Ask Questions – Mark 9:30-37

A text – Mark 9:30-37

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” ³² But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.                 

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 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.”

A reflection:

Last week I wrote about the person who “listens as one who is being taught,” as one who is “teachable.” This week, our gospel passage has a moment when being teachable would have paid off way better for the disciples than what actually happened. Look at verse 32: “³² But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” That is not the way to be teachable: having big questions but being afraid to ask them. But we have all been there. I was in some challenging classes in high school and college, and though I did passably well, I would have done way better if I had courageously asked questions in class instead of pretending I understood. My homework alone would have taken less time. And probably, except for a few of my brilliant classmates, even other people would have benefitted from my asking for explanations. I would have been way more teachable.

Here, the disciples don’t ask about this really important and dangerous impending part of Jesus’s work – being killed! – and instead they get into an argument about status in the group. Which Jesus calls them on later. Which embarrasses them. And Jesus then tells them to “welcome little kids. To be like little kids. You know I love them and the Father loves them. And if you feel childish asking a question, it’s ok. I’d rather you asked, like a kid, than not ask, and not learn, and then get into arguments.” Aren’t little kids famous for eternally asking why? If the disciples had asked why the Son of Man had to be betrayed, die, and then rise again, wouldn’t those disciples have been better prepared for the next part of their mission with Jesus? Welcoming children, learning from children, putting up with children no matter how patient we have to be is part of a bigger lesson. How patient and generous we are with children is exactly how patient and generous the Lord is with us.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being our patient teacher and care giver. Help us to bring all our big questions to you, and learn by praying and listening what you want us to learn for our journey in life. Help us to look out for children and give them whatever we can, for those gifts will in turn be given to us. Amen.