And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” Mark 9:33-37
We can easily miss the impact of what Jesus did and said to his disciples in this passage from our Western context. Yes we see that he is making the point of the difference between what it means to follow Him versus the ways of the world, between seeking position and being humble. But this wasn’t just a little lesson or correction in their thinking. Jesus was turning their world upside down, completely deconstructing a massively ingrained and accepted way of how societies functioned, of how worth and value of attributed to people.
In the time of Jesus, children had no status, no rights, no freedom, no value in society. They were to be kept in their place, that is out of the way. So when Jesus took a child into his lap and held him that alone would have shocked the disciples. What did he think he was doing giving a child such attention and prominence in the public? He of all people, a leader, possibly a future king was making a fool of himself. But then Jesus goes even further by saying that “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me”. Not only has Jesus made a fool of himself but he is telling his disciples he expects them to do the same if they are to follow Him.
Every society has its categories of power to attribute worth
In every society there is a” Hierarchy of Power”. A person’s place in society, their worth and value is determined by the power categories of their society. These categories could be wealth, gender, race, education, influence, intelligence, ancestry, age, beauty, physical strength, etc. which determine each person’s worth and value in their society. This hierarchy of power is what the disciples are arguing about. They were each arguing for their superiority over the others based on their particular power categories, possibly their ancestry, where they were born, how long they had known Jesus, their age, etc. They expected Jesus to operate in the same manner as the rest of their society.
What Jesus did was to completely denounced this understanding of society. In its place he demands a hierarchy of love. To love is to commit to seeking the welfare of others. That is what a servant does. A child in the times of Jesus was expected to be at the beck and call of adults, to serve them. Jesus reverses the roles, calling on the adults to become the servants of the children, to seek their welfare at the sacrifice of their own. Jesus made clear to what extent one should go to seek the welfare of others, to love them, by sacrificing his own life for our sake.
Imagine how drastically this would change society if we operated in this way. Is not the fight for equality, human rights, wealth distribution, and such the result of a society that functions according to a hierarchy of power? Is it not that those with more power take advantage of those with less? Is it not that one’s worth is based on how much power they have and often see this as a right they have earned and deserve?
Jesus completely redefines our worth and value within our societies
In Jesus’ kingdom society functions by a hierarchy of love. In His kingdom worth is attributed to everyone by everyone seeking the other’s good. Those who by their circumstances, their gifting, their talents happen to have acquired power use this not to advantage themselves but to advantage the disadvantage. Equality is not defined by equal access to power categories, such as positions, wealth, resources, etc but by the commitment of each to care for and seek the others good. Human rights are a given because no one has to fight for just treatment and equality and poverty is eliminated as wealth is graciously distributed to those lacking. If you look at the laws for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament you will discover that this is what God had in mind for his people. This is why Jesus said “I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil them”. How would he fulfil them, as he said by loving the Lord your God and loving your neighbour.
Jesus calls us to change the world
Jesus was and is inviting, calling, his followers to literally change the world. He is calling us into a way of life that challenges cultural norms and offers an entirely different way of doing life. This is the calling that all of us as followers of Jesus have today. In our communities, our work places, in our families and most of all in our churches, we are to relate to one another not on the basis of a hierarchy of power but of love. In so doing we will turn the world upside down.
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