Day Twenty-Three
Scripture: Mark 9:33-41
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ 38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ 39 But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
Observation:
One of the newly coined words by Gen Z nowadays is the acronym GOAT, which stands for Greatest Of All Time. It is said that the term was first used as an acronym by Muhammad Ali’s wife in 1992. It was popularized by rapper LL Cool J in 2000, who released a song titled 'GOAT'.
So, who’s the GOAT among the disciples? They had an argument about this. Maybe Peter pointed out that he was the first one called by Jesus. John might have emphasized that he was 'the beloved disciple.' Perhaps Thomas bragged about his reasonableness. I wonder if Judas Iscariot jumped in by showing off how he was entrusted to be in charge of the money for the group.
However, Jesus was not interested in this kind of debate. His lesson for the disciples was simple and clear:
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me,”
“Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
Jesus embodied this lesson by being the Lamb of God, who died on the cross for us.
We don’t have to be “the greatest of all time.” Living in this infinitely competitive society, isn’t it refreshing and liberating to hear this message? May we be the ones who serve “a little one” with “a cup of water” today.
Application:
Who do you think is the ‘GOAT’ among the saints in Christian history? Why is she/he the ‘GOAT’?
Who’s the “little one” you are called to serve today?
Prayer / Reflection:
Song of Reflection: 소원 (Hope)