Content
Mark 9:30-32 is the second time of Mark’s recording that Jesus predicted his cruxifixion and resurrection to his disciples: “The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.” (v31) The first time and the third time of his prediction are found in Mark 8:31 and Mark 10:32-34 respectively. Why did he keep telling them of such bad news? Please refer back to “Take up the cross—choice of suffering” (Mark 8:31-38).
“And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.” (v33-34) This issue has to do with status and power, which is what the 12 disciples were concerned about at this moment. When Jesus asked them what they were disputing, they “held their peace”. They knew that what they were arguing was not going to please their master. They were fighting for a most honorable seat in the kingdom of heaven: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matt 18:1) They wouldn’t be satisfied with a system of sharing equal rights and respect from each other. Later on, we see that the two brothers, James and John, coming to their master to fight for the left and right seats in his kingdom: “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.” (Mark 10:37) As such, the disciples always had internal struggle for the heavenly status and power—a typical worldly thinking and behavior in a worldly system. Jesus was going to correct their worldly and fleshly view so that they could understand the dramatic difference between the earthly view and the heavenly view about status and power.
Knowing what they were arguing about, Jesus taught them a heavenly principle: “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” (v35) His teaching is really insightful: the first needs to be the last ‘first’, or the master needs to be the servant ‘first’. In human understanding, if choices are given, everyone chooses to be the first instead of the last, as well as the master instead of the servant. Everybody wants to be first; nobody wants to be last. And the master is always more preferential and admirable than the servant, since the master is served by the servant. Nobody wants to be the servant to serve the master. If Jesus did not expound this heavenly principle, it would be very difficult for the disciples to understand.
Jesus used a child to illustrate his point: “And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, ‘Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.’ ” (v36-37) Matthew’s record is more detailed: “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.” (Matt 18:2-5) Here he put forward two points in his illustration: conversion and humility.
Jesus reminded the disciples at the beginning that even before they argued about who was qualified to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, they’d better made sure they had a seat in the kingdom of heaven first, or all the arguments were useless. So, what is the qualification of entry into the kingdom of heaven? We have to be “converted” and “become as little children”. And what did he mean by becoming “as little children”? The answer is given in the second point: humility—“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child”. One must humble himself before God in order to earn the entry ticket to the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus was warning the disciples to take away their pride before they even thought of having a seat in the kingdom of heaven. Without a seat in the kingdom of heaven, there is no point of arguing for any high seat. This is what they needed to convert: be humble and not be proud. Proverbs mentions quite a lot about pride and humility, and their two opposite outcomes:
-
“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.” (驕傲來，羞恥也來；謙遜人卻有智慧。) (Prov 11:2)
-
“The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.” (敬畏耶和華是智慧的訓誨；尊榮以前，必有謙卑。) (Prov 15:33)
-
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (驕傲在敗壞以先；狂心在跌倒之前。) (Prov 16:18)
-
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.” (敗壞之先，人心驕傲；尊榮以前，必有謙卑。) (Prov 18:12 )
-
“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.” (敬畏耶和華心存謙卑，就得富有、尊榮、生命為賞賜。) (Prov 22:4)
-
“A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (人的高傲必使他卑下；心裏謙遜的，必得尊榮。) (Prov 29:23)
Therefore, humility is a witness of fearing God and offers a chance of knowing God—the threshold of entering the kingdom of God. The proud does not know God and has no chance for salvation.
His second point—humility—is also the precise answer to the question disputed by the disciples: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:4) This spiritual concept is entirely different from the worldly concept, in which everyone seeks to take pride in the highest place. Once you attain the highest place, you become proud of yourself among your peers. In the kingdom of heaven, however, being humble is the key to become the greatest. The proverbs above have emphasized a lot that humility comes before honour. So, if you want to obtain an honourable seat in God's kingdom, you must first humbly serve others.
Jesus serves as the best example of humility in his incarnation, servanthood and death on the cross. Phil 2:6-8 describes his utter humility: he “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men…he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death.” (Phil 2:6-8) No one in the world can compare with him in regard to humility. As a reward for his humility, he has become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Phil 2:9) He has become the last of all mankind, and servant of all before he was exalted to the highest in the kingdom of heaven. He has implemented the heavenly principle in Mark 9:35 personally, being the last before he became the first!
How can one humble himself? He must be prepared to be the servant of all. To serve someone is to receive him as if you were receiving or serving the Lord. “Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me; and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.” (v37) If you are willing to receive a child and try your best to meet his needs regardless of his young age, you have shown your humility as a servant. In our thinking, the older are to be served by the younger, not the reverse, just like a master is always served by his servant. A master is not supposed to serve his servant! But Jesus has demonstrated another example of being a servant by washing the disciples’ feet. (John 13:1-17) As a master, he humbly served his disciples. When we humbly serve the lowly, we are serving God. Whoever serves God more, he will be given a higher place in the kingdom of heaven. To be sure, we do not have a willing heart to serve those who are lower than us, unless we can bear in our mind that we are serving God when we are serving them.
In conclusion, Jesus teaches us not to think of mastering others but humbling before others and serving them. We should always bear in mind that we are servants, not masters. If we always think of becoming the first in this world, we are going to be the last in the kingdom of God. On the contrary, if we always put ourselves on the last to serve others, we will be highly exalted in the kingdom of heaven, as James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."