This week's Gospel comes after the transfiguration of Jesus, witnessed by Peter, James and John (mk 9:2-8). Jesus is now travelling through Galilee but Mark tells us that he does not want people to know because he is instructing his disciples. He will tell them again about his coming suffering, death and resurrection which they miss completely once again and he will have to take time to instruct them about what it means to be first in the Kingdom of God and how they should welcome him, the messenger of the Kingdom. While Jesus speaks about suffering, dying and rising, the disciples are arguing among themselves about who among them will fill the first place. They have certainly not understood the implications of being disciples of Jesus. In the face of such great failure to understand what he is speaking about, Jesus sets a child in front of them, and invites them to understand what he is talking about. Unlike adults, the child's struggle is not for first place but for life. In order to live the child accepts the necessity of receiving everything from its parents. The fundamental attitude of the child is one of trust in its parents. The affection with which Jesus embraced the child was meant to teach them a lesson. We have a living parable before our eyes as we look at Jesus' loving embrace of the child. Just as he lived simply, poorly and trusting always in the Father who had sent him, even in the face of opposition, the disciples too should be ready to embrace his Gospel in all simplicity, poverty and trust. In the struggle for position, we can easily forget that the thing that counts most is to recognize that we are children of the same Father and that we must trust him alone if we are to live in his Kingdom.
| mark_9_vs_30-37_pentecost_17_bible_study_2015.pdf |
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