Monday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 26, 2022

Luke 9, 46-50

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”   Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

While the first verse of today’s Gospel Reading makes it sound as though the Apostles were engaged in a heated exchange over who of them was the “greatest”, the Greek literally means, “A reasoning came among them who of them was the greatest.”  The word translated in the lectionary as “argument” is the word from which we derive our “dialogue”.  Rather than a bitter fight, it sounds like a reasoned discussion.  The same word follows in the next sentence: “Jesus, having known the reasoning of their hearts, etc.”The tenses of the verbs tell us this: for some time the Apostles had wondered about who was the greatest, but only at this particular time did they discuss it among themselves.  Meanwhile, the Lord knew about their wondering all along, and waited for the open discussion to furnish him the occasion for teaching them about the meaning of “greatness” as a follower of his.  For the Apostles, “greatness” meant rank and influence.  It might seem strange to us that these men, largely uneducated and without any military or political background, could think of himself or anyone else of their group as “great”.  Perhaps they were not discussing “greatness” so much as importance to Jesus: who did Jesus show the most favor to, or who did Jesus rely on more than any other.  As Luke tells the story, this discussion occurred relatively early in the Lord’s Public Life, so definitely before Peter’s profession of faith.  

“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”  We might wonder in what way the Lord’s first sentence has anything to do with “the intention in their hearts”.  The Lord Jesus, who heals the blind and expels demons, equates himself with a child.  The Lord is telling his Apostles how he regards himself: as a child.  And, truly, he insisted on his Sonship and consequently on his duty to carry out his Father’s will.  Having established his, he carefully shows the Apostles their places: they are lesser than he, and to obtain true greatness they must make themselves “least”, like him.  The one who perfects himself in humility, then.  

“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.”  It is very valuable to have such a snapshot in his youth of the later great theologian of love.  It is akin to the time when James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan town that was giving them trouble.  John is perhaps eighteen at this point, and maybe a couple of years younger.  Even the Apostles had to grow up.  And we can trace their growing up and their maturity from their original calls (in the case of seven of them) through their hesitations, mistakes, silly questions, and concern for importance, to their later solidity, wisdom, and courage.  The Lord’s answer here to John’s announcement, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you”, counsels patience.  John, after all, does not know for certain that Jesus did not give this an the power to exorcise.  At any rate, if he could exorcise, that was good.  If he could not, John was not harmed by the man’s pretension.  

We pray Almighty God to grant us the virtue of humility.  It is fundamental to the spiritual life.  By beginning with the understanding and acceptance of who we truly are, we prepare ourselves to become like Jesus.