Luke 9:46-50 - Who is the greatest?

9:46-48

The disciples’ lack of understanding was not just a theological blind spot, but affected their whole approach to life and the attitudes of heart. For now they started arguing about who was the greatest. Jesus has just told them again that He must suffer and die. They have seen Jesus exercise great authority and power, yet they are arguing about which of them is the greatest, or rather would be the greatest. They still expected Jesus to bring the Kingdom in, but they had no idea what the Kingdom was all about. Our theological understanding, or lack of understanding, will always affect or reflect the way we live, the way we are. This is the reason why bad theology is so dangerous, and why good theology is so important.

Jesus did not tackle the issue head-on, but used an illustration to drive the truth home. A child was the least great, but we need to accept the apparently powerless unimportant. In doing so we truly receive Jesus, and so receive the One who sent Him. Those who are least in the world’s eyes are often the greatest in God’s eyes. We must not use worldly standards when judging or assessing, we need to use Jesus’ standards.

9:49,50

The disciples still felt a sense of privilege, so they raised the issue of someone else who was casting out demons in Jesus name. They tried to stop him because “he was not one of us”. This raises the interesting issue of who was doing this, and how had someone else got the idea of casting out demons in Jesus’ name, but we are not told anything about this. Instead Jesus tells them that anyone who is not against them is for them. We must not become too precious about our own denomination, group or ministry. If someone, or some organisation, is acting faithfully in the name of Jesus then they are on the same side. Also, we must never assume that we are the be all and end all of God’s plans! God plans are far wider than the part we have in them.