Bickering Over Important Matters

Slow to grasp

He said to His disciples,
Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."
But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. Luke 9:43-45.

Let these words sink down into your ears. Christ knew that what He was about to say would be hard to grasp, so He gave them a "heads up" by saying; now, pay close attention.

The disciples had come to believe that Jesus was The Messiah, The Christ, but because of what they had heard all their lives they also believed that when the Messiah came He would come as a king and get rid of those Romans once and for all.  Now this man is talking about being killed by the Jews. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. Mat. 17:23.   They just could not grasp that idea; it was much too wild.

They were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  That is probably not very surprising.  It was not so long before this that He reprimanded them for misunderstanding His meaning about a certain issue.  Namely, Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain to us this parable." So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?" Mat. 15:15-16.  No one likes to hear their teacher ask, Are you really so much slower than average?  Or, as Mark puts it, Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? Mark 8:18.  

Who Will Be the Greatest?

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we desire that You to do for us whatever we may ask."
And He said to them, "What do you desire Me to do for you?"
They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right side and one on Your left side, in Your glory." ...
to sit on My right side and on My left side is not Mine to give, but to those for whom it has been prepared."
And having heard this, the ten began to be indignant with James and John. Mark 10:35-41.

Then a dispute came up among them as to which of them might be greater.

But Jesus, having seen the thought of their heart, taking a little child, He stood him beside Himself, 

and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all shall be great."

Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." 

But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us."

Luke 9:46-50.

Shortly before this scene, Jesus asked His disciples who do you pronounce Me to be?. Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  In response Christ answered, You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church.  Most of us can get jealous over almost any trifle.  This, however, was more than a trifle. They had understood that Christ had given Peter first place in the kingdom and so a dispute came up among them as to which of them might be greater.

Each one may have thought something like this about the others:

1. Surely, not Matthew, He was just a tax collector before Christ called him.
2. Definitely, not John, he is too hyperactive to be great.
3. Jame's, the brother of John, is so much like John, Jesus actually called them the sons of "commotion" Strong G993. Mark 3:17,
4. As to Philip, his theology is way off base, he even asked Christ to show Jehovah to us disciples.  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." John 14:8.  He certainly cannot be the greatest.
5. I don't trust Judas.  He is the treasurer of our group and sometimes there is not as much money left over as I know there should be. John 12:5-6.
6. Peter, he, for sure, is out of the running, his personality is much too abrasive.

So, maybe, each one thought of the other disciples and decided that he personally should be chosen to be the greatest.

So Christ explained greatness to them.  He took a child and said, look, here is greatness made up of innocence, trust and humility.  If you want to be great in my kingdom practice being like this child is and quit bickering among yourselves.

Possibly John felt that his toes had been stepped on by Christ.  He was quick to change the subject and said we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.  

In a previous post, we learned that some of Christ's disciples could not cast out demons and now John relates that some other followers of Christ were casting out demons. This must have been frustrating to the disciples, because it showed that other followers of Jesus were able to cast out demons when they (the disciples) were not. No wonder John wanted them to stop! Guzik.

Maybe, but John was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and he personally was not picked on when nine other disciples proved that they could not cast out demons.  Would one of those nine not be the one who would be first to change the subject?

Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us." Jesus taught them to have a more generous spirit.  There are many that are wrong in some aspect ... yet they still set forth Jesus in some manner. Let God deal with them. Those who are not against a Biblical Jesus are still on our side, at least in some way. Guzik.

There are many in the church who would rather condemn free thinkers than allow freedom of Bible study!  This is why the church is just spinning its wheels in the same old rut!