I AM, The Greatest
6 min read
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
—Mark 9:30-35
Jesus wanted to make sure that they were not disturbed because He needed to teach them about His betrayal, death, and resurrection. It was the most important lesson that they needed to learn.
Jesus had already taught them this lesson once, and they refused to believe what He was saying. Peter rebuked Jesus for saying such “nonsense”!
For the second lesson, they still refused to understand. And they had every opportunity to simply ask Jesus what all of it meant, but they didn’t. They were afraid to ask because they didn’t want to hear the plain truth.
And so, to distract themselves from their obvious foolishness, what did they do instead? They began to debate about which one of them was the greater disciple of Jesus. They wanted to know what their “pecking order” was.
The response of the disciples would be laughable if it were not so spot on in terms of how all of Jesus’s disciples often respond to hard truths. We distract ourselves with meaningless debate, usually to boost our own estimation in our own eyes.
Am I being harsh, brothers and sisters? Just know that I am speaking of what I have observed of my own behavior at times. By God’s grace, those times are getting fewer, and by God’s grace, those occurrences will continue to dwindle.
I have learned some things from being an under-shepherd of our High Shepherd, Jesus Christ. All of us are fickle and prone to wander. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
But more than that, I have learned the gentle exhortation and touch of my great Teacher. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
Most of the time, I don’t think people are interested in being the “greatest.” People who actually want to be the “greatest” are sociopathic megalomaniacs. We get that, and most people avoid being that.
No. Most of the time, people simply desire to know that they are “greater” than at least some of their peers. And Jesus says very plainly and gently, if we truly want to be greater, we have to serve others and put their needs before our own.
It’s a hard teaching, and I really don’t want to understand it. I would much rather set my own terms for “greatness” and be happily deluded.
But our Lord has greater things in store for me and for you and for this community. He will make us truly great in His eyes and in His heart.
Father, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your thoughts higher than my thoughts, Your ways than my ways. Help me Lord to surrender to Your thoughts and Your ways, for You are God, and I am a sinful and broken man. May the blood of Christ cleanse me and heal me, so that I may rejoice in Your salvation and serve others as You continually serve me. In Your precious name. Amen.
