Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost 2024

Mark 9:30-37

Rev. Neli Miranda 

Today, we read in Mark’s Gospel that while Jesus and his disciples were journeying together, Jesus takes the opportunity to continue teaching them about the nature of his mission, his impending death and his resurrection. His proclamation has raised opposition among the Jewish authorities and soon they will seek to silence Jesus. So, he is going on a mission with no return but he remains resolute in his mission declaring, “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” (9,31).

This is the second time that Jesus speaks of his impending death and resurrection; however, the disciples are still struggling with this announcement. Their expectation of the messianic hero prevents them from understanding Jesus’ mission.  Last Sunday, we heard for the first time Jesus’ announcement about his imminent suffering, death and resurrection and how Peter tried to dissuade him from that path. Today, when Jesus once again speaks about his suffering and death, Mark tells us that the disciples “…did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him” (9,32). It is plausible that they do understand the message but struggle to embrace its truth.  Mark notes that the disciples were afraid to admit their lack of understanding; maybe they were not ready for such a conversation. Surely, they expected a revelation of Jesus’ mission as the triumphant Messiah, rather that of one suffering and dying on a cross. 

As they continue their journey, the disciples engage in a private argument; however, they are not speaking about Jesus’ mission, instead they are arguing about who is the greatest among them.  Jesus has just spoken about his impending future and they are discussing who is the greatest among them!! They continue thinking about human things! Jesus does not get involved in their discussion but when they arrive at Capernaum, he asks them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” (9,33). Mark tells us that they are silent. Perhaps they have come to recognize that their debate contradicts Jesus’ paradoxical view of greatness.

Seated, Jesus calls the twelve disciples, the leadership of the community, to teach them a lesson on authentic greatness within the Kingdom of God: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (9,35). Jesus turns the twelve’s world upside down.  Greatness in Jesus’ community is not that one displayed with great pomp for the Jewish and Roman authorities who strut amidst the impoverished people.  Greatness in his community does not stem from stepping on others to reach the top but from loving and serving others. This is Jesus’ mission!

Jesus continues to challenge his disciples’ paradigms by placing an unnoticed child in their midst. Taking the child in his arms, he declares, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me”(9,37).  In Jewish culture, children were considered to hold the lowest status in society. They had no voice and were a kind of insider left on the margins. The child on Jesus’ arms, likely the son or daughter of one of the many disciples accompanying Jesus, represented those who are looked down on, the vulnerable, the voiceless, those excluded from decision-making, and subject to imposed rules; however, Jesus identifies himself with this child rather than with the prominent figures of Greco-Roman and Jewish society. He does not associate himself nor God with a conventional notion of greatness but with the little ones, the vulnerable in the community. By identifying himself with a child and embracing the way of the cross, humility, and service, Jesus redefines both greatness and Godness. He teaches us to find God in the vulnerability of a child, a little one.

Have you seen a child today? Have you noticed the little ones around you?

Dear sisters and brothers, through the tender image of Jesus holding a child in his arms, we are taught about the essence of Jesus’ community: one that prioritizes embracing the little ones and the vulnerable over power and greatness. In welcoming them, we welcome God and Jesus himself. 

Amen.