"Who is the greatest"

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Fatima-Crusader

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In Luke 22 after the Last Supper the apostles aruged who is the greatest of the kingdom, why did they argue since Peter has obvoius primacy?
 
Because they are fully human! Remember that Peter was also rebuked the most, and James and John held special places in our Lord’s heart - their mother asked if they could sit at His left and right hand in heaven. They argued and bickered almost as much as the typical parish council does today.
 
It wasn’t as obvious at the time. Other than the event recorded in Matthew 16, Jesus up until then had only hinted at it (like the parable in Luke 12). I could see some Apostles thinking John (who seemed closest to Jesus), James, or even Andrew should lead them. However, in that very chapter, right after the strife about it, Jesus explains what leadership really means and then confirms it is Peter giving him the mission of confirming the brethren. Then after the Resurrection, he again explicitly entrusts his whole flock to Peter (John 21).
 
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Because they too were tempted into the mistake of believing that Christ’s kingdom is a worldly kingdom and His justice is like human justice. They hadn’t seen all the miracles they needed to see and had not yet received the gift of the Holy Spirit so they couldn’t understand things as smoothly as they did later after Pentecost.
 
We still argue to this day who is the greatest. Some people like to turn Trump into their idol and who is the greatest. Some people claim Benedict is the real pope and not Francis. Some claim there is no real pope anymore.

All of these are attempts to claim who is the greatest. But Jesus calls back to us saying that we must remain humble and place our focus on the Cross
 
Since the Church is bulit on St Peter, wouldnt we have ceased to have Popes since Peter died?
 
The Apostles were the first priests, that doesn’t mean the priesthood died with them. Same is the case with the Pope
 
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Jesus does say there has been no greater human to walk the earth or ever to walk the earth than John the Baptist but he is least compared to everyone in Heaven (since they are already in Paradise)

But in Heaven, would he not reclaim his place as the greatest second only to Jesus?
 

From the article:
Jesus must have had a specific context in mind when he made that statement. The context comes into focus when we consider the preceding verses, where Jesus asked, “Why then did you go out? To see a prophet?” and then answered, “Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet” (Matt. 11:9).
Clearly Jesus was proclaiming John the Baptist to be the greatest of all the prophets, indeed even something greater than a prophet, i.e. the Precursor.
Click to expand...
I guess Matthew 11:11 may be confusing for some (even me at first, which is why I looked it up), but there is a reasonable explanation.
 
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The primacy of Peter is in Matthew 16 and that is before the Last Supper. At the Last Supper, the argument about who was to be considered the greatest was a worldly concern, and Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them to focus on spiritual greatness, not greatness in this world. To imitate Christ in humility and service.
 
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