Mark 9:33-34 33And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34But they kept silent; for they had argued with one another on the way who was the greatest.
Jesus knew what the disciples were arguing about but gave them the opportunity to acknowledge their questions and concerns. They were struggling with the ideas of king and kingdom. The revelations of the last few days and weeks may have been overwhelming to them and filled their minds with grandiose ideas about Jesus as the Messiah. Verse 34 strongly contrasts with verse 32. One might think that they would be discussing what Jesus meant by death and resurrection, but instead, they were caught up in a power struggle. In both verses, the disciples were quiet and afraid to speak. Did they think they could hide their thoughts from Jesus, who had the power to raise the dead and calm the sea? Their reluctance to be open and honest with Jesus only further adds to the assessment of their lack of understanding of him as Messiah and their weak faith in him as the Son of God.
This passage also contrasts strongly with the previous one with the disciples’ desire to be great and recognized and Jesus’ humility through death and resurrection. Even though they had been around Jesus for a long time, they still struggled to understand what the kingdom cross-style life was to be like. Their reluctance to answer Jesus but remaining silent implies doubt, fear, and that they probably knew they should have responded but did not want to. They were guilty, and they knew it. Either that or they were so blinded by the world still that they could not see through to the new way of life Jesus had taught them.
The topic of their argument among themselves was one of power and position. The Bible is unclear here about what they were arguing over. They had experienced things that no one else in all of history had. Ideas about the messianic kingdom must have been filling their minds and giving them dreams of greatness. Three of them had just experienced the awesome transfiguration of Jesus and may have thought they were special. Jesus told Peter, James, and John not to tell anyone, but even if they remained silent about the details, they may have been tempted with ideas of superiority over the other disciples. There is no way to know who was the instigator of the argument or what the topic was. Self-righteousness and feelings of self-importance can creep into any person’s life if he or she loses focus on Jesus and the way of the cross. Selfish human nature tempts one to jockey for position among peers, which usually requires putting others down and can lead to unhealthy competition and a breakdown fellowship. Even those closest to Jesus are not exempt from this temptation.
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