An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Before considering the above it might be wise to remember what Luke recorded regarding Jesus’ teaching on this same subject, earlier in this same chapter:
Luke 9:23-25 (ESV)
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
You don’t have to read much of the Gospel writings to see that Jesus demands both a full commitment to Him and a humble heart in that commitment. That is not the norm for our society and it was not the norm for the disciples world. They had been taught that seniority rules and privilege triumphs. Therefore it only made sense to have a discussion about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God when Jesus set up that kingdom. Remember, to them Jesus was coming to set up an earthly kingdom. It was only until moments like the above (and later in Jesus teaching and living) that they came to realized this was a spiritual kingdom first and an earthly reign much later. Jesus calls us to be servants, not kings. The most servant among the people would be the greatest among the people. That was NOT what the disciples saw in their human existence. The Romans ruled the earth at this time. A vast majority of the population were their slaves. The aristocrats ruled the earth. It was only natural for the disciples to see this powerful Christ and seek to rule with Him as He overthrew the government. But that was not the case. Jesus came to serve the earth by dying for mankind. Therefore the only way to serve Jesus is to die with Him and for Him and make yourself the lowest of servants with Him. That is an upside down kingdom. But that is the kingdom of Jesus’ reign. The disciples were not to fight about who would be the greatest in rank but, rather, who would be the greatest of servants.
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