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

 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

Yesterday we read that when Jesus came to the disciples (returning with Peter, James, and John from the mount of Transfiguration), He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly 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.   This is the second time in Mark's Gospel that Jesus predicts His death and Resurrection to the disciples.  My study bible says that through doing so, He shows He is going to His passion freely, and not being taken against His will.  We once again note the hidden quality of this "secret" of the Messiah, that He will suffer and be killed, and rise the third day; He does not want anyone to know He is passing through Galilee.  It is necessary to teach without fanfare the truth about the nature of this saving mission and how it will unfold -- that which will later be called a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks.  And once again, we note the measures Jesus takes to protect and nurture faith, beginning with His disciples.

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.  It may seem to us that this dispute as to who would be the greatest of the disciples comes out of nowhere.  But the disciples all have strong cultural and historical expectations of the Messiah and the kingdom that will be ushered in with the advent of the Messiah.  They most likely expect that after rising on the third day, the Messianic kingdom will be established -- and they dispute among themselves who is going to get the greatest position in that royal kingdom. Considering that Jesus has just told them about the suffering and death He will experience, it is altogether a rather petty dispute.  But it teaches us something really extraordinary, that when we are faced with a crisis or some kind of earth-shattering news, we may well need to learn new lessons about how we live in response to it.  As followers of Christ, our learning (the meaning of the word disciple in Greek is "learner") never stops with each new challenge.  Our known reactions may be entirely inadequate for the new place we've come to. 

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 addresses a selfish interest in worldly power, the understanding of authority and position.   To be last of all and servant of all is a quality of humility, the greatest and first ranking virtue of discipleship.  And in terms of position and rank -- they are to receive even each little child as if they are receiving 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."  Christ Himself is the great dividing line of power in the world.   All acting in good faith are not excluded, even if not currently numbered among the disciples.  Theophylact comments on the similar passage in Luke, "See how divine grace is at work even in those who are not His disciples."  This grace extends even to those who give so much as a cup of water to drink in His name to those who belong to Him.

Christ is the dividing line, the measure of all things, the plumb line, the lode star.  It is the Person of Christ by whom all things are judged.  This truth runs through all things and people in a mysterious depth we can't quite touch nor always fully grasp.  But in today's reading, we're told that one who so much as gives a cup of water in His name to another that belongs to Him shall by no means lose his or her reward.  What we find is a kind of spiritual dividing line that acts in concert with His power, the mysterious power of the energies of grace at work in the world.  Sometimes this plumb line may not have an obvious name or affiliation, but rather it works as a guidepost to someone who may never have heard His name, but is reaching within themselves for the truth which they deeply desire to find.  Sometimes the depth of this plumb line is understood as love.  I believe there are times in life where one may follow an instinct without even knowing that the One who calls at the other end is Christ Himself.  But nevertheless, He is the knower-of-hearts, even when we don't even understand ourselves.  What we do to shore up faith in ourselves must serve this depth, this ultimate goal of whoever it is we are in His image, in His name.  That is the basic choice that is left to us.  It is the depth of discernment, the root of how our lives will go.  Whatever god or principle or goal or popular idea we put before that is always a diversion from what's truly best for us, from His guiding light.  Sometimes even what seems like a diversion from our course, or something negative, like an illness, a seeming setback, a delay, or a crisis of some sort, can be God's hand giving us time to pause and rethink and reset our goals and values.  There is no time like the present to invest in the power of prayer to ask that He keep us in His name and on the course He sets for us to be with Him, or to pray for others for the same.  The depth of love that runs beneath all things is more reaching than any other value or belief -- but only we can let our own pettiness stand in the way.  Let us note also that it is He who brings the reward -- and not the world we're dependent upon -- when we but offer so little as a cup of water.