As Jesus came down the mountain where he had gone with Peter, James, and John to pray and where the Transfiguration had occurred, he ran into a chaotic scene with the other nine disciples and a man whose son was possessed by a demon. The nine disciples that had not been on the mountain had tried to drive out the demon that was within the man’s son but were not able to do so. Jesus rebuked the spirit, driving it out of the boy, and gave the boy back to his father.

It is at that precise moment, just as everyone was amazed at what Jesus had done, that Jesus decides to tell his disciples that he will be handed over to other men, implying that he would be killed.

It is also at that moment that, instead of questioning Jesus to learn more as they had done in other times, that the disciples started an argument about who is greatest in the kingdom of God. We can imagine that there may have been a perceived separation in status between two different groups of the disciples. On the one hand, Peter, James, and John, who had been up on the mountain with Jesus during the Transfiguration seeing the inbreaking of heaven into our physical world, may have considered themselves to be in a higher status within the kingdom. Despite Peter’s ramblings there in front on Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, they were able to see an incredible sight with Jesus as his true, spiritual, heavenly self.

On the other hand, as they came down the mountain, they saw the other disciples struggling, and ultimately unable, to drive out the evil spirit from the man’s son. This juxtaposition between the two different would have easily set up the conditions for a discussion about who is the best, or who has the greatest status in the kingdom of God.

The ensuing conversation went on to expose what was truly in the hearts of the disciples. The disciples were talking about their status, demonstrating a competition between them. Jesus, though, explained that the disciples must become like children, becoming the lowest in status within their group – in fact, not even thinking about status – if they want to become great in the kingdom of God.

Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

Luke 9:48

This morning as I was reading, though, I was struck at John’s response to Jesus after Jesus had been explaining to the disciples that they must become like children:

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”

Luke 9:49

How strange! Why would John say this? Jesus had just been telling them that they must become like children if they want to become great in the kingdom of God and John replies to Jesus saying that they tried to stop someone else from driving out demons in Jesus’s name. What is going on here?

Is this a misplaced paragraph? Did Luke, the writer of this Gospel insert this as a separate conversation?

In telling the disciples that they must become like children to become great within the kingdom of God, Jesus exposed a type of thinking within the disciples that exists in the church today, and in fact runs rampant within the Christian world, having been adopted from the world’s system at large.

The disciples were thinking in relation to their status, how they were seen by Jesus, and maybe more importantly, how they were seen by the rest of the world. They wanted to be seen as important, or maybe better said, more important than the others within this kingdom that was being established.

To maintain their status, though, the disciples also had to think in terms of control. They had to manage their status by controlling access to the power or to their group. The disciples thought that their proximity to Jesus, being the “exclusive” twelve disciples, gave them already a greater status over others who were not part of their group. They were not thinking like children. They were not thinking in terms of the kingdom of God. Far from it. They were thinking in terms of them. Their group. Their status in the world before men.

Therefore, to maintain their status, John says that they told another man who was not part of their group, yet who was driving out demons in the name of Jesus, to stop doing it.

Nevermind that this man believed in Christ enough that he was willing to take the risk of attempting to drive out demons in his name.

Nevermind that people were being healed.

Nevermind that the disciples themselves had just had an episode in which they, themselves, weren’t able to drive out an evil spirit!

No, to the disciples, what was important was that this man wasn’t part of their group.

This situation reminds me of something a pastor here in Sicily told me once. He said that many of the churches, and many of the people within those churches, have adopted a mafia mentality. He said that, in the same way that the mafia is run by a boss and belonging to the church can be determined by whose name it is that you are connected. That is, you belong to a group, and you should always belong to that group. That is the right group. That is the best group.

That may, or may not be the case, or it may have been hyperbole so as to make a larger point, which he was doing. Even if it is completely true, it certainly isn’t unique. We do the same type of thing in America. We do the same type of thing between denominations. We do the same type of thing between individuals.

Us and Them. In fact, Us vs. Them.

How often have I seen wrinkled noses as someone expresses displeasure at the possibility of connecting with other brothers in Christ or working alongside of others for a common goal in the kingdom of God? And why is that? It is because we have adopted the same view that the disciples had adopted. Instead of considering the kingdom of God and working underneath our one head, our one king, king Jesus, we instead think about what is good for us. We instead think about our status. We instead think about us, our group, as the one who is right, who is important, the most important.

And to maintain that status, we express displeasure toward the others in an effort to maintain control. We want to maintain our kingdom, not the kingdom of God.

Jesus responded to John as he told him about having stopped the other man from driving out demons:

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Luke 9:50

Jesus wants his disciples to understand that it is important that they maintain their dependence upon him, not upon their perceived hierarchical status. They must become like children, without status, to become great within the kingdom.

Jesus didn’t want the disciples to try to maintain control or consider their group to be the best or the only group, he wanted them instead to maintain a sense of openness based on the breadth of the kingdom of God extending beyond their group. He wanted them to understand that connection with him comes by faith, not by position or proximity.

And Jesus, as he explains throughout this discussion, wanted his disciples to receive others, openly and with love, based on our common desire to serve him, our king.