WELCOMING the LITTLE ONES
The Transfiguration of Jesus is just over. Jesus has manifested his Divine nature to Peter, James and John. Jesus, in the presence of Moses and Elijah, reveals himself as the fulfilment of the Old Testament Law and the Prophetic promises (Mk 9:1-13). The journey now presents a new milestone. In the school of Jesus, the disciples are taught on the importance of ‘prayer’ and ‘fasting’ to overcome the evil spirits (Mk 9:14-29). The gospel of today presents Jesus on a mission. He now leaves Caesarea Philippi for his last tour through the region of Galilee. For the second time, Jesus predicts, “The Son of man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days, after being killed, he will rise again.” This was a truth too difficult to fathom. The ‘road’ becomes a place for much arguing among the disciples. Jesus takes the disciples from the ‘noise-of-the-road’ to the ‘quite-of-a-home’ to give them an important teaching. Was Jesus too preoccupied with his death? Were the disciples too preoccupied with their limited understanding of the ‘Kingdom’? The Kingdom represented POWER! The disciples seem power hungry! They were ambitious. They sought position and prestige.
In the school of Jesus, there are always lessons to be learnt. To overcome the forces of evil, Jesus taught them to be people of ‘prayer’ and ‘fasting’. Now, Jesus teaches them that to overcome the forces of human ambition and hunger for power, they would have to learn the art of ‘being last’ and ‘servant of all’. In a competitive world, being FIIRST and MASTER is all that matters. Jesus offers his disciples a DIVINE REVERSAL. Being LAST and SERVANT is the way of the Kingdom. The disciples had no models to imitate. Jesus offered them a model. Jesus placed before them a ‘CHILD’. He took the child in his arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me, but the one who sent me.”
Every child represents the LEAST! Humility and trust are qualities of a child. Children are frank, spontaneous, insightful and powerless. The child has infinite trust in his father. Jesus presents himself to his disciples as a child who trust His Father! The disciples are invited to learn to welcome the way of the little child who trusts in the will of the father. Jesus predicts his death, but he trusts in the will of His Father – after three days He will RISE again!
Fr Glenford Lowe
