Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me

 

 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, about eight days after Jesus taught the disciples that He will suffer, and also that one must take up his cross daily to follow Him (see Monday'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.   My study Bible comments here that, while the disciples' faith was incomplete (Matthew 17:19-20), Christ's rebuke (O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?) is also to the crowds, whose faith was weaker still.  See Mark 9:22-24, in which the father of the boy tearfully pleaded with Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

 

 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.  This is the second time that Christ has warned the disciples of what is to come in Jerusalem, at His "decease" (in the Greek, literally, exodus) which the disciples witnessed Him speaking of with Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration, in yesterday's reading, above.  The first time was He warned them about His suffering, death, and Resurrection to come was in the text from Monday's reading.   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 also 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."  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."  My study Bible says that this dispute among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest indicates a selfish interest in worldly power.  Jesus points to a little child in order to illustrate the humility necessary to be truly great in His Kingdom.  My study Bible cites Theophylact, who attributes John's comment to regret, his conscience having been pricked by what Christ said about the least and the great.  But St. Ambrose, on the other hand, sees John as expecting full obedience to accompany such expectations.  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 using Christ's name without good faith, see Luke 11:23; Acts 19:13-16.

Without humility we have no real service in the kingdom of God.  Jesus sets a little child next to Him as an example of the "least of these" in the Church, or who will come to the disciples in their future missionary and shepherding duties for the Church.  While they seemingly expect the Kingdom to appear imminently, as they have been twice told by Christ that He will be betrayed and suffer, indicating the first time (see Monday's reading), that on the third day He will rise again.  Let us not forget, we ended Monday's reading with Jesus telling them, "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."   So we may understand their dispute as to who will be the greatest as related to places in this earthly kingdom they believed the Messiah would bring, as this was the popular expectation among the people.  But this becomes a teaching opportunity for Christ, as in the ancient world, rank and hierarchy were absolute.  To be great was to boast of one's power, even ruthlessness in using that power, and the capacity to crush one's enemies.  This was typical of the earthly kingdoms of Christ's time.  In a sort of public relations campaign, Caesar bragged that he had killed a million Gauls.  This was considered a testimony to greatness.  In fact, that message was the subject of one of the emperor's "gospels" (good news), the word at the time for such proclamations.  But Christ here sets His Kingdom on a completely different trajectory, and especially indicates what leadership -- greatness -- should look like in His Church.  Here, He begins to prepare His disciples for the time when He will not be humanly present among them as Jesus, and they will be the ones to lead and carry the Church into the world.  From His teaching here on greatness, we can trace the understanding in the Christian tradition of the importance of hospitality, of caring for the "least of these" and those less fortunate among us.  In fact, for the desert monastics, the tradition of hospitality, of welcoming the stranger, would take priority even over prayer if there was a knock at the door.  It's important to understand Christ's stress on humility, as it is the platform, foundation, and gateway to all of the Christian virtues.   He models for us what we understand as graciousness, gentleness -- and this becomes a foundation for civilization.  For our part, let us be grateful for His legacy to us.