If a small child loses a parent suddenly, it causes a trauma that will affect her for the rest of her life. Knowing this, if a mother has to leave her child for a while, she stoops down and explains that she is going away for a few days, that Aunt Millie will take care of her, not to worry, and that in a few days she will return. Does the child understand this? Of course not. But when her mother leaves and Aunt Millie comes, the child remembers that her mother still loves her, and things will work out well. Thus, the trauma is averted.
Translate this to Jesus preparing his disciples for his sudden departure. Instead of letting them just deal with it when it came, Jesus took time in advance to talk about what was going to happen (Mark 9:30-37).
“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…”
Jesus did not talk about himself in the third person as “The Son of Man.” This was a description of the Messiah given by prophet Daniel. It wasn’t obvious all the time that Jesus was referring to himself. So, when he talked about the Son of Man being killed, it wasn’t completely clear to the disciples what Jesus meant. Jesus spoke this prophecy not so that they would “hunker down” and begin to prepare for the worst, but so that when it began to happen, the disciples would know, deep down, that this was as it was supposed to be. They would realize that when Jesus was arrested, he was not abandoning them forever, and that while he was gone, they would be well taken care of.
Prophecies “of doom” are given by God not to scare us, or motivate us to prepare, but to assure us of his love and protection when bad things begin to happen. He will never abandon his flock or cease taking care of them.
The sentence is completed with,
“…and they were afraid to question him.”
They didn’t want to know the details, for fear that Jesus’ prophecy was really going to happen. It was safer to remain somewhat in the dark.
The disciples quickly shifted into talking about the Kingdom that Jesus was going to establish, and who would hold the higher positions in it. If Jesus died, then who would take over the reins of leadership?
“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 and putting his arms around it, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child such as this receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but the One who sent me.’”
Imagine a high-level CEO in the middle of the most important meeting of the year, stopping, picking up a small toddler and hugging him as if the child were more important than the meeting’s agenda. What counted to Jesus more than talking about organizing the Kingdom, was the little child.
Jesus saw his Apostles not as competent executives but as three-year-olds who needed to be picked up and loved. Deep inside these grown men were like scared little children who needed to cling to their mother. He let them know that every time they showed undivided love to a small child, they were showing it to Him.
There are many reasons to believe that “days of darkness” are on the horizon of history. We see Jesus embracing the child and know that he is stooping down to embrace the fearful child inside us. Though we are not smart enough to understand the ways of God, we are smart enough to know that if we entrust our lives to Jesus, he will take care of everything no matter what happens. God is still in charge!
Jesus, I trust in you.
