Acting Childish

Little Alice was helping me with some baking!

Scripture:

Luke 9:46   An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, ⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

Observation:

The disciples, even some among the inner circle, continue to misunderstand the kingdom of God. Even when he has shown them great miracles, they still doubt him the next time they are faced with a challenge. The argument that was developing among them was very childish. Again, probably with a twinkle in his eye, Jesus expressed his frustration with a life-sized example. The disciples were acting childish and didn’t understand what life was to be like in the kingdom of God. 

Neale describes the scene like this:

“You think this child is unimportant [mikeroteros], because he is physically small [mikroteros]. Yet you, who are physically large [megas], foolishly debate among yourselves who is great [megas].” Judging by human standards such as size and age leads to errors about human value (recall David, small size, big heart for God in 1 Sam 16:7). Personal accomplishment and social standing in the community, the subject of their debate, was not a true measure of greatness (NBBC). 

Luke uses this play on words which helps to reveal what is micro and what is mega in God’s kingdom. Acting childish by arguing is not a reflection of discipleship, but whoever becomes micro, like a child will be great in the kingdom. The world placed very little value on the life of a child because it was not known whether they would grow up to adulthood. Jesus wanted the disciples to focus on serving the very least within their community.

Application:

Here we are again, getting a lesson on what it means to be a disciple, and we can’t be a true disciple if we don’t know Jesus. It is our actions and reactions that reveal whether or not our life is in Christ. There is nothing static about knowing Christ, but instead we are drawn into a deeper walk in which we are transformed by his presence. When we begin to see ourselves in light of who Christ really is, then we will automatically decrease, because he is so much greater. We shouldn’t be wasting our time trying to figure out who is the greatest among us. 

Sometimes it’s hard to build up other people. We enjoy getting the attention and basking in the limelight, but that’s not the real life of a disciple. Just as Jesus picked up the child, literally lifting up the little one in the midst of the disciples, so we are to lift up others. Years ago, when we lived in Russia, our Regional Director was Dr. Franklin Cook. He is kind of a quiet person, but he was one of the greatest leaders at lifting up others that I have ever known. At a meeting where his Field Directors were giving their reports, he simply beamed. His wife said that his greatest joy was to watch others succeed. 

It is our responsibility to help bring those from the margins and raise them up to the center of life in the kingdom. Whoever welcomes the least in the community, is welcoming Christ. Those who think they are mega, are to become micro, and lift up the micro, to become mega. That’s really the ultimate message of the cross of Christ. The greatest of all, gave up everything for the least of all. On this Good Friday, will we consider what it means to follow Jesus to the cross and imitate his behavior, or will we continue with our own childish ways?

Prayer:

Lord, lead me to the cross. Amen.