“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Mk 9:30-37
CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
Jesus had been teaching his apostles that he must suffer and die. If that were the case, then who would become leader when he is gone? That was probably what they meant when they were discussing who was the greatest among them. Jesus took the opportunity to explain the kind of leadership that is expected among them. The leader is the servant. The servant-leader is he who seeks the wel-fare of the community. In this community the servant-leader has authority but this authority is meant to enable him as servant-leader to effectively work for the good of the said community. But in this community it is the weakest that are closest to his heart.
Two well-known figures who are poles apart may serve to illustrate the concept of servant-leader.
The first is Lee Kwan Yew. In 1965 Singapore was expelled from Malaysia. As its first prime minister, he transformed Singapore into a financial and industrial pow-erhouse, despite the lack of natural resources. He turned a malarial land into a mod-ern city-state. However, he is an authoritarian, by Western standards. Nevertheless, he qualifies as a servant-leader for he had the welfare of his nation at heart.
The second example is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She best exemplifies that special concern of the servant-leader for the weakest members of the community. She founded the Missionaries of Charity. Its mission was to care for "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a bur-den to the society and are shunned by everyone."
EXEGESIS
Perhaps Jesus did not want people to know where he was so that he could instruct his disciples without disturbance. The topic of his instruction was of utmost importance: his destiny and its significance.
Jesus and his disciples…began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples….
Perhaps Jesus did not want people to know where he was so that he could instruct his disciples without disturbance. The topic of his instruction was of utmost importance: his destiny and its significance.
But they did not understand the saying….
The disciples did not understand the instruction of Jesus because the suffering messiah did not fit into their concept of the Messiah. A person can not possibly un-derstand celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom if for him marriage is the only possible option for a human being.
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst….
Jesus did not put forward a child because of its innocence. Rather Jesus wanted to put its powerlessness and dependence as a response to the apostles’ desire for power and position.
Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me…
Other translations make use of the word “welcome” instead of “receive”. “To welcome” and “to receive” mean to respect and serve, that is, to be concerned about the well-being of the powerless.
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