Mark 9:30-37 Children

Mark 9:30-37 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know this, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But three days after he is killed, he will rise.”

32But they did not understand the statement and were afraid to ask him about it.

33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34But they remained silent, because on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35Jesus sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be the last of all and the servant of all.” 36Then he took a little child and placed him in their midst. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes not just me but also him who sent me.”

Children

I.

Put yourself in the shoes of a teacher. Look out at the classroom.

There they are. They just sit there staring. Are they daydreaming? Do they understand the material? Do they have any clue?

“Any questions?” you ask. No hands go up. Each face in the sea of faces seems to have the same blank look. The material for the lesson you are presenting isn’t exactly easy, so it’s important that you present it in as clear and engaging a way as possible. But with no hands in the air and no overt questioning faces, you have no idea if you’re making any progress.

Children! What else can you do but carry on teaching the lesson?

It’s frustrating to teach a bunch of blank faces. It’s hard to drill down to what they really need to understand when no one asks any questions.

Now put yourself in the shoes of one of the students.

You hear the teacher ask: “Any questions?” Your mind races. Surreptitiously you look around the room. No other hands are going up; none of the bodies of your fellow students even look like they’re close to raising a hand to ask a question. “Maybe the teacher covered what I might ask about in that moment I was daydreaming,” you think. I’d better not be the first to ask, just in case the teacher would give an exasperated sigh and give you one of those looks that says: “I just told you!”

You continue to consider asking a question. You sort of understand—at lease, partially. You hope that what the teacher says next will clarify without you having to embarrass yourself. After all, the rest of the class might think you’re stupid, or laugh at you.

Finally you think, “maybe what the teacher is going through won’t be on the next test, anyway. If I ignore it, it will just go away.” It’s childish not to ask a question when you have someone right there who can give you the answer.

Children! The students aren’t learning. They need this information. It’s going to become apparent, soon enough—all too soon.

The Teacher in this case didn’t have some fancy multi-media presentation. He wasn’t even standing in front of a classroom full of desks with a whiteboard or a chalkboard behind him.

The teacher was Jesus. The giant lecture halls of the grassy hillsides beside a lake, or the podium of a fishing boat to avoid the press of the crowd were all gone. It was a smaller setting. Jesus was walking along the road with his disciples.

“They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know this, 31because he was teaching his disciples” (Mark 9:30-31, EHV). Jesus didn’t want anyone to know because it was time for some deeper instruction. The crowds filling the giant lecture halls had needed general instruction.

This group of his disciples needed something more. These were the disciples who would be the front-men. They were the ones who would lead others. They were the ones who would teach others what Jesus had really come to do. They needed to understand. So as they walked, he taught.

II.

Jesus said: “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But three days after he is killed, he will rise” (Mark 9:31, EHV).

The classroom was filled with a stunned silence. This wasn’t what they had expected when the left the larger lecture halls for the smaller setting. They knew they were going to get some deeper instruction, but they never thought they would hear words like this!

What they had been anticipating was instructions from Jesus to prepare them for their future cabinet positions. Jesus was the Messiah—of that they were sure. That meant, in their minds, that he would establish the earthly kingdom they were convinced was coming. They were the ones who would be right there beside him, in positions of prominence and authority. They were ready and willing to receive his instruction about their glorious future.

“But they did not understand the statement and were afraid to ask him about it” (Mark 9:32, EHV).

I have been that student in the classroom who looked around, but wouldn’t raise my hand. I have been the one afraid I would look stupid, or be laughed at by my classmates. I have been the one who thought everyone else knew the answers, and I was the only one who was clueless about what the teacher was saying.

Children! Sometimes, rather than asking the teacher for the answer, students collaborate with one another. Apparently they believe that putting their heads together they will be able to grasp what the teacher was saying. Not asking a question when you don’t understand is at least a little bit foolish—it’s childish. There is a teacher who can answer your questions. In the case of the disciples, they had the best Teacher of all.

The foolishness and childishness gets even worse. The whispered conversation went completely off-topic from what Jesus had just said. I would imagine it grew beyond whispers, and became rather animated. “On the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest” (Mark 9:34, EHV). “I’m better than you are.” “Jesus likes me better than you.” “I’m going to be in a more important position in Jesus’ government than you.” What a bunch of children!

III.

What kind of disciple of Jesus are you?

Well, you are here. Besides singing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs to God, you have come to listen to his Word. Luther once wrote: “I remain a pupil of the Catechism. I feel, too, that this helps me a lot, and I am convinced by experience that God’s Word can never be entirely mastered” (Luther’s Works, vol 14, p. 8). No matter how many times you have heard God’s Word, there is still more to learn.

Maybe sometimes you hear something you don’t understand. Are you one of the students in the classroom that just sits there with a blank look on your face? Do you go to God’s Word and search the Scriptures to find the answers? I hope and pray you do.

Like the disciples, there are some who search the Scriptures and find that some of the answers aren’t to their liking. Sadly, rather than submitting to what God has to say, they ignore it and continue to go their own way.

Or are you the kind of disciple who searches for greatness? Some love the spotlight and want to be noticed for greatness in Christ’s kingdom. They want to be seen as magnetic and winsome leaders in the church, craving crowds gathering around them and praising them for insightful understanding.

Maybe you are the disciple who just wants to fade into the background and never do anything to lead in Christ’s kingdom. You want to be servants of Christ, but servants like one of those in Jesus’ parables—the one who buried his talent in the ground, rather than putting any of his abilities to work for the Master.

IV.

Back to the question the disciples didn’t understand. “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But three days after he is killed, he will rise” (Mark 9:31, EHV).

Sometimes before this Jesus had been more vague about what was coming. The disciples had to be led along slowly in their instruction. That’s understandable. You have to learn your abcs at the very beginning of learning to read—you don’t go straight to college-level literature.

The time for milk was past; the disciples had to get some doses of solid food. They had to get ready for what was soon to come. Jesus would soon be going to Jerusalem for the last time.

What Jesus taught them now is the heart of the gospel. Jesus had been sent by the Heavenly Father for this very purpose—he was to suffer and die. His death would be the sacrifice for sin that all the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to, but never satisfied. The sacrifice of Jesus would be enough to pay for the sins of the whole world. That would be shown by the fact that he would rise from the dead three days after he was executed.

The bunch of children hadn’t wanted to ask about it. Instead, they had worried about which of them was the greatest. Jesus was the greatest. The greatest sacrifice.

V.

“Jesus sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he will be the last of all and the servant of all’” (Mark 9:35, EHV). There was something to learn about greatness. Greatness isn’t to be found in trying to be magnetic and winsome. Greatness in the kingdom isn’t to be shunned, either, as you bury your talent in the dirt.

Greatness is to be found in service.

“Then he took a little child and placed him in their midst. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes not just me but also him who sent me’” (Mark 9:36-37, EHV).

Children. Welcome them. Serve them.

It isn’t just those who are children because of their biological age, but children who are like the disciples who walked along the road with Jesus and failed to understand when he told them plainly about his mission.

Those who don’t understand need to understand. Your “greatness” in the kingdom comes from telling them. It doesn’t matter whether you are telling an arena full of people what Jesus has done, or standing in front of a Sunday School classroom explaining Jesus, or speaking to your children or grandchildren about him, or telling one individual friend. Proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus to another person is greatness.

So often we speak about the community of believers as “Children of God.” It’s not really derogatory, is it? We’re glad to be children of God.

As you sit at the feet of Jesus, day after day in your personal study of his Word, and week after week in the worship service, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Then dig into God’s Word even deeper to learn the answers.

Being a child of God is a joy and privilege. God bless you as you continue to be and grow as Children of God. Amen.