30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
This is the second time that Jesus very clearly tells his disciples about his future death and resurrection. Like the first time (back in Mark 8:31), they don't fully understand the weight of what that means. But what's really cool is that after each time Jesus makes this prediction, He also gives the disciples another instruction on how to be a true follower, or disciple, of Him. Back in Mark 8:34-38 Jesus gives them the first instruction about denying themselves to follow him (go read Michelle's devotional on this passage!). Here, Jesus gives them the next instruction.
Jesus' instruction here moves from something internal like denying one's self, to an outward action on how to treat others. He says if one wants to be the greatest they would be, "the servant of all." Jesus says if we want to be a great follower of him we need to serve everyone. He doesn't add exceptions or complications, its simply put: serve everyone regardless of race, status, or any other external factor. Jesus means serve your family and your close friends. He also means serve some random stranger on the street, or even that one classmate who hates you for no reason at school. When He says everyone, he means everyone.
Jesus uses an example of a little child, to show exactly what that really looks like in our lives. To serve children means you're serving a person of a low social class. Little children can't vote, can't make their own decisions, and are never listened to by adults (if they can even speak!). And to add on to that, children have no way to provide anything in return. When serving peers or adults, services are often repaid in money or in an exchange of another service. Sometimes service can lead to bettering your social status, or knowing a high profile contact. However, children can't do any of these things. They don't have money, don't have any services to provide to you, and sometimes they aren't even grateful or notice anything you did for them. When Jesus uses the little child as an example, He's telling us to serve selflessly, to serve wanting absolutely nothing in return.
So that's His instruction on how to be a true follower of Him, serve everyone selflessly and expect to gain no earthly reward through it. Y'all see the keyword there? Earthly. What Jesus offers us instead of money, praise, or recognition for our service is the chance to welcome Him. He says if you welcome or serve these little children, you're welcoming and serving Me and God. We get a chance to deepen our relationship with Him, by serving others on Earth. You can volunteer at the homeless shelter wanting community service hours and get just that. You can volunteer for Red Cross to bolster your college applications, and you can do just that. But what Jesus is saying here if you want to be a follower of me serve selflessly, and I'll give you so much more. Sure volunteering for more selfish reasons isn't all that bad, you're still doing good for the community. But what is that in comparison to being able to welcome a great and loving God into your life?
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