Why was it that when our boys were growing up you could always guarantee that on a long journey in the back of the car they would start bickering. It was quite often to do with who was best at something. Normal sibling rivalry! I knew it well as I used to bicker with my sisters in the back of my parents car, years earlier. I suspect that you will have similar stories of your own growing up, or of that of your children and grandchildren.

Even good friends can end up bickering when tired and fractious after a long day and in the Gospel reading, we have just heard, we get a good example of it. Jesus and his followers had been traversing Galilee for months, sharing the message of repentance and God’s unconditional love. A message that was a challenge not only to the Roman authorities but also the clerical hierarchy of the day. Jesus and his disciples were marked men. They realised this and in their anxiety they started to bicker with each other as to who was the greatest amongst them.

Jesus hears what is going on and warns his disciples not to argue about who is the most important. Jesus, does not have a hierarchy of favouritism towards his followers - despite selecting some of them to perform specific tasks in the furtherance of the kingdom. Jesus, sees all of his disciples as being equal. He was, however, the first to recognise their individual skills and talents and to make good use of them.

Jesus never says that; ‘Peter is this’ or ‘Bartholomew is that’ or that they are more important than James or John. No! Jesus, charges each of them with tasks according to their gifts, aptitude and ability and sees all of them as having equal worth and necessity. The Kingdom of God is not built upon individual talents but by individuals working collaboratively and corporately to achieve a single goal - the sharing of the Good News of Christ.

Jesus’ treatment of the disciples argument and his recognition of the abilities of his disciples echos what St.James later wrote and what we heard in the Epistle reading:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual and devilish.”    James 3:13-15

In rebuking his disciples for arguing about their greatness, Jesus hammers his point home in their silence by using the seemingly most insignificant person there - a child. (And, I might guess a girl child, to do so.) This child, he says, is as welcome in God’s kingdom as much as anyone else, and as such deserves to be treated with respect - not rejected or looked over because she is only a child.

Remember that under Jewish Law pre- pubescent children, and women were not part of the chosen race, only adult males were of significance! In telling his followers that this child is important to God, Jesus turns Jewish custom and thought upside down, and in doing so teaches his disciples a valuable lesson.

If a child is as much beloved by God as one of the chosen race - a man, then this God, that Jesus speaks of, is a god more loving and accepting than any god previously known. A god of impartiality, unconditional love and acceptance.

God, however, is the same as he has always been, what Jesus tells us though, is that no one has a greater precedence in God’s eyes by virtue of who they are, all are equal in God! Men are not more important than women, adults are not more important than children, no one is more important than anyone else in God’s eyes, despite what we or others might think. Remember what St.James said about the need for true wisdom, that is what we all need to pray for in order to truly understand what Jesus is telling us and what God is showing us to be true.