Mark Bradford's Bible Blog

²¹But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²²The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.” ²³They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

Now, for the first time, Jesus reveals his knowledge of Judas’ plot to the disciples, but doesn’t tell them who is the guilty party. In Middle Eastern culture, it was and is still considered the worst form of treachery to betray someone after having broken bread with them. So when Jesus said “the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table,” that would have been deeply offensive to the rest of the disciples. When you ate with someone, you were saying, “these are my people.” That’s why it was considered so scandulous that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. The same principle was at work here. The fact that Judas was a disciple of Jesus and had traveled and worked with him for 3 years made it all the worse.

The other disciples had no idea who might be the one to betray Jesus, which means Judas had kept his secret well, and Jesus had also kept it even though he knew. In Matthew, each of the disciples ask Jesus in turn if they are the one. (Matthew 26:22-25) When Judas asks, Jesus confirms that he is the traitor. No one overheard them? In John, Peter asks John, who is in the place of honor next to Jesus, to ask which one is the traitor. Jesus reveals the answer to John, and John must have revealed it to Peter since he asked. (John 13:23-26)  So Peter and John must have known who the traitor was before Judas left, but John seems to indicate that when Jesus sent Judas on his way, the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus had said to Judas. (John 13:28-29) Was this a case of denial, or just being dense? Maybe they just didn’t want to believe it. It’s hard for me to believe that Peter and John would have done nothing to stop Judas if they had really understood that Judas was about to betray Jesus. We know that one of the swords the disciples had belonged to Peter, and he used it in the garden. (John 18:10) Maybe Jesus gave Peter and John a look that said, “Don’t stop him, I know what I’m doing.” Sometimes God gives us hard truths that we don’t want to accept. Sometimes when we want to rush into action, he holds us back and asks us to trust him. That may be what was going on here.

In verse 23, Jesus holds Judas responsible for his actions. Even though Jesus would go as it had been decreed, Judas still ultimately paid the price for his treachery. As I said in my post on 22:1-6, Judas betrayed Jesus of his own free will. Predestination and election do not remove our responsibility for our own sin.

²⁴Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. ²⁵Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. ²⁷For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. ²⁸You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, ³⁰so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The disciples eventually got around to their favorite subject; which of them was the greatest. One of my problems with rap music is the way rappers constantly brag on themselves. If the disciples were alive today, maybe they’d be rappers! This controversy among the disciples may have started with a dispute over places at the table. As I said earlier, John had the place of honor, next to the host. Places at the dinner table were assigned in that culture according to status. So this argument may well have started with an argument over who would recline where. But Jesus taught them a lesson in humility by washing their feet. He was the host, their rabbi, the one with the highest status, but he took on the duty of a slave. I can’t help but think that what Jesus said in this passage either immediately preceded or followed that action. Maybe he said these things while he washed their feet. The lesson he teaches them applies to all of us. Rather than seeking to promote our own position or agenda, we should focus on serving others.

Then Jesus assures them that because they stood by him in his trials, they would receive positions of authority in his kingdom. And they did, after Pentecost. They became the leaders of the early church. It wasn’t the kind of position of authority they had in mind, but God’s plans for us rarely conform to our preconceived notions. And in the kingdom to come, they will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. We may think we have dreams of glory in this life, but if we’ll submit to God’s plans for us, our petty dreams are nothing compared to what God has in store, in this life and the life to come.

Mark Bible humility, Jesus, Judas, Last Supper, Luke

Who Will Be the Greatest

⁴⁶An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. ⁴⁷Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. ⁴⁸Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”

This story also appears in Mark 9:33-37. See my post on that passage here. As usual, Luke does not give us as much detail as Mark does. Luke’s gospel is more comprehensive than the other gospels, in that it gives us more of the events of Jesus’ life and ministry than the other gospels do, but in order to do that, Luke leaves out many details that appear elsewhere. As I mentioned in my post on Luke’s introduction to his gospel, some scholars believe that Luke and Acts may have been prepared as legal briefs for Paul’s trial in Rome, since Acts ends with Paul arriving there. If that’s true, that may be the reason Luke left out some of what might be considered by a Roman court to be “unnecessary” details.

A favorite topic of argument for the disciples was which of them would have the greatest position in Jesus’ kingdom. They all thought he was going to end up as King of Israel, being the Messiah, and each of them wanted to be his “Chief of Staff.” It’s no wonder they didn’t get it when Jesus tried to tell them that he would soon be arrested and killed. How could that possibly happen to the Messiah? That’s one of the reasons most Jews still do not accept Jesus as the Messiah, because he didn’t ascend to the throne of David. Not yet.

It’s easy for us to criticize the disciples for arguing about which of them was the greatest, but that attitude is all too common in the church today. Ask any choir director if there’s jealousy among choir members about who gets the solos. If we concern ourselves with small stuff like who did what and who got the credit or the applause, we are not Christlike. As I said in my post on Mark’s version of this story, I believe that the child that Jesus used as an example was one of the disciple’s children. Mark says they were in a house (Mark 9:33), so it seems to me this child must have been part of their group. No one had lower status in that society than children, other than slaves. But interestingly, Jesus did not say that they should be like this child, at least not here. He said that they should welcome him or her. Welcoming those with the lowest status is like welcoming Jesus himself. In Mark, this statement by Jesus is immediately preceded by him saying, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35-37) The “welcoming” duties in a Jewish household of that time, the washing of the feet and the anointing with oil, often were performed by slaves. If you did these things, you were saying that you had lower status than the person you did it for, and Jesus was telling his disciples, right after they argued about which of them was the greatest, that they should do these things for children, who had no status at all. That’s having the attitude of a servant. Not being concerned about who in the church got to do the thing we wanted to do, but considering others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

⁴⁹“Master,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”

⁵⁰“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Here is another case of the disciples being worried about who got the credit. See my post on Mark’s version of this here. They were jealous that someone else was able to cast out demons in Jesus’ name when they had just failed at that. It can be hard to rejoice in someone else’s success when we are failing, even in ministry. Even if we are suspicious of someone’s motives, we should always rejoice when Christ is lifted up, no matter who is doing it. I don’t care for most TV preachers, and it bothers me when some secular artists do gospel albums when I don’t necessarily believe that they live what they’re singing about. But I have no idea who is being reached for Christ or blessed because of what they do, so who am I to judge them? Jesus said that whoever is not against us is for us in verse 50, but all too often we have the opposite attitude, that whoever is not part of our group is against us, even other Christian churches. This attitude reflects an “us first” or “me first” attitude just as much as arguing about which of us is the greatest. If we have the attitude of Christ, we don’t care which of us gets the honors, or whose ministry is succeeding, as long as Christ is lifted up.

Mark Bible humility, Jesus, Luke

Jesus Again Predicts His Death

³⁰ Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, ³¹ for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” ³² They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.

This was the beginning of Jesus’ final journey with his disciples. He was on his way to Jerusalem, and he wanted to have some time alone with the Twelve so he could teach them as much as he could in the time he had left. Again he tried to explain to them what was about to happen, but they couldn’t accept what he was saying. Jesus had spoken figuratively before, so it’s understandable that they would hope he was speaking that way about his death as well. But this was the second time he had said this to them, so now they were getting scared to ask him about it.

This passage contains one of my pet peeves in the language surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. In most modern translations, Jesus’ prediction about his resurrection is translated that he would rise three days later. But in fact, Jesus did not rise from the dead three days after his death. It was actually less than two days later. Jesus died on Friday afternoon, before dark, so they could bury him before the beginning of the sabbath. He rose early on Sunday morning. Is Sunday morning three days after Friday afternoon? No, it’s actually about 36 hours. In the King James and the New King James that phrase is translated on the third day. That’s more correct. The way they counted days, if you start counting on Friday, then Sunday is the third day.  I would need a Greek and Aramaic scholar to tell me exactly what the meaning of the original language was, but it sure seems to me that most of the modern translations mischaracterize the intent of what Jesus said each time he gave his disciples this prediction. Jesus knew how to count, and he did not rise three days later, he rose on the third day. I believe that’s actually what he told his disciples. I’m not a big fan of the King James Version, but I think it’s more accurate on that point.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

³³ After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” ³⁴ But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

This why the disciples were having such a hard time accepting Jesus’ talk about his death. They still had the idea that Jesus was going to be “King Messiah,” so naturally, he would need advisors and staff. So the disciples loved to debate among themselves who among them would be Jesus’ top associate, his ‘Chief of Staff”. Since that was their attitude, it was no wonder they didn’t want to hear Jesus talking about how he would be killed.

Jesus sat down to teach them about humility and servanthood. The fact that he sat down is important. When rabbis taught, when a master instructed his apprentices, they always taught from a seated position. This was an indication that he was going to teach them something really important, something they must remember. There have always been many who have a hard time learning humility and a servant’s attitude. But Jesus considered it important, and so should we.

³⁶ Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf^[h] welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

Since Jesus was traveling with the Twelve only, this child must have belonged to one of them. Many of the disciples, if not all, had wives and children, and they often traveled with Jesus and his group. I wonder if this was the same boy that supplied the loaves and fishes from the disciples’ food stash. Verse 33 says they were in a house at the time, so this couldn’t have been some anonymous boy from a crowd, he must have been part of their group. Jesus loved children, and I can easily imagine that as they went from place to place, the children in the group would have been attracted to Jesus, and he would have had special relationships with each of them. So when Jesus took this child in his arms, I believe this was a child who knew and loved Jesus. Have you ever tried to embrace a child that didn’t know or trust you? They will resist, but this child did not. I’m thinking Jesus’ lap was a familiar place for this child, and that’s the kind of childlike trust and relationship Jesus wants us to have with him.

Children were considered little more than property in that culture. There was no one with lower status, other than slaves. The lesson Jesus was teaching his disciples about humility would continue when he washed his disciples’ feet (which was the duty of a slave), and this was a graphic beginning of that lesson. Rather than concerning ourselves with our own position, we should be focusing on being a servant of all, even those our society considers the lowest of the low.

Mark Bible Bible, humility, Jesus, Mark