Luke 9:48

τοῦτο τὸ παιδίον, this particular child not such a child, or what such a child represents, the little and insignificant as in Mt. and Mk. Yet Lk.'s expression practically means that = this child, for example. δέξηται : in Lk. the receiving of the little child is placed first in the discourse of Jesus, whereas in Mk. the general maxim that the man who is willing to be last is first, comes first. This position favours the view that not internal rivalry but a common self-exaltation in relation to those without is the vice in the view of Lk. Jesus says in effect: Be not high-minded; an appreciative attitude towards those you are prone to despise is what I and my Father value. ἐν πᾶσιν ὑμῖν : this phrase, on the other hand, seems to point to internal rivalries. There had been a question among them as to greater and less, to which the Master's answer was: the least one is the great one. Lk.'s version of this important discourse is, as De Wette remarks, inferior in point and clearness to Mt.'s.