After Peter’s bold declaration in Mark 8, Jesus begins to drill down into the pivotal nature of his teaching and his life. As we progress through Mark 9, Jesus takes advantage of some uninterrupted time to attempt to clarify for his disciples just what his Messiahship is really all about.
But his disciples still don’t get it! Jesus is too far outside their expectations. Instead, the disciples get busy jostling for positions of power in Jesus’ new administration.
You can almost hear the exasperation from Jesus as he directs his disciples’ attention to a child and indicates care for the little ones is where it is at!
We have the benefit of knowing where this story goes. The confusion of the disciples points to just how radically ‘other’ is the nature of what passes for virtue in Jesus’ way of life.