Greatness through Humility
Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
Mark 9:30-37
The disciples wished to receive honour at the hands of the Lord; they also had a desire to be made great by Christ, for the greater a man is, the more worthy of honor he becomes, for this reason Jesus did not throw an obstacle in the way of that desire, but introduced humility. For His wish is not that we should take for ourselves places of honour by personal achievements, but that we should attain greatness by lowliness. He next admonishes them by the example of a child's innocence; wherefore there follows: "And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them."
By this very example, persuading the disciples to humility and simplicity; for this little one was pure from envy and vainglory, and from a desire of superiority. But He does not only say, "If you become such, you shall receive a great reward," but also, "if you will honor others, who are such for my sake." Wherefore there follows: "And when he had taken him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receives me." See, how great is humility, for it wins for itself the Father, and of the Son, and also of the Holy Spirit.
參考 References:
Catena Aurea (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Explanations on the New Testament (St. Theophylact of Ochrid)
Homily 58 on Matthew (St. John Chrysostom)
Pseudo-Chrysostom
The Extraordinary Adventurers: Fr. Francis Ching Ep 5 – Staying Focus Leads Us to God