Rivals for Power—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 18B (Mark 9:30-37)

Mark 9:30-37 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” ³² But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

³³ Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

                *********************

                In the previous lectionary reading Jesus took his disciples up toward Caesarea Philippi, a city known for its pagan temples and emperor worship. The latter was headquartered in temples built by Herod and his sons to honor Augustus and Tiberius. Jesus had asked his disciples what the polls were saying about him. Who did the people think he was? Then he asked them who they thought he was. Peter answered by declaring Jesus to be the Messiah. But, when Jesus suggested that his vision of being a messiah involved suffering and death, Peter rejected the idea. This didn’t sound at all like what he envisioned a Messiah to be. Jesus rebuked Peter and called him Satan because Peter offered a temptation that Jesus had already rejected. He wasn’t going to take the path of Caesar. Rather he chose the way of the cross (Mk. 8:27-38).

                In the reading for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we jump to the 30^th verse of Mark 9. We skip over the Transfiguration, a discussion about the coming of Elijah, and another healing. We pick things up with Jesus and his companions traveling through Galilee. While they traveled he tried to keep out of the sight of the crowds because he wanted to teach the disciples. He comes back to his definition of the Messiah. He tells them once again that “the Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again. While this is the second time Jesus makes this claim, they still don’t understand what he was talking about. Not only that, but they were also afraid to ask him what he meant (Mk. 8:30-32).

                Although Mark tells us that Jesus tried to teach the disciples about what his destiny looked like, the disciples were having conversations of their own. When they arrived in Capernaum, which was the home base for the group, they went into the house where they were staying. Jesus asked them what they had been talking about among themselves while they traveled. According to Mark, they were silent. That’s because they were probably embarrassed by what they had been arguing about. Jesus had just told them, once again, that he was going to suffer and die, and they were arguing about who was the greatest among them. They were, in essence, jockeying for power among themselves. While it would seem that Peter was the leader of the band, maybe he was just a good talker. Ultimately, they were still thinking along the lines of secular structures of power. If so, they hadn’t yet caught hold of Jesus' vision of his calling. They were still thinking in military terms so that when Jesus achieved power in Israel (after throwing out the Romans) they could get prime spots in Jesus’ administration.  

            History is filled with stories of nations seeking to dominate others. The Book of Daniel describes the comings and goings of the great empires of the ancient world. Each one eventually fell to another. The Roman Empire rose to great heights, but it too fell, such that by the time the Ottomans put an end to the remnant of the Roman Empire, all that was left of that once great empire was Constantinople. The twentieth century was filled with wars and revolutions, with empires rising and falling. When the Soviet Union finally fell apart at the end of the 1980s, the United States proclaimed itself the sole superpower. We thought for a moment that no country could rival us, but then China began to rise up. But even it has struggled of late. Perhaps that’s why many Americans are attracted to the idea of “Making America Great Again.” There is the feeling among some that we’re not what we used to be. So, we’re open to promises of greatness by politicians with autocratic intentions to ease our sense of anxiety about the future.  Churches can fall prey to such beliefs, such that we see each other as competitors rather than ministry partners.

                Jesus responded to this battle for supremacy within his community by calling the twelve together and began to teach them about true greatness. He tells them that “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” That isn’t the way people in the world think. You don’t lead from behind. Generally, the one who leads is the one who talks the loudest. Many of us like our leaders to be brash and arrogant. We want our Presidents to push our allies around, bending them to our will. In fact, many Americans are attracted to people like Vladimir Putin and Victor Orban. They get things done (though Putin’s war hasn’t gone as planned). To quietly build coalitions isn’t the American way. But remember, Jesus has already defined his vision of his messiahship in terms of suffering and death, with the resurrection as the climax. But it’s suffering and death, not military might, that will achieve his vision of establishing God’s realm.

                As Jesus addresses the rivalry that has emerged among his disciples, he wants to change the trajectory. He tells them that if you want to be first then you must be last. To illustrate this, Jesus took a child who was standing nearby into his arms and Jesus said something rather interesting: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” By welcoming the child into their midst, they welcomed Jesus. By welcoming Jesus, they welcomed the one who sent Jesus. What makes this interesting is that children didn’t play the same role in the ancient world as they do today. Because the mortality rate was rather high, parents didn’t get too attached to their children. In fact, children were an economic burden until such a time that they could either go off on their own or bring income in for the family. It’s why males were more highly regarded than females. But, in this case, welcoming the child has a deeper meaning. It appears that God has chosen to identify with the child who might have income potential but until such time was a drag on the family income. Therefore, in a world where children were largely invisible, as Mark Stamm puts it, “Jesus makes them visible just as he made lepers and women visible” [Feasting on the Gospels: Mark, p. 281]. We may coddle our children today, but such was not the case then, making this message even more powerful. It is, as Peter J. Paris points out:

Since children had no social status whatsoever in ancient Israel, he was clearly starting a reversal of the social order by making the least first and the first last. In other words, his messianic kingdom would establish a new social ethic by reversing the social and political fortunes of the dispossessed and restoring health to those who were sick and disabled, as well as dignity and value to children, women, and outcasts [Connections, p. 334].

                The situations are different, but we shouldn’t ignore the fact that even today children can be ignored, neglected, and abused. That’s just as true in the United States as in other places in the world. Consider the continued presence of gun violence in our schools. A politician can sluff such things off by saying “It’s just a fact of life.” No, it’s not. It’s preventable if we’re willing to treat children as we would treat Jesus. When Jesus tells his disciples, who have been fighting over who is the greatest among them, that it is the children who most embody the presence of God, he’s not talking about their behavior. He’s talking about their personhood. By welcoming the children, they welcome those who live on the margins of society. These are the least of God’s children, or so it would seem. By welcoming them, they welcome Jesus and the one who sent him. Then, as a Brian Wren hymn puts it:

When God is a child there’s joy in our song.

The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,

and none shall be afraid. [Chalice Hymnal, 132].