Foundations of Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG07

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F O U N D A T I O N S O F C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

Who Is the Greatest?

Devotion

Mark 9.33-37 - And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” [34] But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. [35] And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” [36] And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, [37] “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” There is something oddly comforting about the unclarity of the apostles. If Christ was able to use them in the remarkable way he did, even in spite of the kinds of weird and ungodly attitudes they had on a wide range of issues, then there is hope for us! The above text is significant because of its occurrence in the journey of the Lord Jesus. It took place after Peter made the God-inspired confession of the Messianic identity of Jesus of Nazareth, and our Lord further revealed that he would be betrayed, be handed over by the scribes and chief priests, and be crucified. In some way, the episodes which preceded this incident were the defining moment in our Lord’s self-revelation about his identity and his intention and work in the world. The Messiah of God would be shamed, tortured, humiliated, and crucified, but three days later he would rise. What an amazing teaching, filled to the brimwith implications about the humility of Jesus Christ, and his willingness to follow his Father’s will to the utmost extremity. What a revelation: the anointed of God would be humiliated for the sake of redeeming his own! On the heels of this remarkable disclosure, the apostles were accompanying our Lord to his hometown, Capernaum. On the way, the disciples’ conversation must have been animated enough that it intrigued our Lord who asked themwhat was the subject of conversation on the way to the house. The apostles’ silence must have been deafening, for they knew what they had been talking about, and were ashamed of both its content and form. The text is clear in verse 34: “But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.” The apostles had just learned that their master, Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the long-awaited Messiah, and their minds turned immediately to their place with him, the “pecking order” they enjoyed and would enjoy perhaps in the coming Kingdom. How inappropriate and shameful, on the very doorstep of our Lord’s clearest teaching about his upcoming humiliation and death, that the apostles would be talking about their own blessing, greatness, and significance.

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