In today’s gospel lesson it is obvious that the disciples are utterly clueless. This story comes from chapter nine of Mark. At this point they have been with Jesus for a while. They have given up their occupations in order to travel with Jesus. They have seen him heal. They have been taught many important lessons and heard him preach to them in parables. They were there when Jesus calmed the storm, when Jesus fed five thousand, and when Jesus walked on water. Despite all of this they still do not understand this specific teaching about Jesus’ death and resurrection. They fail to comprehend that it is central to the incarnation of Jesus that the Son of God has come into this world not only to serve others but to save the world through his suffering and death.
I can definitely identify with the clueless disciples in this story. I think back to some times in recent years when I have been distracted by worries or fears as my mind has not been focused on the task at hand. It does not tend to go well for me. I remember when I scratched up our sort of new and freshly repaired car while parking it when my mind was more focused on a full day of meetings at the seminary and at work while I was also thinking about the three papers that I had to write in the next week. And sometimes my distractions cause me to be completely oblivious to the obvious like when I failed to notice that my wife’s Diet Coke had exploded when we were in the car. At that time the things running through my mind were worry about my sore back and thinking about my summer intensive class and when it would work best for me to visit my family in order to celebrate my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. Later I felt foolish when I asked my wife why she had changed her clothes and was taking towels down to the garage. When I am preoccupied with my worries and concerns, I am clearly not at full capacity and I miss things that I should never miss.
I imagine the disciples in this story to be like I was in these examples which I just cited. I assume that they are distracted and therefore not at their best. They are focused on other things so they are not fully able to comprehend the impact of this second prediction of death and resurrection. As you may remember from last week’s gospel lesson they were there when Jesus predicted his death and resurrection the first time but according to Mark a few things have happened in between these two predictions. The lectionary skips these events but I want to mention them because I think that they provide insight into the disciples’ state of mind. Earlier in chapter nine Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain and they see Jesus transfigured. It was quite a scene as Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white and Elijah and Moses both appeared. Jesus did order Peter, James, and John to be silent about this event until after Jesus had risen from the dead, and the text of Mark indicates that they kept the matter to themselves. Even if they did not brag about what they had witnessed Peter, James, and John would certainly have been impacted by the Transfiguration and it would have been natural for them to now be a little bit cocky about their place in the hierarchy of the group since it was clear that they were in the inner circle. The other disciples may not have known what had happened on that mountain but they knew that they had been excluded from participating and they would now have a reason to be insecure about their place in the group.
After the Transfiguration the disciples then encountered a boy with a spirit who was having seizures. The disciples were unable to cast out this spirit and were subsequently scolded by Jesus. After Jesus had cast out the spirit, he told them that this kind of spirit can come out only through prayer. The disciples had been unsuccessful in healing the boy and now they were processing their failure. They were likely questioning their abilities and they had been accused by Jesus of failing to pray so they also felt their dedication to the Lord to be in question as well.
In addition, they appear to be in the middle of a rigorous stretch of travel. They are passing through Galilee heading to Capernaum and then at the very start of chapter ten which is the next chapter they are going to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. These were not short fifteen-minute car trips with no traffic. They were walking for miles in a warm weather climate. They were totally dependent on their legs so a sore knee or a blister on a foot would mean lots of pain on this kind of journey.
I think that taking this background into account is really important to understanding today’s text as we see that the disciples were clearly not at their best because of the long journey, the failure to heal the boy, and the apparent divisions that were appearing within the group. Rather than dealing with the root causes of the matters at hand they do what many of us would do and begin to debate a completely unrelated issue. They turn to squabbling about the question of who is the greatest. They are likely feeling insecure at this point so they argue about hierarchy and power. They may be wondering if some of them will soon be replaced. The disciples are essentially trying to justify their existence by making their cases about their relative greatness. It is human nature. They know that they have failed but now they are trying to rationalize their actions. Peter is likely arguing that since he is in the inner circle that he is better than Thomas. Thomas is likely arguing that he is not a greedy tax collector like Matthew. Matthew is likely arguing that as a tax collector and future Gospel writer he is better because he has education that the others do not have. I could go on but you see what is happening. Because of their insecurities and recent failures, they are now arguing about something that has nothing to do with the mission and ministry of Jesus. The disciples even seem to know that their arguments with each other are completely fruitless as they are silent when Jesus confronts them when he asks them what they were arguing about on the way.
Jesus has just told them about his death and resurrection for the second time and his disciples are arguing about status and power. Jesus knows that at this time the disciples do not understand what he is telling them and they are afraid to ask him. He knows that he needs to hit the reset button on today’s lesson. It is apparent that Jesus needs to take a different approach in communicating his message that he is the servant of all and that his followers are called to service. He also knows that the disciples need love and comfort as they are struggling right now. He decides that the best way to reach them is by using a little child. The disciples may have been distracted and not fully engaged with Jesus’ message but they did know where children fell in their patriarchal society. In any society children are vulnerable and they are dependent on others for their survival and well-being. Because of the child’s low standing Jesus identifies with the child just as throughout his ministry Jesus identifies with the lowly and the oppressed. The message being taught by Jesus is that greatness consists of warmly welcoming one with low status like a child.
Welcoming one of the vulnerable is welcoming Christ himself. The disciples themselves are among those who are vulnerable. In this simple embrace of the child Jesus shows the disciples how they are to be the servants of those in the community. As followers of Christ, we are invited to represent those who are on the margins and who lack an advocate. Humble service to the community is the way of Christ and true greatness is to be the least of all and the servant of all. In addition, the disciples also see that the love of Christ is freely available to them and that they are welcomed into his warm embrace during this time when they themselves are also struggling. The way of Christ connects us all in community and none of us are alone as we are all invited into the arms of Jesus.
Many of us can identify with the clueless disciples. We are distracted by our busy lives and all of the worries of the world including our desire for wealth, status, and power. Much like the disciples we argue with each other about our relative merits and in so doing we fail to see that Jesus has extended his arms toward us inviting all of us into his love and grace. Our preoccupations may keep us from seeing what is happening right in front of our eyes but an essential part of the gospel of Christ is that he is always there with his arms extended waiting to welcome us. If we are able to look beyond the distractions of this world and our daily lives, we then can see that the invitation to experience the love of Christ is one that is free even for us clueless disciples to accept at any time. The call of Christ to resist wealth, status, and power and to live a life of humble service is rooted in the radical grace of God. It is this grace which completely destroys the world’s idea that greatness is based on wealth, status, and power. Through this radical idea of humble service, we have the opportunity to embrace the vulnerable in our arms just as we are brought into the warm embrace of the love of Christ.
May all of us clueless disciples serve each other and be embraced in the arms of Christ who welcomes all of us to be with him. Thanks be to God.
- Vicar Kyle Anderson