‘And they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing in the way?” But they did not answer for they had disputed with one another who was the greatest.'
Having arrived back in Capernaum they no doubt went to Peter's house. They little realised that this was the last time that Jesus would be there. And, as they were settling in, a few of them were a little disconcerted when Jesus asked them what they had been talking about on their journey. The reason for their hesitation was because they had been arguing as to who was the greatest. This does not necessarily mean that each thought that he was, but rather that they had different opinions as to who were the most important in the group, and where each stood in order of importance.
The way this is depicted is devastating. After what Jesus had told them there was surely only one thing they should have been discussing. Jesus had said He was being delivered by God into men's hands. That He was going to be killed. And all that they could think of was as to who of them was to be the greatest. Perhaps they believed that the rising from the dead meant that rising bodily He would come back again and establish His Kingly Rule by acts of divine power, by the spectacular. (They were, of course, both right and wrong. The idea which Jesus had conveyed was right, it was their concept of it that was wrong). But what mattered to them was not that, but what they were going to gain from it. They were not discussing how it would benefit the world. They were discussing how it would benefit themselves. After all He had said to them in Caesarea Philippi they still thought mainly in terms of what status they could achieve. And that is at the heart of the thoughts of a large number of people in the church today. Their question is, ‘What reward will we get? What status will we achieve?' And that is why supposed men of God are constantly jostling for position, and seeing themselves as on a higher level than others, rather than recognising their own relative unimportance and being sufficiently burdened for the need of he world.
‘They did not answer.' Their discussion had seemed reasonable enough among themselves but instinctively they recognised in their hearts that Jesus would not be pleased about it. They knew that Jesus did not look at things like they did even before He said anything. How wise we would be if we learned to bring before the Lord our desires for position and importance and were then prepared to listen to what He had to say about it. For we would hear His voice saying, ‘he that would be first shall be last of all.' And we would then be made to ask, is that really what we are seeking, to choose to be last? Who chooses to be last? Jesus says, My true servants do.
It is interesting in passing to notice that this reminds us that as they went along, with Jesus leading the way, they regularly discussed various matters between themselves. They had had much to discuss.