What I love most about teaching is it forces me to take the effort to study and meditate on the passage and then getting an insight that I had not seen before.
On Sunday, I taught the children on Mark 9:35 – the greatest is the servant of all.
Me: What does a servant/slave have to do?
3rd grade boy: Everything.
That’s right. All the stuff that no one wants to do. Who would want to be a slave? And how does being a slave make you great?
It became clear to me that Jesus is talking about himself. In 9:31 he told the disciples about his death and resurrection. They wanted Jesus to be the king. But Jesus was telling them he is the slave of all by dying. And then the Father will exalt him to be the greatest.
The Bible is not merely teaching a moral lesson about being unselfish. The lesson is about the greatness of Jesus.