The Little Ones

³⁰ They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, ³¹ because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” ³² But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

³³ They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house,he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?”³⁴ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

³⁵ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

³⁶ He took a little child whom he placed among them. 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 does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

³⁸ “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

³⁹ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, ⁴⁰ for whoever is not against us is for us.⁴¹ Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

⁴² “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
    and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

As the disciples continue their journey with Jesus, Mark turns to an extended passage of Jesus' teaching.  Jesus wants to keep their movements secret, which is not unusual, but this time Mark explains why.  The secrecy is due to Jesus' desire to teach his disciples.  This suggests that teaching is best done in small settings, something that the megachurch movement needs to take seriously.

For the second time, Jesus tells his disciples of his impending death at the hands of his enemies and the coming resurrection.  They continue to be unable to understand and are afraid to ask questions.  It is easy for us who live on this side of the cross to forget how astounding Jesus' claims must have sounded.  It also is interesting that in this age where we have domesticated Jesus into a comfortable friend that the disciples were afraid to ask Jesus about what he has said.

They come to Capernaum and in a house (the place where teaching often happens--this may be Mark emphasizing that the house church was the logical extension of Jesus' ministry) the session continues.  Jesus begins by asking them what their animated conversation on the way had been about.  The disciples behave like children (as they do again and again in the gospel--and perhaps what follows is hope that childish disciples can become child-like followers) and refuse to answer since they know that their conversation about who was greatest would not make Jesus happy.  It is sadly not surprising in the least that immediately after Jesus tells them about the resurrection they don't talk about that. It is almost like they suffer from attention deficit disorder.  

Unlike in our culture, the one with authority would sit and others would stand.  And so when Jesus sits it is not only to assume the correct position of the rabbi, but also to answer the question of who is greatest among them.  Despite, the lack of an answer from the disciples, Jesus appears to know their dispute and addresses it as he continues to teach.  In the Kingdom economy, he tells them that the last and the servant will be greatest and by extension that those who argue about their right to be at the front in the line reveal their inadequacy to be there.

As an object lesson, Jesus takes a child and places him at the center of attention.  Where this child appears from is not at all clear.  Perhaps he is a child who lives in the house or maybe the disciples are not just the twelve, but also friends and family who stand just outside the frame, we do not know.  Jesus makes it clear that those who welcome the powerless and dependent welcome him and by extension welcome God who sent him.  With his arms wrapped lovingly around the child, it is hard to imagine why the disciples are afraid to ask Jesus a question or to admit the content of their conversation.

John finally does speak, but not a question (and certainly not about resurrection) but a statement that seems to show that he has missed entirely Jesus' point in embracing the child.  The disciple seems to expect that Jesus will praise him for maintaining orthodoxy.  He tells Jesus that they have stopped someone from healing (doing good!) in Jesus' name who they did not recognize as one of "us".  This pride in orthodoxy rings not only in the past, but also in the present.  What are we to make of other churches or traditions than our own?  Jesus reprimands John and tells him that anyone who does ministry in the name of Jesus is one of them whether they are in the group or not.  Then as now, this notion of other disciples seems a very dangerous idea to those who want to claim that only they have a tight claim on the gospel.

Often the line about a cup of cold water given in Jesus' name is invoked to support social ministry.  This seems a misuse of the passage (not that there is not significant support for social ministry!).  It seems instead to point to ecumenical encouragement.  The cup of cold water in Jesus' name is given not to those who are not already followers, but to "you" (the disciples).  And this cooperative ministry is a source of comfort for those ministered to as well as to those offering the help.

Jesus turns his attention again to the child and issues a stern warning.  For the disciples who are a little slow on the uptake, he explicitly identifies the child as a metaphor for those who follow.  Whoever causes them to stumble would be better off in the end if the New Jersey mafia had put their feet in concrete and dropped them in the Hudson river.  In fact whether it is your hand, foot or eye that causes you to stumble, it would be better to self mutilate than to fail as a follower.  A place of voracious worms and fire is the destination for those who refuse to recognize their shortcomings.

Jesus changes themes when he begins to speak of salt.  Salt in the ancient world was not only used to flavor foods, but also to preserve them.  Everyone faces challenges (the fire), but these struggles preserve the followers of Christ for life eternal.  Salt is valuable only as long as it does its purpose, so if something is preserved without salt it does not last.  We are to salt each other (preserve and encourage our faith) and to live at peace.  Sadly, the disciples to this point have spent most of their time arguing and tearing each other down.