Who Is The Greatest

Mark 9:30-41

The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were on their way to Capernaum.

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Once again He told them that He would be killed, but He would rise the 3rd day.

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They did not understand.

And they were afraid to ask Him what He meant.

They only understood everything after He had died on the cross and risen from the dead.

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They reached Capernaum.

The Lord Jesus Christ wanted to know what the disciples were discussing on the way.

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His question was met with silence.

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The disciples were arguing among themselves who was the greatest of their number.

They were arguing who was the no.1 disciple!

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Everyone thought he was more qualified than the others.

Everyone thought he was more worthy of honor.

Everyone thought he should be the leader of the group.

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The Lord Jesus Christ wanted to correct the immature and foolish thinking of His disciples.

He sat down and told them the way to greatness was through serving others.

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True greatness is achieved through the humble service to others.

We must put others before ourselves and meet their needs, forgetting about our own needs.

When we humble ourselves, the Lord will exalt us in due time.

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To make His teaching clear, the Lord Jesus Christ took a child and placed him before the disciples.

He told them that if they received a child in His name, they were actually received both the Son and the Father Who sent Him.

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When we serve the least among us, we are in reality serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

By serving Him, we are serving His Father as well.

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Children need to be served.

But they cannot serve us in return.

That is a lesson we all need to take to heart.

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Too often, we only serve those who can do something in return.

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We are to reach out to those who are the neediest.

We are to serve those who cannot or will not serve us in return.

We are to give our all for those who may break our hearts in return.

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The Lord Jesus had set us a good example.

He was a servant of the neediest people of all.

He was a servant to those who could never repay Him.

He was a servant to those who would fail Him, deny Him, and dishonor Him.

He was a servant to everyone of us when He died on the cross.

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When John heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, he brought up an incident that had occurred sometime earlier.

Apparently, the disciples had encountered a fellow who was casting out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This fellow was successful.

But since he didn’t follow the Lord Jesus Christ and His men, the disciples rebuked him and told him to stop what he was doing.

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The Lord Jesus Christ responded by telling them to let people like that alone.

If they were doing good works in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were not against Him; they were actually working for Him.

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The Lord Jesus Christ went on to tell His men that even if someone just gave a disciple a cup of water in the name of the Lord, that person would surely be rewarded.

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The greatest person in the church is the person who serves others selflessly, with no thought for what they might receive in return.

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The greatest person in the church is the person who is willing to take the last place so that others can be first.

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The greatest person in the church is the person who seeks to serve those who can never give anything back in return.

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Does that describe us?

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Remember, we are to serve God by serving others.