Why greatness is not about being an insider with power and prominence

By Dean Collins

We are more like the disciples than we want to admit. It was easy for Peter, James, and John to set the wrong goals even after following Jesus awhile. It’s true for us, too. There is just something inside us that makes us want to be not only an insider but much more than an insider.

From the outside looking in, it seems that insiders have lots of advantages. They have information others don’t have. They have connections to power and resources others don’t have. They have protection others want but don’t possess. So it would be natural to want to be considered one of the insiders.

The attraction, and the threat, of Jesus

We can see this rather clearly as we follow Jesus through the Gospel accounts. How many times do we find both the rich and the poor, the assumed righteous crowd and the assumed ignorant crowd, pushing in on Jesus. They wanted to see him. They wanted to hear his teaching. They wanted their needs met. They wanted healing and help.

The power establishment of the day wanted to understand what made him so magnetic. And there certainly was a desire to discredit, minimize, and even to destroy Jesus because his presence weakened the power and status of those who saw themselves as the insiders.

The miracle, and the meaning, on the mountaintop

Peter, James, and John were invited inside the ropes. They went up on the mountain with Jesus and watched his interaction with Moses and Elijah. Can you just imagine what was going on in their hearts and minds as they looked up and saw Jesus talking to the heroes of their religious and cultural heritage? The experience was both thrilling and confusing. Peter, James, and John wanted to extend their stay and offered to make places for them to get out of the sun and be more comfortable.

God spoke from Heaven clarifying what they were seeing. Jesus wasn’t simply one of three great ones. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Peter had just a day or so earlier declared Jesus to be not just another Elijah or prophet but the Christ, the Son of God. But in this heady mountaintop experience, he needed a reminder.

The picture, and the essence, of greatness

When they got back to the bottom of the mountain and back to their day-to-day travels with Jesus and others, this experience must have been central in their thoughts. They went about their usual tasks but then asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom. I suspect having seen the greatest on the mountaintop they were hoping and wanting to make it into the top five in this new kingdom Jesus was establishing.

Maybe they hoped Jesus would conjure up another visit from one of the legends. Maybe they thought he would name them as the next legends of the faith. Jesus did neither but instead placed a child in the middle of the group. I suspect it was rather natural for Jesus to reach out and grab the hand of one of the tag-along children nearby. Maybe the child was one of the disciples’ kids. Or maybe he was just another nearby boy or girl who saw the friendly face of Jesus and knew he could trust him.

The words Jesus spoke were clear: Be like this innocent and wonder-filled little one. Quit trying to play “Who’s the Greatest?”

Peter, James, and John eventually figured it out. A combination of time with Jesus and a transformation of their hearts finally got them there. Everything Jesus said and did was finally reflected in the lives of these three. Finally they understood that to be great according to the path of Jesus requires a persistent and deliberate resistance to power structures and seeking to be insiders in the systems of the world.

To be great according to the ways of Jesus requires that we become more like the children in our lives who are kind and humble and willing to learn.

To be great in the kingdom of Heaven requires less reaching for the top and much more serving at what we perceive to be the bottom.

That’s where we will find Jesus. That’s where our minds and hearts will be transformed by Jesus. That’s where the kingdom of God will advance and be unstoppable.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭17:5-6, 8; 18:1-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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