34
But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.
35
Jesus sat down and called the twelve apostles to him. He said, "Whoever wants to be the most important must be last of all and servant of all."
36
Then Jesus took a small child and had him stand among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said,
37
"Whoever accepts a child like this in my name accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the One who sent me."
38
Then John said, "Teacher, we saw someone using your name to force demons out of a person. We told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group."
39
But Jesus said, "Don't stop him, because anyone who uses my name to do powerful things will not easily say evil things about me.
40
Whoever is not against us is with us.
41
I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a drink of water because you belong to the Christ will truly get his reward.
42
"If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large stone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea.
43
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body and live forever than to have two hands and go to hell, where the fire never goes out.