Capernaum, the central city of Jesus' ministry, brings Jesus and His disciples back "in the house", the private domain appropriate for a continuation of His special instruction to His disciples. Jesus takes the initiative to find out from them about the world that they are selfishly creating for themselves! Feeling embarrassed, they keep silent because they recognize the discrepancy between their Master's denial of self and their own desire for self-aggrandizement as they argue about who is the greatest.

Jesus challenges them on a key point: the nature of true greatness. He takes a child and places him in their midst. Jesus' action brings recognition of the child who in the Greco-Roman world lacked the full rights and duties of an adult person and had no status in society; the very epitome of lowliness and insignificance, the exact opposite of one who is "great".

Jesus is persuading His disciples, and us, to turn away from our concern for our own self-importance and fame-seeking attitudes. He invites us to accept the "greatness" in imitation of Him by serving all, even the most insignificant. When we do so we serve the most significant, God Himself.