith, even if we do not all do the same things nor worship and practice in exactly the same way. Just as we are unique individuals each coming to Christ in our own way, so we will have groups that cater to our spiritual needs in the specific way necessary for faith.

I'd like to address this question of tolerance. I use the Orthodox Study Bible for notes in my commentaries, because I like the theological approach, the incorporation of an early Church sensibility which I feel is down to earth and basic to us all. My lectionary readings are from the Episcopal lectionary. I pride myself (hopefully not too proud!) and take great joy in the fact that people of many diverse denominations read and follow my blog. In this struggle we are all brothers and sisters. I hope that those of other faiths who are curious about this man Jesus in the Gospels may find something useful here as well. I hope that what I write is useful to anyone in their own spiritual journey and understanding and faith. Faith is a race, a struggle; it is "the good fight." We need all the allies and support that we can get in this race, struggle, and good fight. Let us take the great example of our Master, and love one another in this struggle, and ally with those who after all struggle for the same thing and fight the same good fight of faith. As we see from the reading, even His own disciples did not immediately get things entirely correctly, nor was their ministry perfect in all ways. Jesus' teachings today in our reading tell us that even the least among us is sent by the Father of all. Can we remember that in our membership in this kingdom, and in the love that binds us to it?