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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 that when Jesus came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?" Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" So He said to them, "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. Repeatedly we've read about Jesus wanting to be hidden or to have private time with His disciples (not wanting anyone to know He was in a house, or withdrawing into the wilderness). This time it seems clear that His withdrawal with the disciples is so that He may prepare them for what is to come. My study bible says that "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. A note here tells us: "While Jesus is revealing His future suffering and death, the disciples are discussing personal ambitions, having possibly misunderstood Jesus' earlier words about His second and glorious coming (8:38) and the power of the Kingdom. 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. So serious is this issue that the remainder of this chapter is cast against its backdrop." It's interesting that Mark's Gospel seems to give us several instances in which the disciples are somewhat like misbehaved children, engaging in squabbles they don't want the Teacher to know about, afraid to ask question to show they don't know something, or possibly fearful of the answer. It is the childlike quality that we notice, a hint of "immaturity" as disciples, again teaching us about growth in this process.
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." 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."
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." A profound teaching, one from which we can continually extract meanings. The child is a good symbol of discipleship, as we have seen from the behavior of the disciples, in a number of ways, both positive and negative. But the overall message is one of the importance of oversight of rank and social prestige: we are to see -- in His name -- even a child as Christ.
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 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."
There are a couple of themes to explore here. One is the issue of child-likeness. We see the disciples behaving somewhat like children on a number of occasions. They failed to understand the feedings of the four and the five thousand. Jesus, when He remarked upon it, warned them to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod." It's a kind of immaturity in discipleship, a sign of their need to grow in His care and through His instruction, through the process of discipleship, of living and being with Him. In today's reading, we pointed out their fear of asking Him about things they can't understand, and their squabbling over who would be the greatest. All of these things remind us of childhood behavior. But then again, how many of us as adults, and our contemporaries, are really so far away from this childish or child-like behavior? Certainly as disciples or followers of Christ, we're to understand ourselves to be on a kind of journey, where we are learning just as they are learning in the stories of the Gospels. The image of the child, then, serves as an image of each of us in this sense. If we are all in a process of maturity, on a road, on His Way, then we have to understand ourselves on these terms, as those who grow and learn. On the other hand, Jesus has also commanded that to follow Him, we must become like little children, and has given us positive statements, even commands, about being like a child: "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." (We will read this point of view in Mark's next chapter.) So, entering into this Kingdom and into discipleship gives us positive and negative aspects of child-likeness, but we are to understand that we must be like children, ready to learn and to absorb, and entering into a process of needful maturity, so that our flaws and immaturity will be exposed to us all along the way in this journey of eternal life. Part of that maturity is how we see others; are we going to squabble over who is the greatest? Are we going to learn what service is, or even how to treat others graciously? Can we learn this tremendous lesson of how each one in His name is also bearing His image? These are difficult, lifetime lessons, but they are things we will always be working on, signs that we're gaining some maturity in discipleship, the way ahead He provides us with. The great central point of maturity the Gospels give us is the figure of Christ Himself; we must seek to be like Him. This is discipleship, and it's why the little ones received in His name are equal to receiving Him; it's why those who are also doing His work must be seen as those who are "on our side," and it's why when someone gives them (or even us) a cup of water to drink in His name, because we are His, he or she "will have his reward." To be in His name or to bear His image isn't a static state, a one-time sworn allegiance. Instead, it's a process of growth and maturity, it's being on a path, a road, a way (John 14:16). We are on a road, going somewhere. Let us remember where we're heading and how we're supposed to grow, and the things we're to grow into as we mature in discipleship.
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 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."
There are a couple of themes to explore here. One is the issue of child-likeness. We see the disciples behaving somewhat like children on a number of occasions. They failed to understand the feedings of the four and the five thousand. Jesus, when He remarked upon it, warned them to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod." It's a kind of immaturity in discipleship, a sign of their need to grow in His care and through His instruction, through the process of discipleship, of living and being with Him. In today's reading, we pointed out their fear of asking Him about things they can't understand, and their squabbling over who would be the greatest. All of these things remind us of childhood behavior. But then again, how many of us as adults, and our contemporaries, are really so far away from this childish or child-like behavior? Certainly as disciples or followers of Christ, we're to understand ourselves to be on a kind of journey, where we are learning just as they are learning in the stories of the Gospels. The image of the child, then, serves as an image of each of us in this sense. If we are all in a process of maturity, on a road, on His Way, then we have to understand ourselves on these terms, as those who grow and learn. On the other hand, Jesus has also commanded that to follow Him, we must become like little children, and has given us positive statements, even commands, about being like a child: "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." (We will read this point of view in Mark's next chapter.) So, entering into this Kingdom and into discipleship gives us positive and negative aspects of child-likeness, but we are to understand that we must be like children, ready to learn and to absorb, and entering into a process of needful maturity, so that our flaws and immaturity will be exposed to us all along the way in this journey of eternal life. Part of that maturity is how we see others; are we going to squabble over who is the greatest? Are we going to learn what service is, or even how to treat others graciously? Can we learn this tremendous lesson of how each one in His name is also bearing His image? These are difficult, lifetime lessons, but they are things we will always be working on, signs that we're gaining some maturity in discipleship, the way ahead He provides us with. The great central point of maturity the Gospels give us is the figure of Christ Himself; we must seek to be like Him. This is discipleship, and it's why the little ones received in His name are equal to receiving Him; it's why those who are also doing His work must be seen as those who are "on our side," and it's why when someone gives them (or even us) a cup of water to drink in His name, because we are His, he or she "will have his reward." To be in His name or to bear His image isn't a static state, a one-time sworn allegiance. Instead, it's a process of growth and maturity, it's being on a path, a road, a way (John 14:16). We are on a road, going somewhere. Let us remember where we're heading and how we're supposed to grow, and the things we're to grow into as we mature in discipleship.
