Who Is The Greatest?
WHO IS THE GREATEST?
LUKE 9:46-53
Notice the contrast between the wonderful self-sacrifice of Jesus and the blunt self-centeredness of the disciples!
The chapter might properly have ended at 9:50, because at this point Luke inserts a long tract of material not found in the other evangelists. In his usual fashion he has abbreviated on either side to make room for it. From 9:51 to 19:44 there is an account of the Lord’s words and doings as he moved forward first in Galilee, then down the Jordan Valley, and up from Jericho, on his last journey to Jerusalem. Luke has concentrated much material here, and it is not necessary always to assume a strict chronological sequence.
9:46-48. Conscious that a climax was near, and still not grasping the spiritual nature of “the kingdom,” the Twelve were becoming sensitive over matters of prestige and precedence. The choice of three for the mystic experience on Hermon may have accentuated certain tensions in the group. The Lord’s quiet patience and continued confidence in them is a daunting spectacle. It is thus that he bears with others, equally obtuse and insensitive to his outworking purpose.
9:49-50. If these verses follow in time sequence, which may not be the case, they reveal how little John had heeded the talk on childlike simplicity. 9:54-56 are an even sharper demonstration. ln life and in death the Lord illustrates how all evil in God’s hands can be made an occasion of good. Such was the supreme lesson of Calvary, and again and again some fault, failing or sin produces immortal words or acts. John’s narrow sectarianism, which seeks smugly to elicit the Lord’s commendation, produces the statement of 9:50, the rebuke of all intolerance. The contrary remark reported two chapters later (Luke 11:23) is not a repudiation or an afterthought, but a principle which applies to another situation. The two attitudes stand in tension, not in contradiction, and steady the Christian between two extremes. His fellowship must be wide, but not at the expense of fundamental truth and conviction, a fact which some, over-eager for a spurious unity, forget.
9:51-53. The Samaritan boorishness may have been disappointment. The stern mood of 9:51-53, so apparent in Mark’s story, was upon him, and may have chilled their desire to retain him. Jerusalem and the cross were in full view. We must watch with reverence.
Notes 9:46: the reasoning may have been their reaction to Jesus’ prediction of 9:44; they wonder who will succeed to the leadership. 9:48: the service of love is tested by its operation towards the most insignificant. 9:51: cf. Mark 16:19, where the Gk. verb is used whose noun form occurs here. 9:53: for Samaritan hostility, see Ezra 4:1-5; Nehemiah 2:19-20.