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 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 still 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, it came to pass, about eight days after Peter's confession and Jesus' first prophesy of His Passion (see Thursday's reading), 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 decease 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 still 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.  Note that the disciples who could not cast out the spirit from the boy are the ones who remained behind, while Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to the mount of Transfiguration (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible remarks that while these disciples' faith was incomplete (see Matthew 17:19-20), Christ's rebuke is also to the crowds, whose faith was weaker still (see Mark 9:22-24, in which Jesus teaches the father he must believe, in words similar to His teaching to Jairus prior to healing his daughter).  

 

 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.  My study Bible comments that Christ's repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen His disciples for the terrifying events they would face, and to assure them that Christ was not powerless but went to the Cross willingly.  

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."  My study Bible comments that this question indicates a selfish interest in worldly power.  It is possible that this question is prompted by a misunderstanding that Christ will come into a worldly kingdom after His betrayal (see Matthew 17:22-23, in which Jesus adds that He will be raised up on the third day).  Jesus emphasizes what will be understood as gracious behavior; the virtues of humility and care for "the least of these My brethren" (see Matthew 25:31-46).  Their lives are to be dedicated to service and care, not worldly notions of 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."   According to my study Bible, Theophylact views John's comment here as a regret, as his conscience had been pricked by what Christ said above about the least and the great.  But St. Ambrose of Milan, sees John as expecting full obedience to accompany such blessings.  In either interpretation, my study Bible notes, Christ's response shows that those who act in good faith are not excluded, even if they are not currently numbered among the disciples.  Theophylact writes, "See how divine grace is at work even in those who are not His disciples."  See also Numbers 11:24-30.  On those who use Christ's name without good faith, see Luke 11:23; Acts 19:13-16.

In today's reading, we seem to get examples of what happens with a lack of faith, and then what happens where an abundance of faith is present.  There is first of all the example of the child who could not be healed.  Jesus exclaims, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?" because of the lack of faith.  In Mark's version of this story, Jesus tells the father of the boy, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  And immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (see Mark 9:14-29).  In Matthew's reporting of this story, the disciples later privately ask Jesus why they could not heal the boy.  He says to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:19-21).   We see the difference between the 'inner circle' of Christ -- those three pillars of faith among them, Peter, James, and John, who accompany Christ to the mount of Transfiguration -- and the other disciples, who could not heal the boy.  In the context of the Gospels, the differences here can all be attributed to the levels of faith of the participants.   Later on, when it is reported that there are others who are casting out demons in Christ's name, we see the effects of faith even among those who are not nominally a part of the group of the twelve disciples, as he does not follow with them.  In some sense, it seems to point to an overflowing abundance of faith, so powerful that it distributes even among those who are not a part of their group, and is clearly effective at doing something the disciples recently could not do.  This effect of faith has implications for both power and authority, because demons are cast out through both.   In between these two parts of today's reading, we have Christ's strong teaching about humility and service, and this is an important coupling, because it really teaches us about how faith becomes truly effective.  Our faith is perhaps truly tested and strengthened through tests of humility.  Without humility, how can we share in the power and authority of Christ?  How could we give up the praise of the world for the praise of God (John 12:43)?  How can we have a true and secure faith?  If we do not understand what it is to be obedient to Christ, how can we truly share in His communion, and participate in His ministry to the world?  Without humility, how could the disciples accept the validity of another who does not follow with them?  Finally, we take a look at the core here, the words so powerful that the disciples cannot understand them, cannot take them in.  Jesus says to the disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  His strong imagery ("let these words sink down into your ears") expresses to us the difficulty He knows the disciples experience in taking in this message -- and we read that they still do not understand.  It is something unthinkable for them.  How can the Messiah be betrayed?  How could the Christ be defeated or suffer?  We will see what happens through Christ's Passion, but this is the story of the greatest humility of all, the One who, although divine, will give up His human life and suffer for us.  It remains the most powerful story of sacrifice for the sake of others, for the salvation of the world.  It is the ultimate story of obedience to God, and Christ will set the example for all, so that when He speaks of each of us taking up our own crosses daily, we will know the length to which He was prepared to go for our sakes first.  Each of these factors teaches us about faith, and the things that are necessary for and make up components of a strong faith:  humility, discipline, a willingness to sacrifice, the capacity to serve, and the ability to see Christ in even the "least of these His brethren."  For here we are, following Him, and in our faith we are to grow, and these components must grow together with that faith as well.  Let us be good disciples and follow where He leads first.