An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.”
(verses 46-48)
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Having just healed the demon-possessed boy, Jesus for a second time tells his disciples (very clearly from our point of view) that he will be betrayed and executed, then rise again (Luke 9:44). The disciples failed to understand but were afraid to ask anything further.
So, they launched instead into a debate about who among them was the greatest. It sounds juvenile to us, like schoolyard posturing, but apparently this wrangling for position was standard form in religious circles at the time. The Qumran community (source of the Dead Sea Scrolls) actually did an annual reckoning, ranking each member according to their relative worthiness, top to bottom. Ouch. The disciples were only following suit.
But Jesus calls them on it. Flipping the discussion on its head, Jesus brushes aside the concern over their own status and calls them to accept all those around them without looking through the lens of rank and position and “greatness” at all.
Jesus pushes the issue with an object lesson. Taking a little child, he stands him among them so all could see. Children were considered of no significance, without rights and having no higher status than a servant. Indeed, in both Aramaic (which Jesus spoke) and Greek (which Mark writes) the same word doubles for both “child” and “servant.” Drawing the child, warmly, into his own presence, Jesus says, “Welcome such a one.” In essence he’s saying, “I am inviting you to be the servant of all – make sure you serve ones like this, who have no standing whatsoever – those you consider the lowest of the low. Serve these ones. Put yourself lower than the least.”
He goes further. “Welcome them as eagerly as you would welcome me or my Father, because in fact that’s what you’ll be doing.”
And then he circles back to the issue at hand, the issue of greatness. “For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.” It’s a lesson the Lord himself kept demonstrating right up to the very end, when at their last Passover meal he stripped off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, and knelt at each disciple’s feet, washing, cleansing and refreshing. Even then, those rank-conscious disciples broke into an argument about who was greatest (Luke 22:24). Jesus’ lesson was hard to learn.
It’s an ongoing challenge. Do we embrace humility? Do we easily seek out the least? How willingly – eagerly – do we welcome them? Do we have eyes to see those at the margin? Do we take the time? Do we value serving them as we would value serving the Lord himself?
As Paul puts it: “in humility consider others better than yourselves … Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:3, 5). For Jesus himself lived this to the full. Indeed, he lived it to the end.
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Lord Jesus, who are the ones you call me to serve? Give me eyes to see. Are there some, already staring me in the face, whose presence and need I’ve completely missed? Let me not be so focused on ‘important’ things that I miss your fresh prompts today.
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Reflect:
Take time in quiet prayer to reflect. Is there someone the Lord is prompting you to reach out to today with service or friendship or help or a listening ear? How will you respond?
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Photo by Rajesh Rajput on Unsplash
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