First Presbyterian Church Of San Anselmo

Mark 9:30-37: The disciples are afraid to ask Jesus what he meant when they didn't understand his prediction about betrayal, death and resurrection. They're worried about their image, as is revealed by their subsequent bickering about being the greatest. Jesus shows them a child, vulnerable, with no status, and identifies with the child: those who are great will welcome the vulnerable. Including their questions. The disciples need to already know points to their obsession with greatness. The humility it takes to say, "I don't know" and ask questions is the vulnerability Jesus models, both because it allows us to be open to learn, and because it does not create insiders who believe or know the correct answers.