“and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”” Luke 9:48 ESV
Reflection: why is being great important to God?
There are many claims in the Bible that are completely counter to human logic, to most cultures. Towards the top of that list, is this claim Jesus makes in the verse today that “he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” Why was this an important point for him to make, specifically to his disciples?
The people were marveling at all the amazing miracles Jesus did. His power and authority over the darkness in the world. Over demons. Over sickness. So his popularity grew among the people, as they saw what he could do. Even his disciples got caught up in the frenzy, the excitement of the moment, thinking about themselves. So “An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.” Luke 9:46 ESV. They even argued about who would be sitting next to Jesus in his kingdom.
Now, it is easy to point fingers at these guys, perhaps even mock them thinking that they should have been more humble. Especially when we know that Jesus had to correct them. But was their striving for greatness wrong? Or just misdirected? Let’s read what happened. “But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”” Luke 9:47-48 ESV.
Interesting. Notice that he didn’t say, don’t strive for greatness. He just told them HOW to be great. And the example he uses with receiving a child “in his name”, for sure means taking care of children. But perhaps there is a deeper meaning, also referring to a “spiritual child”, a newborn Christian. He says is receiving Jesus himself; is receiving God the Father. Remember how high many religious leaders at that time had put themselves, above the people. But Jesus made it clear that it was greater to receive, to include, to nurture a child who cannot repay.
Let’s consider another example of how to be great in the kingdom of heaven, very relevant to our modern world. “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19 ESV. SV
I think we can agree that God is great, right? So, if we want to be more and more like him, shouldn’t we also strive for greatness? Jesus didn’t say, don’t strive for greatness. Quite the contrary. He just explained to us how to be great in the kingdom of heaven.