Mark 9:30-37

Jesus leads the disciples in lonely places so they can travel without the distraction of needy people. If the One who had the greatest heart and love found it proper to pull away from extensive, public ministry for a time of intense ministry with his disciples shouldn't we? We tend to divide our time between work and leisure (aka recreation and entertainment). Perhaps a third category is needed: intimate time with God.

The disciples could not grasp the meaning of Jesus' prediction of His death and resurrection. This was likely a struggle in two areas. The first failure was the idea that the Messiah would undergo the apparent defeat of death rather than the obvious victory of a kingdom. Second, the idea of the literal resurrection may have been difficult for them to grasp. They may have believed in a resurrection in the last day. If they thought of the three days as a metaphor or parable rather than as a literal three days then they may have missed the resurrection as being literal.   We need to realize that if we miss the literal resurrection we will miss the nature of the Kingdom.

The disciples missed it as evidenced by their argument over who is better or greater in the Kingdom. The argument may have arisen as a result of the failure of the disciples to cast out the demon. There may have been a justification and accusations about who was at fault for the failure. People are not likely to be divided by success as much as by failure and the attempt to avoid blame. Peter, James and John would have certainly been a part of this argument.  We can almost hear one of them say, “If I had been there I would have done….” The double blessing of failure is that we find out how much our ego is involved and to what extent we will fight to justify ourselves. Failure doesn't cause division; it merely exposes it.

The response by Jesus was not a hearty rebuke but a formal teaching indicated by the fact that Jesus sat down, the position for formal teaching time.  Jesus said, “If you want to be great in the Kingdom this is how.”  And then he took a child to himself.  All the child did was go to be with Jesus. Greatness is wanting to be with Jesus.  And how are we to be with Jesus, by serving. To find greatness we do not need self-esteem what we need is self-forgetfulness.