After their private briefing with Jesus about the cross and resurrection to come (Mark 9:30-32) you might have expected the disciples to be a united team with their Master.  But having got back to the expectations of the crowds in Capernaum, they became highly competitive.  They assumed that Jesus would somehow release their country from the grip of Roman tyranny, and they would be part of His government.

Once again (Mark 9:14-16), Jesus asked what they were arguing about.  He knew, of course, but wanted them to confess.  However, like squabbling children, nobody wanted to own up.  So, He sat down as a rabbi would to teach his students.  Jesus did not rebuke them this time; they were defensive enough already and now ashamed that He knew what they had been saying.  Instead, He again taught them the principles of servant-leadership in His Kingdom.  In arguing about who would be the greatest 'minister' in Jesus' government, they had ignored the fact that all the evidence pointed to Jesus!  He was to be the model of leadership in His church - where shepherds should feed and guard the flock sacrificially instead of using them to serve their own needs (Ezekiel 34:1-6).

Greatness, Jesus told them, is not measured by intellectual or physical power.  It is not measured by being the first with the ideas, the fastest with delivery or producing a perfect personal performance.  Greatness is measured by service - not dominance (Mark 10:45).  But the disciples had a worldly mind-set (Mark 8:33), encouraged by the hierarchical power play of religious leaders who shunned any contact with people who were 'not their type' (Mark 2:16).  So, Jesus corrected their error.  To drive the point home, a little child became a visual aid.  Jesus explained that His kingdom welcomed children who were weak, immature and could not influence society.  To value and welcome the least in society was to welcome Jesus.  He knew what it was like to be rejected, even though He was God in a human body.  He was born in a stable, placed in a manger, evacuated as a refugee and returned to a multi-cultural area as a carpenter.  To despise the least socially-acceptable was to despise Jesus.  But to welcome them and serve them is Christ-like and God-like.    

What a reversal of worldly values!  How easily do we slip back into them - including those who have an inverted snobbery which rejects the rich and learned.  However wealthy, we have nothing lasting without Jesus: and however disabled, we can have free access to the King of Kings.  If Jesus taught like that, why should we act differently?  Without servanthood, privilege is poison.  Read James 2:1-13.  If the half-brother of Jesus was not too proud to get the message, should we be?