Who is the greatest?

The news today is filled with stories of the inequities that exist in our culture. Sadly, this seems to be a function of human nature. Even those trained by Jesus Himself seemed to suffer this malady.  Luke 9:46 tells us that “An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.” (NIV) Seriously?  These were the men hand-picked by Jesus to learn from Him to later jump start Christianity, and the thing they want to ponder is which of them would be the greatest? Shouldn’t they have been debating the fine points of philosophy or something? Fortunately, Jesus was there to shut down this useless conversation. “Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then 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 it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.’”[1]

You would have thought that would have been the last of that issue, but as I mentioned, it seems to be human nature, as it arises again right at the end of the Last Supper. This is one of the most important events in the earthly life of Jesus, just hours before the betrayal leading to His crucifixion. You can imagine that aside from knowing what He must soon endure, He realizes this is His last opportunity to speak with His apostles before these events. In the midst of this, when perhaps they should all have been deeply in prayer, the old issue came up.  Luke 22:24 notes, “A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.” (NIV). Again, Jesus sets them straight.  “Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But 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. For 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.”[2]

We are lucky to have one passage in Scripture to guide us through a situation.  Here we have two. What should we learn? Every time we start to think in terms of one person being better than another, we are wrong. Like the person vehemently arguing that they are the humblest, it is an argument not worth starting, as it cannot be legitimately won.

[1] Luke 9:47-48 (NIV).

[2] Luke 22:25-17 (NIV). (Emphasis added by me.)