Who Is the Greatest?
TRANSLATION
(30) And they left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were (31) because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and, after three days, he will rise.” (32) But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him.
(33) And they came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” (34) But they kept silent, for they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. (35) And he sat down, called the twelve together, and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and the servant of all.” (36) And he took a child, placed him in their midst, and, taking him in his arms, said to them, (37) “Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
OBSERVATIONS
In this transitional segment during which they were returning to Capernaum, Jesus was careful to prepare his disciples for the opposition they were about to face in Jerusalem. However, the attention of the twelve was focused not on his coming death and resurrection but on something far more mundane, namely, who among them should be considered the greatest. Repetitions in this segment included “kill/killed” (vs. 31), “on the way” (vss. 33 & 34), “child” (vss. 36 & 37), and four uses of “receives” in one verse (vs. 37).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus warned his disciples regarding the opposition that awaited him in Jerusalem. (30-32)
II. Jesus had to deal with a dispute over who among them was the greatest. (33-37)
IDEA STATEMENT
After warning the disciples about his impending death and resurrection, Jesus was forced to deal with their arguing about who among them was the greatest.
APPLICATION
Nearly 150 years ago, the Scottish theologian and pastor, A. B. Bruce, authored a classic volume called The Training of the Twelve in which he described how Jesus over three and a half years of earthly ministry devoted himself to preparing his twelve disciples to assume the ongoing task of proclaiming the Gospel when he would leave them to return to the Father. One of the most difficult tasks Jesus faced in this process involved what Paul would later call “the renewing of (their) minds” (Rom. 12:2), that is, transforming the disciples’ long held cultural assumptions into kingdom values.
One of those deeply entrenched perspectives that had to be repeatedly addressed was the disciples’ view of leadership which resulted in their constantly arguing over who among them should be considered the greatest. This kind of worldly ambition had no place among the followers of Jesus. That is why Jesus, when he overheard them again discussing this subject among themselves, took a child, placed him in their midst, and directed them to make it their ambition to become the least of all, not the greatest. Servanthood, not supremacy, was to distinguish those who claimed Jesus as Lord. The reason for this would later be summarized in Jesus’ pithy declaration of the purpose for which he had come: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).
The humility expected in a follower of Jesus has been one of the most elusive character traits of disciples in every generation since. All of us battle with the desire for success and an ambitious striving after distinction, issues that the Holy Spirit is forced to address in every one of Jesus’ followers. The sooner we become like submissive children and assume an attitude of dependence on loving parents, the more useful we will be to the one of whom Paul wrote: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Phil. 2:5).