Mark 9:33-37 (NIV): They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
The disciples were ashamed to admit that they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest among Jesus’ disciples. The twelve, of course, had good reason to think of themselves as more important than the many others who followed Jesus consistently (cf. Acts 1:21-23), because Jesus had singled them out from the others, and had given them special authority, and had even called them His “apostles.” Peter, James, and John had good reason to think that they were more important than the other nine apostles, because Jesus had called them apart for special duties on several occasions (e.g., Mark 5:37, 9:2), making them a kind of “inner circle.”
The problem was not that they recognized that they had been called to follow Jesus, and even set apart for special things. The problem was that they still had their minds set on an earthly kingdom, not the kingdom of heaven. They were still looking forward to Jesus setting Himself up as an earthly king, so they would be the natural choices for the top spots. They had completely missed the things that Jesus had been telling them were awaiting them in Jerusalem.
They were also missing the whole point of what Jesus had been doing and teaching. He had not come to be the king, to have others serve Him and meet His every need. He had lowered Himself to come as a servant, to serve others, and to meet their most profound needs.
Jesus’ words sounded illogical: If you want to be first in the kingdom, you must make yourself last among men, instead of striving for the top spot. If you want to be the greatest, you must make yourself the servant of all instead of working to be served. To strive to be number one in men’s opinions made sense in a worldly kingdom. But Jesus always strove to be number one in God’s opinion, and the only way to do that was to live a life of humble obedience, complete submission, and loving service to others.
Jesus then brought a little child into the middle of their group. Children have no power, and have many needs. As a rule, they must be served rather than being looked to to serve us. If you are trying to climb the so-called ladder of success, a child is of absolutely no help. They have no connections and can pull no strings to help us on our climb. For that reason, the needs of children are frequently overlooked by those who are striving to be the greatest in the system of this world.
But Jesus told the disciples that their greatness would be measured by God in a different way. Whoever welcomes a child (and, by extension, any person who has no pull that can help us, but who has great needs) in Jesus’ name welcomes Jesus. And whoever welcomes Jesus in this way welcomes the Father who sent Him.
Jesus didn’t come to remake the disciples into government officials. He came to remake them into His own image, representatives of God’s kingdom, who, even though they have access to all the power of God, use that power not for themselves, or their own benefit, but who use it to serve others, to bring healing and wholeness into the lives of others, and to bring light into the dark lives of others.
Father, the lure of this world, of power and position, of gaining the honor and respect of others, can be very strong. Those things seem so much more desirable than to be a servant of others, one who puts all of my own ambitions aside to serve You by serving others. But the ways of this world, the climbing of the hierarchies of business or government, will never put us in a place of being able to bring genuine light and life into the lives of those around us as effectively as simply allowing ourselves to be molded into Your image; humbling ourselves like You, to serve others; giving ourselves, like You, to the Father’s kingdom and to His agenda. Amen.