By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
September 22, 2024
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Mark 9:30–37 (ESV)
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
As we look at today’s passage, I think it is important to just stop and consider the humanity of the men and women in scripture. They are often similar to us. They are scared, confused, passionate, and completely wrong. It is refreshing if you take the time to think about it.
Jesus had just taken the disciples on a journey. They traveled to the very gates of hell and Jesus proclaimed that upon the foundation of his life he will build his church and those gate would not over take it. Imagine if you had heard those words. Imagine if you had been standing in the middle of the most pagan place within your nation. The place where the most depraved things humanity could envision were being acted out all around you, and someone stands in the middle of it all proclaims that everything you see happening will not stand. It will not overtake the righteousness of God.
Can you imagine this? Can you imagine standing on a street in Las Vegas with escort services being advertised with the most explicit pamphlets out in the open. Imagine someone standing in an alley as illegal substances are being traded saying even this will not consume the true kingdom. Imagine a trader on the floor of the stock exchange proclaiming the greed and chaos of the most raw form of capital exploitation will not triumph over the will of God. Imagine.
Today Jesus and the disciples are traveling south away from the Syrian borderlands, returning the Galilee. They are leaving the land of the wicked and returning to the safety of home. As they walk, Jesus once again explains to them what the near future will hold.
“The son of man will be delivered into the hand of men.”
There is a slight difference in the manner of this declaration in reference to the prior explanation. The first mention of this passion event, Jesus said that he would be prosecuted by the religious leaders. This time he says that he will be delivered into the hands of humanity.
There is something about that nuance that I find interesting. Jesus is challenging society as a whole. His teaching first affects the righteous. He challenges the wicked within the religious community. He points out their hypocrisy. Only after he highlights this he then takes on the depravity of those that reject the lifestyles of the disciple. The first to condemn Jesus will be the conservatives or those with faith. But both the seemingly righteous and the injustice of society will possess hands that hold the instruments of death.
I wonder if we can see what exactly is occurring in the words that Jesus spoke about himself. The righteous will utilize the injustice of humanity to maintain the perception of power and influence. In the end their hypocrisy will become their downfall as all people are judged according the the knowledge they possess.
Jesus says these things. He tells them that he will soon suffer under the thumb of the injustice of their exploiting overlords. He tells them that he will suffer, die, and be buried. He tells them that his death will not be the end, but only the beginning. And the disciples are silent as they listen.
We are told that they are silent because they are afraid. And the usage of the language here implies not only that they are afraid, concerned, or worried but they are in a state of ignorance. It is important to point this out because this is the truth. We often do not understand. We often find ourselves operating with incomplete knowledge. And we are required to make decisions based on this ignorance. But the disciples are silent, they are afraid.
They do not understand, yet they are unwilling to stick their neck out to ask a simple question to gain greater knowledge. They are unwilling to admit their ignorance, because they are afraid that their lack will cause them to lose favor in the eyes of their teacher.
We often find ourselves in a similar situation. I recall just a few years ago when we faced something that had not been faced in our nation for generations. As an elder within the Yearly Meeting during that time, we were facing questions. These questions were being asked and we did not have answers. There were strong opinions urgently and passionately being expressed on all sides and we sat in the midst of this chaos feeling as if the weight of the entire future of the church was being placed on our shoulders.
I want each of you to remember back, I want you to remember your passion and you fears. There was no right answer and what ever decision we came to threatened to divide the church. Each resolution held within it the potential to cause a schism that would seem irreconcilable. Will we live by faith or trust science? Will we cave to the rule of the mob or will we stand trusting in the guidance of the Spirit?
The righteous condemned us, humanity judged us. And yet I feel we made the proper move as the elders searched through scripture, look at the lessons of history, and as we prayed for guidance. We were ignorant, yet we did not let fear lead us. Instead we asked questions and we sought answers knowing full well that we were operating in ignorance.
But this is not the example the disciples show us as they listened to the teachings of their teacher. Jesus told them that he would face the injustice inherit in the systems of human governance. He spoke and they were not even paying attention. Instead of asking a clarifying question of their teacher, they argued among themselves. They argued about which of them was the greatest.
I have been in conversations like this. I remember several instances while I was in elementary school where the topic of conversation was, “My dad could beat up your dad.” Looking back I find those discussions very humorous because none of us really knew any dad well enough to make any real contribution to the conversation. All I knew was that my dad was strong. And even then I did not know my dad well enough to know that in all likelihood my dad would never participate in a competition of that sort, and neither would most of the other dads in question. Yet, that did not deter the imaginations of boys, as they defended their father’s pride.
Hierarchy was important in many cultures. In their systems someone had to lead, and there would always an advisor or a bodyguard standing next to them. The faithful were not different than the world in this. We like hierarchy because with that structure we have a sense of security. We are not required to know the reasons why we do something because we are simply following orders. And on the other side, we do not have to do any of the dirty work because we can force those we rule to it for us. The beauty of this system is that there is always someone to blame. And no one is fully held responsible for anything. We might argue and say that the king is ultimately responsible, but in systems of men, we can always cast blame. We can always set up a scape goat to divert attention from our own ignorance. We see it daily on our social media feeds and splashed across the news. All our problems are caused by Ukraine, Russia, the Haitian immigrants, the people on various aide programs, or big business. There is always a scapegoat to take on the ire and blame of society.
These systems no matter if they are in the most authoritative dictatorship or our own nation are filled with corruption and ignorance. People do or say things to give an illusion of competence, and often it would have been best for them to keep their mouths shut. Yet they manipulate and work the angles of society to obtain the position because once they have that position they will no longer be required to work. They just dictate and take the spoils of the labor of others. Jesus taught that the poor will always be among us. This means not that their will always be poverty but that there will always be systems of governance where there are the exploited or the poor, and the exploiters or the rich. Those that are ruled over and those that rule, or the governors and those that are governed.
The disciples, while Jesus was telling them how he would challenge the very gates of hell, how he would reverse the injustice and corruption of the nations, were arguing among themselves which of them would be the rich and who would be the poor. They missed the entire point Jesus was making, and they remained silent in their ignorance.
As they settled for the night in Capernaum, Jesus took them aside in private and again spoke to them. He took them into a place of intimacy. He did not openly challenge their ignorance and hypocrisy. Instead he took them to a place where they were not distracted by the requirements of culture. Where they were not worried about saying or doing the right thing to maintain the appearance of piety. He took them aside and spoke to them as friends. And he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
The disciples were again silent. This time it was not ignorance that kept them silent. It was not the fear of being exposed as foolish that kept them silent. It was quite the opposite. They had full knowledge. They knew what they were discussing and they were ashamed. They knew that they were participating in the very life and lifestyle they had observed their teacher oppose so many times over the course of years. They had listened to the sermons, watched as Jesus challenged the status quo, and had experienced the grace he offered. They knew all this, and yet as the walked from the gates of hell to the safety of their homeland, they argued about who was better than who, and which of them deserved the positions of power and authority in the kingdom to come.
Jesus asked them a question. Mark alludes in the wording that Jesus was aware of what they were discussing, but the disciples at the time did not know of the omniscience of Jesus. At this point Jesus to them was like every other religious leader of that day. He had wisdom, he had a gift of prophecy where he was able to speak with authority into the situations at hand but they had yet learned the fullness of who Jesus is.
He asks this question, and the disciples remain silent, unwilling to expose their guilt. We remain silent out of ignorance, fear, and guilt not much has changed over the years. And those that challenge our ignorance, fear, and internal guilt are often the recipients of the injustice found within the systems of men.
At this point. While the disciples are looking at the ground and avoiding eye contact, Jesus looks around the room. His eyes fall upon one of the children in the room. They are in the house at Capernaum. As we read through the words of scripture we can assume that they are likely in Peter’s house, as that is where Jesus is said to have made his lodging while he was in that town. This child was not just a random child within the community but this was most likely Peter’s child or the child of one of Peter’s closest relatives. It was a child within his family.
Jesus see this child, this child he had probably seen multiple times over the years. He calls that child over to him. This kid knew Jesus, he had probably spent many moments playing games with Jesus as they waited for supper. He had probably laughed with Jesus as they shared stories. Jesus looks up at this child, and the child knew Jesus was calling to him without saying a word.
The child knew at a glance what was being said even without words. We often communicate like this with children. My mom could speak volumes with her eyebrows and a snap of her fingers. This child in the silence ran to Jesus. There was not shame, there was not guilt, there was an acknowledgment of their own ignorance, and an innocence in asking for clarification if it was needed. I have never met a child opposed to asking a question. It is only after being told countless times to be quiet that they stop asking questions.
Jesus calls this child to him and the child comes running. This child is not jockeying for position. This child is not ashamed about who they are. A child is fully themselves as they are in that moment. And the disciples watch as Jesus allows that guilt filled silence to linger. They watch as he opens his arms to this child. They see him welcome this child into his arms. They sit there in that solemn place with downcast eyes while this child runs to embrace Jesus.
Jesus reaches out to this child. As the child nears he says to his closest friends, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. Whoever receives a one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me but the one who sent me.”
The writer of the Proverbs wisely teaches that we should train up a child in the way they should go; even when they are old they will not depart from it. Have we really considered what that Proverb means? This means we should know our children, we should see what inspires them, we should observe what drives them and what challenges them. If we want what is best for our children, we will encourage them to dream and pursue those dreams. We might want them to become a doctor or an engineer, but sometimes our children are passionate about music or art. If we push them to pursue medicine when their passion is art, we are not encouraging them but setting them up for a life of disappointment and failure. But if we train them in the way they should go, if we teach them how to value their time and their expertise even in a career path as uncertain as art they will thrive.
This is what Jesus is showing the disciples. They are jockeying for position, but Jesus is telling them their value is not in the position they hold. Their value to the kingdom is not a hierarchy but it is living into the aspect of God’s image He created and called us to reflect.
We are created in the image of God. We are created to reflect in our lives and in our lifestyle the value that each person has in God’s kingdom. We bear his image but often we are ignorant, afraid, or ashamed. We like the disciples argue about which of us is greatest instead of listening to who we are and encouraging us and those around us to pursue that area that God is calling us to. The disciples desired power and influence, they wanted the things of the world and Jesus tells them, that is not what is important. The meaning of life, the universe, and everything is found in one place, the face of a child.
We serve children willingly because they are unable to serve themselves. We encourage children willingly because they eagerly respond to our encouragement. We love children. We love when they are around even when they annoy us to no end. We will serve a child because we know without children everything within our society would fall.
Receive the people of this world as we would a child. Take the time to listen to their stories. Listen to their hopes and dreams. Meet with them and encourage them to pursue that life. And be there to comfort when they fall and skin their knees. Cook their favorite meal when they are discouraged and sick. Turn on the lights when they are afraid. Be willing to teach, encourage and challenge. Be willing to discipline and forgive.
We get trapped in the cycles and systems of men. We get caught up in thinking that the world as we know it is about to end if we do not pick the right leader to fight the battles for us. As much as God cares about the nations of this earth, he cares more about the people right around you. He wants you to receive them and encourage them. He wants each of us to show them the truth of the Gospel. It is not about power and influence. But love and service to your God and your neighbor.
Previous Messages:
Living Stones
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
Endure
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
Ransomed to Love
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
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