True Greatness

True Greatness

Mark 9:30-37

Children can be wonderful teachers.

There is a story about a little girl who climbed up on the lap of Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage and looked at his white hair and wrinkles and then asked, “Did God make you?” “Yes,” he said. Then she asked, “Did God

make me too?” Dr. Talmage said, “Yes.” “Well,” said the little girl, “Don’t you think He’s doing a better job now than he used to?”

By this time, many of the disciples had been with Jesus for almost two years.

Mark 9:32 reports that they still did not understand what he had been teaching them about discipleship.

Think about it—with the shadow of the cross deepening and lengthening across their pathway they were arguing about the issue of prestige, power and pecking order. To make his teaching clearer, Jesus uses a child as a living illustration (Mark 9:36-37).

True greatness means:

1. We are willing to be taught—to continue to learn.

2. We are dependent on Christ like children are dependent on their parents.

3. Trust is at the heart of our relationship with Jesus.

4. We are servants i.e. “others” oriented.

Mark 9:30-37

30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were,

31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the

hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32But they did not understand what he

meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

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."

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