Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me

Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day." But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

- Mark 9:30-41

On Saturday, we read about a man who brought his son to the disciples. The boy was possessed by a spirit that threw him down, made him deaf and mute, and gave him terrible seizures. Jesus came upon the disciples disputing with scribes - the disciples could not heal the boy. Jesus asked about the problem and how long the boy had been ill. "Since childhood," was the reply. Jesus told the whole crowd, everyone present - disciples and father included - that their faith was not sufficient. He called them a "faithless generation." He told the father, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." The father replied, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" The boy was healed. Later on, in private, the disciples asked why they could not cast out the spirit. Jesus said, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day." But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Mark's Gospel takes us further into the somber note of what is to befall Jesus. For once, Jesus' desire to remain hidden is fulfilled, and He spends time alone with the disciples. We recall that His messianic secret has recently been revealed, and the taste of the great glory of Christ at the Transfiguration (witnessed by John, James and Peter). Immediately after the Transfiguration, Jesus began to prepare His disciples for what is to occur. Perhaps He wishes private time in order to keep concealed this messianic secret from the crowds, while He teaches in private what is to come. Throughout the recent readings, we have read of the struggle with faith and understanding - in many people and in the disciples. One can just imagine the near-impossibility of grasping what He is teaching them now. My study bible says, "The disciples were afraid to ask Him, perhaps because they were aware of their own dullness, and had become sensitive to His rebukes; or perhaps because they did not want to face the fact of His coming death."

Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. We don't know why this dispute comes up now, but we can speculate. Perhaps they are taking in the understanding of the Resurrection, and they have misunderstood - thinking the ultimate revelation of the Kingdom in power is coming. They are arguing for position. One other thing we can see from these verses is that Jesus is very aware at all times of what is happening with His flock. He uses every opportunity to teach. Let it be said of each of us that our mistakes are opportunities for learning! My study bible points out that "so serious is this issue" (of humility and suffering in discipleship) "that the remainder of this chapter is cast against its background."

And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me." Jesus begins to teach what it is to have power in this kingdom, and what discipleship is and means. My study bible says, "The passion for position must be displaced by a decision to be last, to serve all people. Beyond even humility, service is active care and love for others." He teaches the reality of spiritual rank and power: we recognize the effective presence of Christ in "the least of these" - little children are those who must grow in faith and love, and they are images of the growth of the kingdom in the world, that dwells "among us" and "in us." Furthermore, He emphasizes clearly that "Christ" - as Logos, Son or the person of Jesus - is inseparable from the Father (and thereby the Spirit and all workings of grace, wherever grace enters the world). Therefore we must understand what it is to dwell in possibility - and even an eternal sense of time is at play here. The little children are those who will indeed carry the kingdom, but the presence of Christ is with each of us.

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." My study bible says, "This discussion is the aftermath of the argument as to who would be the greatest. Sectarianism and triumphalism (the attitude that one creed is superior to all others) are forbidden, for God's working transcends our limited perceptions. One is either for or against Christ, but it is not always ours to know who is on which side." It speaks to me of the power of Christ and His presence among us. We are to share in that glory and that presence; it is with the little child, and it is among those who are not a part of our immediate group. What we come to understand is that this presence will of itself draw the boundary lines: "Whoever is not against us is on our side." But even the small gesture of a cup of water given in the love of Christ to another because they carry His presence is one that will be rewarded, so powerful is this reality among us.

Do we really understand what it is to have faith? I see Jesus' talks here as deepening our understanding of what that is and what it will mean. It's not just about a nominal creed, or a belonging to one group or another, but a spiritual presence that fills us, gives us meaning in our lives, and will work through its own presence to define, to sustain and empower. This presence cannot be contained by our understanding of boundaries, and it can't work through our sense of rank. It works in its own ways, through the power of Christ and His image and power. Therefore we truly don't know whom it is we may be serving in the person of a "little child" or the humble among us, or even those of "other" groups. First things first, we learn in discipleship the power of humility to teach us what truly is. There are many teachings at work in today's passage; it's about our faith, our place in the kingdom, our service, our discipleship, our relation to one another. The little child is the image that burns and shines for me today from this passage. How do we know what he or she may carry within themselves? There are no boundaries to His power, working in each of us - only our allegiance and love, and this grows and shapes itself through life, and changes. We can but honor that love "in His name" and to those who belong to Him. How does that work in your own life?

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)