Posts
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 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
Yesterday we read that, about eight days after Peter's confession that Jesus is Christ, and Jesus' subsequent warnings to the disciples about what is to come in His life, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decrease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.
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 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 suggests that while the disciples' faith was incomplete (Matthew 17:19-20), His rebuke here is also meant to the crowds, whose faith was "weaker still" (see Mark 9:22-24).
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. In the past couple of readings, the revelation of Jesus' identity as Christ was immediately met with a warning about what is going to happen in His ministry. After that came the Transfiguration experience of His inner circle of disciples (yesterday's reading). After a particularly impressive act of healing in today's reading, and the marveling of the crowds who are amazed at God's majesty, the disciples are immediately brought "down to earth" so to speak, when He warns them again about what is coming. My study bible says that His repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen them for the terrifying events they were going to face -- and to assure them that Christ was not powerless but went willingly to the Cross.
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." The understanding of Jesus' true identity and the revelation of majesty in so many ways creates a notion of power among the disciples. This is now a new sense of who Jesus is, just what this ministry is about. And of course the first appeal to weakness in human beings is the powerful nature of what they might find themselves involved with. It's telling for all of us how the disciples respond to the understanding of Jesus' identity as Christ: they start disputing over who's going to have a more powerful position in the Kingdom. Jesus' first teaching then is about humility; how they must treat the littlest ones. Gracious behavior is true greatness!
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." This is yet another sort of teaching on humility. The chosen disciples aren't the only ones who call upon Christ. "He who is not against us is on our side" is a good motto to follow!
Humility is a repeated teaching in today's reading, and it's a kind of subject flowing through all the recent readings in which the true power and majesty of Christ is revealed in the person of Jesus. It's a necessary component of our faith. Not only are we asked to remain "down to earth" in our understanding of where we are and who we are in our lives as Christ's followers, but we're also asked for an imitation of His condescension and graciousness as well. The Christ Himself, the Son, has come into the world as a vulnerable human being. So we are also to remember even the "littlest" among ourselves as though we were greeting Him. These are His words to those who will lead and shape His church in the world. And we can't get enough of these teachings. The understanding of ourselves as powerful beings is a very important part of human nature. Our need for strength and power, for security, becomes a vulnerable spot for understanding life and the nature of life in Christ's kingdom. The first taste of power and its revelation brings out the competition in the disciples. They are thinking of a worldly kingdom -- we can relate it to a modern country in which all kinds of offices are appointed via an elected leader, and competition within the party for places. This is clearly an example of human nature for us, where we go when faced with a prospect of some sort of power. But Christ calls His disciples to a different kind of power, and it's the kind of power via which His kingdom will work. It's the power of humility and the understanding of what it means to practice the kind of grace He shares with us. Even in the littlest, we are to see a reflection of His power and majesty, and His love. This is the only way in which His church is really going to work properly. It is the thing that we are called to. He will go through terrible suffering, and the death reserved for the worst criminals. They will face all kinds of slander and He will be tried with lying witnesses. It is only humility that will enable them to continue with their missions in the face of what seems like apparent and thorough defeat. Humility becomes a kind of weapon that defeats all forms of egotism and selfishness, the influence of evil in the world, because it keeps us grounded within our true reality. People confuse humility with self-abasement but this is a completely false understanding, in my point of view. Humility is not about any form of groveling to human power; it is, instead, a grounding in the love of Christ, a recognition that we are all imperfect and that our great goal is simply seeking His love and to be like His love in all its manifestations of graciousness. It is the willingness to change and repent, to accept that He always has something else to teach us on this forward road of faith, no matter how far we've already come. Most of all, it's the understanding that we accept our identities given by Him in His love, so that regardless of what the world may tell us about ourselves -- either via a false kind of flattery and inflated egotism, or a false negative (such as the false charges against Jesus and later on His followers) -- we may remain in truth, grounded in the reality that we really do need to cling to. Humility is the key to clear thinking, to landing on our feet, to grounding ourselves in the awareness of the kingdom. Thus He leaves us with clear-sightedness, about just what is what: warning us against our own foibles and foolishness, but also guarding us from the lies the world may tell us about ourselves. It is the only true realistic path. The sooner we understand this the better; we strive to know Him better, to bear His kingdom better into the world. But at the same time this should make us more aware of the reality of the world, not blind to it. This is His wisdom given to us. Let us remember how essential humility is, and the great goal of graciousness. It is carrying that kind of grace that makes us truly like Him. It doesn't mean we look for ill-treatment or suffer it unnecessarily. Rather, in humility is our true dignity. It is a product of the kind of faith He's calling us toward.
