Mark 9:31

Mark 9:31 says, For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.  Like the disciples, there are many people today who still do not understand what Jesus was saying.  They see Him as a good man and prophet but fail to understand that He died for the sins of all mankind, and do not believe that He rose again the third day, claiming victory over death, which is the penalty of sin.  Verse thirty-two adds, But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. Like the disciples, people are often afraid or just unwilling to ask Him by faith what He means. Verse thirty-three states, And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, Verse thirty-four adds, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. When they got to Capernaum, Jesus asked the disciples what they had been disputing about along the way, but they didn't tell Him, because they had been arguing about who would be greatest in His kingdom.   We are never going to be able to hide anything from Jesus, so if we feel that He is asking us about something that we are disputing with other Christians about, we simply need to confess what it is.  Of course, we should never set out to be the greatest, based on our own merit.  We will always be but a sinner saved by grace.  Verse thirty-five states, And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.  Jesus sat down with the disciples and told them that whoever wanted to be the greatest would be the servant to all.  If we want to great in God's kingdom, we need to serve others and not look for them to praise us as great.  Verse thirty-six adds, And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Verse thirty-seven continues, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.;  Jesus then took a child in His arms, and said to the disciples that anyone who received one such child received Him, and anyone who received Him received the One Who sent Him.  I believe that God still expects us to receive, or help, all the children in the world today, especially those who are in need, no matter where they are from or who they are.