GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 9:34
Ungolden Silence
Parents learn quickly that silence often signals trouble. If a parent walks into a room and finds the children sitting quietly, something is usually amiss. So it was with Jesus and his disciples. As the small group walked toward Capernaum, the disciples argued with one another. Jesus may have overheard fragments of their conversation; after all, they walked close together. When they came to Capernaum, Jesus asked what they had been arguing about. “But they were silent, for they debated with one another on the road who was the greatest.” (Mark 9:34)
The writer Rodney Decker noted the irony in a group of grown men—including outspoken figures like Simon Peter and the visionary John—falling silent when Jesus questioned them, like schoolchildren caught misbehaving behind the teacher’s back.
They were likely silent because of the nature of their argument—who was the greatest? Jesus had chosen three of the little band to accompany him to the mountain to pray, but they faltered. Were they the greatest? Judas oversaw the group’s treasury; was he the greatest? John seemed to have a close relationship with Jesus; was he the greatest?
At this point, it seems the disciples still envisioned Jesus as a political conqueror who would overthrow the Romans and other enemies and establish an earthly kingdom with them as his chief administrators. The discussion may have included questions about who would be the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, or other high offices. Their silence, then, likely came from realizing how foolish the topic sounded when spoken aloud. One lesson is to think and live so that I will not be shamed into silence when asked to give an account of my behavior.
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