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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus encountered the disciples disputing scribes, and with a great crowd around them. A man had brought his son to them, and they could not heal him. Jesus chastised all for a lack of faith, and the boy's father said, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit in the boy, and he was healed. Later the disciples asked why they could not do so. 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. After the experience of the Transfiguration, the readings seem to indicate a preparation for the time when Jesus will not be with them incarnate in the world. Yesterday we encountered the necessity for persistence in faith, and the things that help us grow in our faith. Before that Jesus explained what was to happen to Him, that He will suffer and die and rise from the dead. Here again, Jesus offers them the private time to take into account what is going to happen. Repeatedly, after Peter's confession of faith that He is the Christ, Jesus is trying to prepare the disciples for precisely what that is to mean. Perhaps this is so hard, and so incomprehensible to them (given popular expectation of the Messiah), that they simply cannot take it in. Perhaps they are just afraid of His rebukes for their lack of understanding. Perhaps they simply cannot face such a terrible reality -- a familiar phenomenon we find in common with them for anyone receiving unthinkably bad news.

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. In recent readings, we have encountered several instances in which, for example, while Jesus is teaching others of the need for faith, the disciples also show their lack of faith. While He disputes with the religious leadership because they demand a sign from Him, and privately warns His disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod," they too, prove themselves mysteriously uncomprehending and seemingly unaware of the spectacular miracles or signs of feeding in the wilderness they have witnessed themselves. Here, while He is repeatedly trying to prepare them for what is to come in His life, they fail to ask Him anything about it, and instead we find them disputing who is going to be greatest in His kingdom they feel must be imminent. The Gospel offers us these imperfect vessels as the ones who will bring us the Kingdom, and it teaches us something absolutely essential about our faith: we don't need to be perfect to begin bear it within us - the fertile ground for Christ is that which will grow and yield results through time. He starts with us wherever we are, and we are expected to learn and grow and mature in that faith as we go along in it.

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." The lack of understanding of the disciples, and their focus on who would be great in the kingdom they expect, becomes a learning opportunity -- an opportunity for teaching. So we should look on our own failings in life! Jesus teaches them here the important lesson of humility, and it's one we cannot forget. After the Transfiguration, Jesus seems to be preparing the disciples and all of us for the time in which we now live, in which we await His return. Part of that important discipline of faith which we encounter in our own lives is the indispensable virtue of humility as a great goal which we must seek. There simply isn't any Christianity without it. His powerful teaching about service, in effect, teaches us about relatedness and what it is to be a part of His family. The little child is not only a bearer of Christ, but even of the Father. And this is what we must keep in mind. Human beings may certainly turn from that image they bear within themselves and reject it, but each received in His name may be also on that beginning road to greater faith and fuller manifestation of that image in the world. Such is the real life of faith, for all of us who wish to follow Him. My study bible says, "Beyond even humility, service is active care and love for others."

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." At issue here (among other things) is the use of power. In the previous verses, we've learned that the disciples have focused on position. My study bible says of them: "They miss the point of suffering and discipleship. For they have performed many miracles and have exercised great power, and now they are tempted by pride and desire for position." Here there are others using that power, and so once again an issue related to humility and service comes up. Who is the greatest? My study bible sees it this way: "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." I would think that this teaches us one important thing: a sincere faith is always rewarded. Beyond that, we are not to know nor to judge, because this is what creates relatedness to Christ, and thus to each one of us. The extension of care from one to the other, in Jesus' final words here, teaches us about the service and practice of love in this relatedness from one to the other.

In our recent readings, so many things seem dependent on our own behavior. We've learned (in yesterday's reading) that if we wish to have more faith, we turn in faith, and its practices such as prayer, for help. We know that elsewhere in the Gospels Jesus has taught that if we wish for mercy, we should practice mercy. If we wish for true neighbors, we should in practice be a neighbor. If we wish for forgiveness, we must practice forgiveness. And in these recent teachings about discipleship, we learn over and over again that if we wish to be Christ-like in any sense, we must take up His cross. This is the key to His power, to discipleship. As He said, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." What does it mean to be a disciple, and to share in His power? It is connected to love, and it doesn't work the way worldly power works. It's not exclusive, but expansive, and it will always ask - paradoxically - that we give up more in order to receive more. Let us question today what it means to receive the little child in His name, or to be offered a cup of water in His name -- and how that forms His relationship with all of us, and between us. Someone we may not think is of stature or importance may come to us in His name to be received; that same sort of someone may be offering us the cup of water in His name because we belong to Him. In the end it seems we must see Him, and the Father and the Spirit, in the midst of us, sending us one to the other.

On a personal note, I would like to add that I have readers from many diverse backgrounds and countries, and I am grateful for and to every single one of you. I hope we help one another to a deeper faith, to a better love, in His name. Let us endeavor to practice what He has taught!