Disciples Dispute Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom

Mark provides a series of parables in chronological order matched to the overall story of the Bible. This one is about Abraham.

The Story

42 Mark 9:33-37 34ܗܢܘܢ ܕܝܢ ܫܬܝܩܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܐܬܚܪܝܘ ܗܘܘ ܓܝܪ ܒܐܘܪܚܐ ܚܕ ܥܡ ܚܕ ܕܡܢܘ ܪܒ ܒܗܘܢ ܀ 35ܘܝܬܒ ܝܫܘܥ ܘܩܪܐ ܠܬܪܥܤܪ ܘܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܡܢ ܕܨܒܐ ܕܢܗܘܐ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܢܗܘܐ ܐܚܪܝܐ ܕܟܠ ܐܢܫ ܘܡܫܡܫܢܐ ܕܟܠ ܐܢܫ ܀ 36ܘܢܤܒ ܛܠܝܐ ܚܕ ܘܐܩܝܡܗ ܒܡܨܥܬܐ ܘܫܩܠܗ ܥܠ ܕܪܥܘܗܝ ܘܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܀ 37ܟܠ ܡܢ ܕܢܩܒܠ ܐܝܟ ܗܢܐ ܛܠܝܐ ܒܫܡܝ ܠܝ ܗܘ ܡܩܒܠ ܘܡܢ ܕܠܝ ܡܩܒܠ ܠܐ ܗܘܐ ܠܝ ܡܩܒܠ ܐܠܐ ܠܡܢ ܕܫܕܪܢܝ ܀ 38ܐܡܪ ܠܗ ܝܘܚܢܢ ܪܒܝ ܚܙܝܢ ܐܢܫ ܕܡܦܩ ܫܐܕܐ ܒܫܡܟ ܘܟܠܝܢܝܗܝ ܥܠ ܕܠܐ ܢܩܦ ܠܢ ܀ (SYP)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35And 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. 36And 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, 37Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.(KJV)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35And he sat down, and called the 12, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36And 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, 37Whosoever shall receive 1 of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.(KJV/NC)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33And they came to Capernaum: and when he was in the house he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. 35And he sat down, and called the twelve; and he saith unto them, If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36And he took a little child, and set him in the midst of them: and taking him in his arms, he said unto them, 37Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. (ASV)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33And they came to Capernaum; and when they entered the house, he asked them, What were you reasoning among yourselves on the road? 34But they kept silent, for on the road they had argued with one another as to who was the greatest of them. 35And Jesus sat down and called the twelve and said to them, He who wishes to be first, let him be the last of men, and the servant of every man. 36And he took a little child and made him to stand in the midst; then he took him in his arms, and said to them, 37Whoever receives a child like this in my name, he receives me; and he who receives me, does not receive me, but him who has sent me. (LAM)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33And they came to Caper'na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. 35And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." 36And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me."(RSV)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

36He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."(NIV)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, 'What were youP arguing among yourselves on the way?'

34But they were silent, for they had disputed one with another on the way about who was the greatest.

35He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, 'If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.' 36He took a little child, and set him in the midst of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37'Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, doesn't receive me, but him who sent me.'(WEB)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, 'What were you arguing among yourselves on the way?'

34But they were silent, for they had disputed one with another on the way about who was the greatest.

35He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, 'If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.' 36He took a little child, and set him in the midst of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37'Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, doesn't receive me, but him who sent me.'(WEB/HNV)

42 Mark 9:33-37 33And they came to Capernaum; and when they entered the house, he asked them, What were you reasoning among yourselves on the road? 34But they kept silent, for on the road they had argued with one another about who was the greatest of them. 35And Jesus sat down and called the 12 and said to them, He who wishes to be first, let him be the last of men, and the servant of every man. 36And he took a little child and made him stand in the middle; then he took him in his arms, and said to them, 37Whoever receives a child like this in my name, he receives me; and he who receives me, does not receive me, but him who has sent me. (BRB)

Background

Mark's narrative now turns to the question of who is the greatest. The question is an interesting one because it challenges scripture knowledge.

Of course the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus himself. His is the servant of all, having died on a cross. He is also Lord of lords and will return soon as a conquering king. He refers to himself as the least in the kingdom in heaven, especially in reference to John the Baptist. (cite)

Beyond Jesus, of course, who is greatest?

There were many great men in the Bible, Moses, David, Noah are some. But across the field of possible answers, one man stands out as the most important.

That man was Abram, later Abraham.

Doctrine of Adoption

When we decide to follow Jesus we are adopted into Abraham's family. We become joint heirs with the rest of Abraham's faith family. The New Covenant, under the blood of Jesus, is what Abraham looked forward to. He is the father of all who believe... in Jesus.1

When the disciples are walking along the road disputing who is the greatest, they are pointing at the next story along the main Bible chronology, the story of Abraham. Abraham is the answer to their debate. Abraham is the greatest in the kingdom of God.

Abraham is also first chronologically. From Abraham forward there is always a faith community in history.

Jesus makes a reference of the reversed order of things which appears to be a reference to a reversed order of the resurrection. (This is a hunch, cannot clearly cite other references to support.) This is also a direct reference to what greatness really is.


1Galatians 3:29