So, You Want to be First?

Reflections on Mark 9:30-37

The vanity of the disciples is on display in this passage. But, you can’t really blame them. They were victims of their own misunderstanding of what it meant for Jesus to be the messiah. The disciples thought that the longed for messiah would be a charismatic leader that would mobilize the masses, renew the strength of Israel, bring back the golden days. And they were blessed to be hand-picked by the messiah, in spite of their humble background, to be on the inside of this great restoration. Surely, visions of grandeur played out in their cumulative fantasies. Filled with such glorious and foolish thoughts, their minds turned naturally toward figuring out who among them ought to be first in command, underneath Jesus of course. Perhaps there had been some internal bickering. Why did Peter, James, and John get singled out as the inner circle? What did it mean that Peter was going to get the keys to the kingdom?
And so, while Jesus was announcing to His disciples a second time that He would be betrayed into human hands, be killed, and on the third day be raised, the disciples were truly flummoxed. What does this mean, that the messiah would be betrayed? Not by any of them! Who would be so foolish? And how does being killed help the cause? And what does Jesus mean that he will come back to life? No one comes back to life. Their conception of Jesus and their place in relationship with Him did not square with what Jesus was telling them. And in that moment of confusion, that seemed to call into question their fantasy of future glory, they chose to be silent and feared to ask Him about it, for fear of what Jesus might say. Instead, they all set what Jesus said in the back of their minds and went on discussing with one another who ought to be second-in-command, first among the disciples. Instead of coming to terms with reality, they decided to stick with their fantasy.
Once again, Jesus demonstrates His great patience and compassion for the disciples He chose. He did not lash out at them for their foolish vanity. Instead, he turned this situation into a teachable moment. He sat down, taking the position of a teacher. And He gathered the disciples around Him, as if they are His students. We are drawn into this, seeing that what Jesus is about to say is very important, not only for the disciples, but for us. Jesus is about to state another core teaching.
The teaching begins with the phrase, “If you want…”. It is similar to last week’s teaching on being a follower of Jesus. Jesus again makes it clear that free will is critical. Nothing is coerced or forced from Jesus. Everything about our relationship with Christ, and with God for that matter, is based on free choice. We can choose to believe or not believe, to follow or not follow, to love or not love, to be obedient or do our own thing.
And so, Jesus teaches, “If you want to be first, you must be last of all and servant of all.” This is a teaching that is aimed squarely at the vanity and envy of the disciples. It is aimed at those who jockey for position and status, who force their need to be heard, to have the final word, to be the decider, or to be the person in charge. Jesus disarms this kind of cunning and politicking. Jesus dismisses such envy, arrogance, false pride and vanity. Instead, Jesus points to the truth of the matter, that those of first importance are those who assume the lowest place and assists everyone who is in need. It is the truth that those who are most highly regarded are those that are too busy serving others that they don’t have time or interest in arguing about who is most important, pushing themselves to the top, or protecting their preeminence. They are too busy serving to worry about who is calling the shots, or who may be questioning their authority, what little they have.

Of course, the One who should have first place in our lives, the One calling the shots, Who has the greatest influence on our life is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, who did not consider equality with God the Father as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the role of a servant, condescending to suffer death, and now has ascended to the highest heaven, and exalted, so that His name is above all names. Jesus our Lord became a servant of all. The One through whom all life came to be, emptied Himself of life and suffered death so that the permanence of death could be undone by His resurrection, so that through Him all may be saved and have eternal life. In this way, Jesus has been a servant to all humanity, for through Him death has been defeated for all and the gate to eternal life has been opened for all to walk through who choose to. Eternal life is available to all through the servant work of Jesus.
And Jesus serves those who can in no way reciprocate tangibly for the service rendered. Not one of us can offer our life to redeem Christ’s life. We can do no good thing without the grace of God that works in and through us. We cannot bestow any honor or dignity on the Lord of Lords. We can only receive gratefully what Christ has done for our behalf with a thankful heart. We can’t elevate Jesus any higher than He already is, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. His name is already above every other name. We can’t return the favor for what Jesus has done for us. Jesus will not get any extra benefit from us for the service He rendered us.
Nor does Jesus demand repayment from us. All Jesus wants is to be in relationship with us, to live in our hearts, to be in communion with Him, to come and enter into the joy of the Master.
This leads Jesus to place before them a little child. In what way can we, in serving a child, be compensated by that child for our service? Can the child grant us a promotion? Can the child put us in a position of greater authority and responsibility? Can the child pay us money as compensation for whatever we have done for them? What can a child do to reciprocate for what you have done in meeting their needs?
Children cannot pay us back when we help them. They cannot grant us any privilege or benefit. They cannot return the favor. We cannot “network” with a child. And so it is, that by serving a child, by assisting those, offering hospitality to, welcoming and associating with those who cannot compensate us for our efforts, this causes us to follow the example of Christ, who has served us who can never adequately compensate Him for His effort. So it is, that by welcoming a child, we welcome Christ, and the One who sent Him, our Heavenly Father. This is a mystery that we can’t comprehend. But we can comprehend following the example of Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for our lives, for us who cannot give our lives as a ransom for His, for Jesus is the giver of life, every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights, all power and authority comes from God, and the name of Jesus is above every name, and at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and earth.
We are, then, to put to death within us all vanity, envy, and desire for power and influence, to empty ourselves, and to be servants to all. Our goal, our struggle in life, should be to seek the lowest position and not the highest. And when we are placed in positions of honor, or of authority, we must submit to this position with genuine humility and with hesitance, and with a true sense of unworthiness. As an example, we look to Paul, regarded as the greatest of apostles, yet he was one untimely called, for he was not one of the Twelve, he persecuted the church, and he considers himself the chief of sinners.
Maybe you don’t want to be first. Maybe you do not desire a place of honor. You are perfectly content to be unremarkable, unknown, of no consequence, behind the scenes, unacknowledged. If that is true for you, keep it that way and do not change your course. Remain motivated simply to follow the example of Christ, and be rewarded in knowing that when you welcome a child, or one who is similar to a child in lack of power or ability to repay or reward you, then you welcome Christ, and the One who sent Christ for our salvation.