Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’This is yet another take on the disciples thinking it's about power and being "top dog" within Jesus' circle. I learned something interesting the other day I would like to share with you. It is a long-held Jewish belief that everyone will get to heaven, or God's kingdom, and what mattered was the order they were placed after they entered. This knowledge brings a much clearer meaning to Jesus always saying the first will be last and the last will be first.
It was pointed out to me that Jesus never says the Pharisees, Scribes, High Priests, or even the rich man will never get to see God's kingdom. He just says that either it will be difficult or he makes references to them taking a lesser place in that kingdom. In this reading Jesus uses children to help us understand that message.
Children in the time of Jesus were loved, cared for, raised to continue the lineage of their father's father's father's father. To the sons would go the property and business, to the daughters would go the knowledge of how to run a household. Together they would ensure the survival and continuity of the village. But none of this would happen until the passage of rites at the appropriate time. Until then they have nothing, they are last.
Jesus says we need to be like those children.
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