Imagine standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
France with your significant other, or best friend. You stand there gazing up the structure and
marveling at how high it was built. You
stand in awe of the construction techniques and historical significance of this
building, remembering how its iconic form is nearly “the image” associated with
Paris, and often with the entire country of France. For you, the “truth” of what is in front of
you, is life altering. Your significant
other or best friend on the other hand, cannot take his/her eyes off the
hotdogs in a cart from a nearby street vendor there in front of it. They have not looked once at the Eiffel
Tower, seeming to refuse to while the hotdogs remain in view. They ask you for money to purchase one, and
seem totally disinterested in the magnificence of this structure. For your friend, they might as well be
standing on the street in front of their own home back where you live. The place does nothing to move them, the
events do nothing to move them; the “truth” of what is in front of them … does
nothing to move the person, who has decided (for whatever the motives) simply …
Not to see.
Most of us, would think this situation is impossible. How could someone travel thousands of miles
to see Paris France, saving up money, sacrificing, and then when they get
there, to ignore one the key attractions, only for the sake of common food you
could get anywhere. Who would do
that? Would you? Are you the one I am talking about? What if the stakes were higher, what if the
“truth” was Jesus Christ, and it was you who simply failed to see? Imagine the embarrassment of coming back home
to say you missed the Eiffel Tower to eat a hot dog. Or worse, imagine the embarrassment of
recalling a gospel for transcription, and admitting that you missed the “truth”
of the Messiah, for something worth even less than a common hotdog. This is where we find Peter (and us), we find
him in the presence of Jesus Christ, the long awaited Messiah. It was for Jesus that Peter had sacrificed so
much to see and be with. More than we
would for a vacation to France, Peter had given up his job, his security, and
his reputation with the community. Peter
had given up much to be here with Jesus.
But it was Peter, who missed the “truth” that was worth everything,
because he would not see, being distracted by something worth less that street
food.
The incident is recorded in the Gospel of John Mark in
chapter nine, and picks up in verse 30 saying … “And they departed thence, and
passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. [verse 31] For he taught his disciples, and said unto
them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill
him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. [verse 32] But
they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.” Jesus was moving to Peter’s home once again
as later verses will reveal. But as He
travels through Galilee, He moves quietly and avoids the crowds, because He
wishes to reveal to His disciples “the most important truth” about the role of
the Messiah. In telling them about His
death, there would be no anti-Roman kingdom setup by the Messiah. He was tearing down the very foundation of
their own ideas. An earthly kingdom,
free from Roman tyranny, was the only thing ALL of Israel had dreamed about and
attached to the role of Messiah for as long as they could remember.
What Jesus was plainly saying was that He was to be killed,
not crowned. But after His death, on the
third day, He would rise from death. A
risen Messiah was worth more to them, than one that had never tasted death, and
simply got old like any other king. But
a risen Savior could do more for all of mankind (including the Romans), than
they had ever dreamed. Instead of ending
Roman tyranny at the point of the sword (like many Christians today would like
to “defend” the gospel), Roman tyranny like all evil, would fall to the power
of love it could simply not resist.
Unfailing love conquers evil in ALL of us, not just Jew, Gentile, or Roman,
but ALL of us. Infinite Love that would
die for us, to pay our penalty, also contains the power to transform us, so
that our motives, and actions come into line with God the Father. That kind of fundamental change is how evil
is vanquished everywhere, by all races, governments, and peoples.
This was the most important truth His disciples could ever
learn. And Jesus did not mask it, or
hide it, or speak about it in parables.
When you and I read what He said, we understand it fully. But then, we have the vision of
hindsight. When the disciples heard
these words from the mouth of Jesus Himself, they “did not understand it” and
it only frightened them. They were
standing in front of the spiritual Eiffel Tower, and refused to see, refused to
even look. And in the supremacy of
embarrassments, they were instead focused on something worth less than a
spiritual hotdog. It takes a great
degree of humility for Peter to continue to reveal the ugly truth of where his
own mind was with the others that day. But
he continues to tell John Mark what happens next continuing in verse 33 saying
… “And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it
that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?”
This was the home of Peter they had traveled to, note Peter
simply calls it “being in the house”.
But then comes the ever probing question of Jesus Christ (who already
knows the answer). Jesus wishes to know
what was more important to them than the truth He was trying to reveal. Peter knows the answer and is ashamed like
all of them to reveal it. The events
continue in verse 34 saying … “But they held their peace: for by the way they
had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.” After a long quiet reflection, someone
(likely Peter) answered that they were arguing among themselves, who would be
the greatest person (after Jesus) in His new anti-Roman earthly kingdom. In short, they were arguing about power over
others, and who would have the most of it.
In spiritual terms, power over others, is the domain of Satan. God does not save us, by forcing us to be
saved, even though He has the power to do that.
Instead He chooses to love us freely, and then offers us His love
freely, and then offers us an end to the pain we bring ourselves. We must choose to accept His love, and over
time, learn to love Him on our own. Love
is a choice that can never be forced, or it is not love.
At least a hotdog can temporarily relieve hunger, the quest
for power over others has no benefits, not even temporary ones. What they were discussing, even arguing for
among themselves is something that DOES NOT EXIST, in the kingdom of God. How glory is measured in heaven, is not by
how many people serve you, but by how many people you serve. It is the exact opposite of how Satan thinks,
and how he teaches us to value power in this world. Jesus does not chastise His embarrassed crew
for what they were doing. He does not
scold them for ignoring the most important truth He could possibly teach
them. I wonder how many Christian
ministers would do the same? Instead He
decides, that if it is a lesson about heaven they need, that lesson will be
given.
And so a new lesson begins in verse 35 as Jesus begins to
teach saying … “And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If
any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” So the key to being “the greatest” in the
kingdom of God is defined and measured by how many people you can possibly
serve. Evidence would say, that Jesus
Christ alone fits this title already.
For our God has given His blood, and His life, to every single person
who has ever drawn breath in our world from the beginning of time until the end
of how we measure it. If in our limited
human capacity, we want to be great, we must become the greatest servant ever
known. Instead of being first in line,
we give that position to someone else in need, and instead take ourselves to
the back of the line. Now logic dictates
that if we do this, we will “never” reach the front because there will always
be someone else to give our position to.
“Exactly”. The entire point of
service, is that there is no end to it, there is “never” an “enough” when
service is the goal.
And you do not need the corruption and evil of this world to
provide you with “need” to be served.
When we get to heaven, and in a million years from now, I imagine I will
still love my wife, or my daughter, if that makes it easier for you to relate
to. In loving her, I may want to make
her happy in some new way. I may learn
that she would like to take up piano playing.
So without anyone asking or prodding, or begging, I may decide to build
her a piano. This action may take only
minutes, or it may take decades as I search for exotic materials from around the
universe to use in the construction.
When it is complete, I give it to her.
This makes me happy, and possibly her.
But right after she receives it, she hears of another person who would
like a piano, since she has this new one, she immediately gives it to
them. Now, am I angry? My daughter has effective re-gifted a
hand-made piano I put years into constructing.
But rather than be upset, I am elated.
In fact, as the piano I created gets passed from one person to another
around heaven, my only thought is to make more of them. At some point, there will be enough piano’s
for everyone. Is my “service” over at
the point? Do I just sit back and do
nothing more? No. I begin to look for the next way to make
someone happy.
Service does not have an end, because it is driven by love
that does not have an end. Our ways to
serve in heaven will be constrained only by our imagination and
creativity. This attitude of giving to
others without limit, without constraint, and without respect of persons (I
love everyone equally much, though perhaps differently) is something this world
is the complete opposite of. The
disciples were attempting to argue about their own position, in order to be
served. They reasoned in typical Jewish
tradition, that only men of a certain age, were eligible for the respect and
power they wanted. This eliminated
slaves, women, and most of all children from even the slightest
consideration. As we know, Peter had a
daughter. Perhaps it was her, or perhaps
it was some other child who was just there, sheepishly listening to Jesus in
the background. Perhaps that child was
enacting a version of hide and seek, knowing Jesus could see them, but also
pretending He could not. In any case,
game over.
John Mark continues in verse 36 as Jesus pulls our sheepish
child right into the center of the room saying … “And he took a child, and set
him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto
them, [verse 37] Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name,
receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that
sent me.” You will note, as the child
nears the center of the room, Jesus does nothing, until He has hugged the
child, and then likely placed her or him upon His own lap. Forget men of a certain age, Jesus is showing
honor, and deep affection, for a child, perhaps even a girl child, as if she is
the most important person in the Kingdom of God. He further states and loves by example, and
that if we “receive” which is to honor, value, and deeply love a little child
or any child in His name. We are in so
doing, receiving the Father God who sent Jesus to this world to show us how to
love.
What an awesome example of how to love! We do not love children, particularly the
little cute ones, the same we do adults.
We are WAY more willing to forgive the little children from being dirty,
we actually tend to expect it. We find
the normal routine things they do (like baby speaking his first word, or junior
riding his first bicycle, etc.) as worthy of praise and adoration. We are typically very affectionate with kids
holding them in our arms, making physical contact, and showing them by our
actions, how we feel about them. We do
not think of them in sexual terms, nor financial terms. We are not looking at kids for what they can
do for us, but rather only to enjoy with them, the things that happen in our
lives, or are brought there, like playing.
It is only kids, that can get us to stop what we are doing, and just
play. This is how God thinks about us.
Oh sure, you may look like an adult. You may think you are one. But as God looks at you, you are nothing more
than a really cute little kid. You don’t
really know much. You can’t really do
much. You have a diaper of sin, you keep
filling up, that seems to always need to be changed to get you cleaned up. And you are the only living creation in all
the universe, capable of getting God the Father to take a weekly time out on
Sabbath’s just to hang out and “play” with you.
This is the image of “how to love” Jesus chose when trying to teach His
disciples about what it means to love in the kingdom of God. He hugged a child, held them close, then
proceeded to tell these men of a certain age, that to honor this little girl
was literally to receive the Father God of the universe. Nothing about our traditions is captured in
that image, but everything about how God loves sure is.
If the disciples had listened on the road home, to what
Jesus was telling them. If they had
heard His truth instead of arguing about power no one should want, they would
have seen the Messiah revealed as our Savior, and the Savior of the Romans as
well. If instead of a quest for power
and respect, we could see ourselves for the little children we are; perhaps we
could begin to love each other like we do cute little kids, with far less
expectations, far more forgiveness, and far more imagination. But we who read these words of Peter, seem
bent to follow the same mistakes he humbly admits to us. We ignore the role of Jesus as our Savior and
instead take that mantle upon ourselves.
We seek power. We seek it even
within the church, turning roles like pastor, and elder, into roles that demand
respect as we alone are men of a certain age.
Instead of being servant of all, we expect a certain level of service
offered up to us. We do not really see
ourselves as children, thus, we cannot see others that way either. And in the end, we deny the presence of God the
Father, in favor of the image in the mirror, which seems to demand all our time,
money, and worship.
But these passages were not written to call us out for what
we are, and how we have failed. They
were written to offer us hope of what we could be, and how we could love. As we submit our hearts to Jesus, our
reeducation in how to love, might find us thinking different thoughts, having a
different perspective about who we are, and how God sees us. We might actually start loving people
differently, and isn’t that what the Gospel is all about …
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