Luke 9:46-48

Posted by DJL on Sep 26, 2013 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, 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.”

One of the challenges we face when reading the Bible is the significant cultural differences between the world from which the Bible came and our own. In this short scene, that becomes evident in the matter of children.

In the ancient world, children were of little economic value. That doesn’t mean that parents didn’t love their children – they absolutely did! Rather, it means that children were, for all intents and purposes, an economic liability until they could contribute to the welfare of the family. For this reason, they had no standing, received little protection, and were given no particular social status.

All of which means that when Jesus draws a child by his side to interrupt the disciples’ argument about greatness, his action would have greatly surprised the disciples. Welcoming a child would not have been a particular priority for any of them. Again, this isn’t to say that they didn’t like children; just that they wouldn’t not have thought about it because children had no social standing.

But in this brief scene we again see Jesus’ “kingdom logic” come to expression. Precisely because the child is so incredibly vulnerable – physically, socially, culturally – is he or she the one to whom Jesus directs the disciples’ attention. Greatness in the kingdom does not lie in accumulating wealth or advancing one’s status or monumental achievement. Rather, greatest rests in welcoming the stranger, caring for the vulnerable, protecting the one in need, and raising up those with no standing.

This isn’t the first time Jesus has said things like this, and it won’t be the last. And then, when he’s said it over and over and still people have a hard time understanding, he will go to the cross, spread his arms wide, and share through his own body the message and secret of the kingdom: God’s love is for all and especially for those in need.

Prayer: Dear God, open our eyes so that we may see this day who among us is vulnerable, has little standing, and needs to be welcomed. In Jesus’ name, Amen.