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Jesus Speaks Again about His Death
Mark 9:30-37
Good News Translation (GNT)
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30 Jesus and his disciples left that place and
went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want
anyone to know where he was,
31 because he was teaching his disciples:
"The Son of Man will be handed over to those
who will kill him. Three days later, however,
he will rise to life."
32 But they did not understand what this teaching
meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
Who Is the Greatest?
33 They came to Capernaum, and after going
indoors Jesus asked his disciples,
"What were you arguing about on the road?"
34 But they would not answer him, because on
the road they had been arguing among
themselves about who was the greatest.
35 Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples,
and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first
must place himself last of all and be the
servant of all."
36 Then he took a child and had him stand in
front of them. He put his arms around him and
said to them,
37 "Whoever welcomes in my name one of these
children, welcomes me; and whoever
welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also
the one who sent me."
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by
Scripture Union
Fearing the future
Mark 9:30-37
Jesus' second prediction of his suffering begins this passage
and it is soon clear that the disciples still don't understand it at all.
Indeed, it engenders fear (v 32).
Is this fear on his behalf or for themselves?
A measure of their failure to grasp Jesus' meaning is that their conversation
is not about his suffering but about their own future prospects.
Perhaps they saw this language of suffering as a threat to their future.
Jesus' prediction of his passion is fuller than the first (8:31) in that he
foretells that he will
'be delivered over to human hands'.
The Greek verb implies a divine agency at work, which Paul later eloquently affirms:
'He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all' (Romans 8:32).
This prediction was made during a secret journey through Galilee.
To minimise detection, the party may have broken into small groups, coming
together at certain points en route.
The secrecy enabled Jesus to teach his disciples without interruption.
He is preparing the twelve for the cross and all that lies beyond.
Servant status
Jesus, however, never lessens the nature of his absolute demands for his disciples.
Instead he introduces the notion of servanthood for the first time and uses the
metaphor of a small child to illustrate the inversion of rank and status
in the kingdom of God.
In Jesus' day no one regarded a child as having any particular status or
importance other than for the future.
When they reach Capernaum, private discussions between master and disciples take place.
The first might be entitled: First and last.
Rank was a critical issue in the world of the disciples. The Qumran sect, who
gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls, annually revalidated the rank of each member
of the community according to worthiness.
This ranking established the order of seating and speaking.
Jesus turns such ranking upside down!
True greatness is caring for those who are socially powerless,
like children.
Who is the greatest?
The disciples knew that Jesus wouldn't like the subject they were debating.
They had been with him long enough to realise that Jesus' definition of
greatness wasn't going to be the same as theirs.
After all, if he had been interested in qualifications,
he'd never have picked them as disciples.
Last is first
I reckon the young Joseph would have held his own pretty well
in the disciples' argument.
After all, he was good-looking, intelligent and his father's favourite son -
and then there were those dreams!
He was destined for greatness.
But Jesus' response to the disciples was a lesson that Joseph had to learn
the hard way. He had to experience being 'last' before he could be exalted
to a high position.
Want to be great?
Jesus makes it clear that status and position are unimportant.
If you want to be 'great' in the kingdom of God,
what matters is to serve - even in small ways.
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