Mark 9:30-37
I
purchased a small item of electronic gear the other day. The instructions were
in that strange language that looks like English, but it doesn’t make much
sense. The item was made in China and the person doing the English instructions
was also made in China. I wonder if they have Google in China. If they had used
it to do the translation, they would have had a much better translation.
The
instructions were short enough, and included just enough information to operate
the equipment. Too often instructions made for the US market have far too much
information. I remember reading in the safety instruction for an electronic
device, that you shouldn’t try to operate it under water, that the knife blade
is sharp and can cut, that you shouldn’t eat rat poison. I guess because of the
lawyers and our propensity to use them to overcome our own stupidity, warnings
must include every possible stupid thing someone might do with the product and
get hurt. That way the lawyers have something to fight over.
Jesus’
disciples seemed to have been able to mess up even Jesus’ plain instructions.
He was again trying to teach them some of the simplest principles of Kingdom
life. The first was His sacrificial death and resurrection, and the second that
leadership is about service. They had missed both lessons, so He repeats them
in an even simpler form. He gives them just enough information to understand.
As
Jesus shares about His upcoming death and resurrection He streamlines the message
for His disciples. The previous time He shared this reality with them, they had
missed it. That time He had included more details of the suffering. I think those
extra details bumped up against their image of the Messiah in such a way that
they couldn’t hear the Resurrection portion. I don’t know. I do know that they
missed the point. They got sidetracked.
All
the object lessons around being a servant of others had been missed by the
disciples as well. Jesus was constantly thinking about other’s welfare above
His own. And as they were traveling, the disciples were thinking about
themselves. In fact, they were arguing with each other about who was the greatest
among them. I guess rank and title was important back then as well. Maybe they
were getting ready to print a new batch of business cards and wanted to make
sure their rank in the pecking order of disciples was correct.
Jesus
uses a physical object lesson to help teach His point. He brings a small child
into the mix. Children didn’t have status in their circles. They weren’t even
considered. So for Jesus to use a child and give the child the upper place was
radical. The ones that had no voice were given the highest priority.
If
only we could heed this lesson. Position means nothing. Serving each other’s
needs is what matters. Those without a voice matter.