Luke

9:46-50

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

6. The nature of the Messiah's kingdom, 9:1-50

vi] Meaning of greatness in the kingdom of God.

This passage looks at the meaning of greatness in the kingdom of God. It consists of two separate teaching units which expose the true nature of messiahship and thus, the true nature of discipleship. For Jesus, "the rejected stone came not to be served but to serve." This truth reminds us that discipleship entails humble service, not precedence.

The episodes contained within the section The Nature of Messiah's Kingdom, 9:1-50, serve to expand our understanding of the messiah and his eternal reign. The mission of the twelve sets the stage by promoting questions as to the identify of Jesus, v1-9. In the feeding of the five thousand we are introduced to Jesus' real identity, the prophet like unto Moses, v10-17, while in the confession of Peter we are confronted by God's messiah in the terms of Isaiah's suffering servant, v18-27, a fact confirmed in the transfiguration, v28-36. We are then reminded that membership of the kingdom rests on faith, v37-45, a faith which issues in humble service, v46-50.

de "-" - Here connective, rather than adversive. Luke, more so than Mark, ties the disciples' question on greatness to Jesus' prediction of his humiliation.

dialogismoV (oV) "an argument [started among the disciples]" - inward reasoning/considering or an outward discussion/debate [entered in them]. "A dispute developed between the disciples."

en autoiV pl. dat. "among the disciples" - in/with them. The plural points to "among" rather than an inward reasoning of an issue.

to tiV "which" - who. Forming an interrogative clause. Note how Luke often uses a neuter article to introduce an indirect question, as here.

an ei[h "-" - might be. This construction, a potential optative, expresses a modest assertion. Only Luke uses this construction in the NT. The more common construction takes the future tense, cf. Zerwick #356.

autwn "which of them" - Partitive genitive, ie. the part (member) which "of them" is the greatest, or the part (member) greater "of them", depending whether the genitive is related to "which" or "greater" - the greatest disciple.

meizwn (megaV) comp. adj. "greatest" - greater. Although a comparative, "greater", it is best rendered as a superlative, "greatest". Possibly, but unlikely, "who is greater than they." Either way, the disciples are concerned with their own importance, even ranking of importance, and this in contrast to Christ's role as servant.

eidwV (oida) perf. part. "knowing" - perceiving, understanding. The participle is probably adjectival, attributive, describing "Jesus", "who know what was going on in their minds", REB.

ton dialogismon thV kardiaV autwn "their thoughts" - the thought of the heart of them. Possibly indicating that the disciples were not verbalizing their thoughts, but more likely that they were discussing the issue of greatness, but doing so in a "loving" way, while hiding their selfish ambitions.

epilabomenoV (epilambanomai) aor. part. "took" - having taken hold of. The participle is adverbial, possibly temporal; "then, Jesus ....... took a little child ..."

par eJautw/ "beside him" - beside himself, by his side. Unlike Mark, where the child is placed in the midst of the disciples, Luke has the child standing prominently beside Jesus. Who does the child represent, Jesus or the disciples? Surely the humiliated Christ! A child (old enough to be taught the Torah and therefore listen and follow Jesus), is perceived as culturally inferior and so is a good example of the humiliated Son of Man.

ean, an + subj. As with oJV an, This construction forms a conditional clause, 3rd. class, in the form of an indefinite relative clause; "whosoever, as the case may be, ..... then ...." To honour the child "in my name" is to honour Jesus and to honour Jesus is to honour the Father. The disciples are on about precedence, but they have failed to understand that they follow, not a glorious Son of Man, but a lowly humiliated Son of Man. Therefore, the most lowly of the followers, here a child, is most worthy to be honoured and best represents Christ and thus, true greatness.

dexhtai (decomai) aor. subj. "welcomes" - receives. To "honour and respect", "recognize their value."

epi tw/ onamati mou "in my name" - in/on/upon the name of me. Possibly "on my account / for my sake", "because you are my disciple / representative under my authority" .... Nolland suggests "as though he were I. " True greatness is found in the suffering and humiliated Son of Man, and honour toward him is not without its reciprocation (on the assumption of the time that greatness is bestowed on those who show hospitality to great ones).

mikroteroV (mikroV) adj. comp. "[he who is] least" - less. Best rendered with the superlative "least". An unusual grammatical occurrence, but the comparative does at times wonder into the superlative. Commentators argue whether greatness is found by honouring the "least" or, by honouring all (on the assumption that if the least are great then obviously all are great - ie. believers are without distinction, all count. Yet, it does seem that the point being made here is that greatness is found in Christ himself. What should be clear is that Jesus is not suggesting that spiritual enlightenment is found in human degradation, as though by honouring the poor, destitute, etc. we somehow honour, even find God.

megaV (mega) adj. "greatest" - great, large. Here, a positive adjective is rendered as a superlative. Again, unusual, particularly without its own article.

de "-" - This connective, along with John's "answered/replied", rather than just "said", makes it clear that Luke ties this short episode to the episode on greatness. Here is an example of the disciples' understanding of greatness (status, position) as apostles of Jesus and their sense of a superior status in comparison with others who follow.

en tw/ onomati sou "in your name" - in the name of you. Possibly, "using your name", but given the close proximity to v48, "in your place" = something like "as if he had your authority to this", "as if he were your representative." He is obviously Jesus' representative, as he is casting out demons, unlike some of the apostles who have just made a hash of it.

ekwluomen (kwluw) imperf. "we tried to stop [him]" - we hindered him. This verb is probably a conative imperfect, meaning that the action has begun, but is not completed, therefore "we attempted to prevent him"

oJti "because" - for, because. Here expressing cause/reason.

ouk akolouqei (akolouqew) "he is not" - he does not follow. John is saying that this disciple is not a member of the permanent apostolic band who travel with Jesus.

meq + gen. "one of" - [because he is not following] with [us].

mh kwluete (kwluw) pres. imp. "do not stop" - The present tense gives the verb "hinder" an ongoing general sense. The present tense, being durative, even iterative, may give the sense "do not try again to prevent him", Zerwick.

uJmwn pro. "you" - Unlike Mark, who uses "us" in the proverb, Luke has "you" and so underlines the lesson for the disciples who are struggling with the issue of status. If they weren't so bound up by their own self importance they would include the other brother, rather than exclude him.

Luke Introduction

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