Opening illustration: If God was taking resumes, what would you put on yours? In other words, what makes a good Christian? What would really impress them when you arrive in heaven? Experience, qualifications, references, character traits …
The reason I asked is because followers of Jesus Christ have sometimes asked these questions. Matthew 18:1:"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'"
They didn't seem to care that Jesus had just told them that he was about to die. Imagine Peter: he'd walked on water, been on the mountaintop and even had his taxes paid through a miracle.
Their assumption was that greatness in the Kingdom comes from human endeavor and heroic accomplishments. The way that Jesus responded tells us that greatness in the Kingdom doesn't come from any of that.
Let us turn to Matthew 18 and see God’s perspective on who is really the greatest! Apparently this is also the most important chapter for Christian ethics … shows the condition of the heart.
Introduction: Jesus is about to be killed and His disciples are arguing about who is the greatest? Who's it going to be? The very question is absurd in a situation like this. Just like today when a parent is about to die and the kids are discussing who gets the property. It shows where their hearts are, doesn't it? They were looking into the Kingdom to see if they could be great. They were seeking to fill the position of Christ … who would replace Him once He was gone. Squabbling like little unruly children.
Question: In the secular world, what was greatness based on?
Answer: In the secular world greatness was based on social rank, wealth, or a special ability.
It is Jesus' teaching in this passage that those standards of greatness in the world are not what count in His Kingdom. Jesus uses the visible metaphor of a little child as His teaching point. The Greek word in the biblical text is paidion, a word used to refer to a child under the age of twelve.
Question: Why does Jesus use a little child to illustrate His teaching point? What differentiates a little child from adults?
Answer: Adults are for the most part self-sufficient, but little children are completely dependent on someone else for their care or they cannot survive.
The analogy of the child being the greatest in God’s Kingdom was completely contrary to the prevailing culture then and now. Imagine how His disciples must have reacted to Jesus then and how indifferent it is even today.
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
This question was spawned by an argument according to Mark 9. Can you believe the disciples would have an argument? What was it about? Who would get to wash the others feet? Who would get to cook tonight? Watch the nursery? Drive the bus? Clean the ancient toilets? No, they were arguing over who would be the greatest. Basically determining who is the top dog?
In fact in Matthew 19:14 Jesus exhorts His disciples to “Let the little children come and don’t hinder them. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
1. Transformed like a child (vs. 1-3)
How the disciples’ demeanor must have fallen when Jesus said this! They knew that in that day, children were regarded more as property than individuals. It was understood that they were to be seen and not heard. Jesus said we have to take this kind of humble place to enter the kingdom, much less be the greatest in the kingdom.
• Children are not threatening; we aren’t afraid of meeting a five-year old in a dark alley. When we have a tough, intimidating presence, we aren’t like Jesus.
• Children are not good at deceiving; they are pretty miserable failures at fooling their parents. When we are good at hiding ourselves and deceiving others, we aren’t like Jesus.
• Jesus knew that we must be converted to be like little children. It isn’t in our nature to take the low place and to humble ourselves.
Matthew is not intending that we become childish in our behavior but be child-like in our outlook. He is not talking about cry-babies nor is he talking about those who keep sucking on the milk bottle or crying when their nappies are wet. Certainly he is not talking about those who get on the floor to throw tantrums just because their wish was not fulfilled or demands not met. Neither is he talking about those who want a lullaby to sleep and continue to eat, sleep and laze around.
He is talking about those who are transformed to have the purity of heart and the innocence of lambs in their lives. These are the ones who can easily put their faith in Christ without expecting anything in return. It conveys the child likeness of the believer. We're not the high and the mighty. We're not the noble. We're not the lofty. We're not the mature and the adult and the profound. We are children with all that that conveys, lowly children at best.
The apostles were converted in one sense, but even they needed a further conversion. They needed to be converted from self-seeking to humbleness and content. A little child has no ambitious dreams; he is satisfied with little things; he trusts; he aims not at greatness; he yields to command. There is no entering into the kingdom of heaven but by descending from fancied greatness to real lowliness of mind, and becoming as little children. To rise to the greatness of grace, we must go down to the littleness, the simplicity, and the trustfulness of childhood. Since this was the rule for apostles, we may depend upon it we cannot enter the kingdom in any less humbling manner.
2. Have the humility of a child (v. 4)
The example is a child. We enter the family only by humility. Babies don’t enter the world boasting and bragging about their rights and what they’re going to do. They are born dependent upon their parents for everything! Real humility is willing to abandon rights sometimes in order to not be a stumbling block but rather a stepping stone for the little ones who are all around us, watching and ready to follow! The disciples were in disunity because of a lack of humility. How does Jesus respond? He reminds them of how they got to be a disciple in the first place ... by humility.
Jesus then addressed the issue of greatness. When we most fulfill the humble place a child had in that culture, we are then on our way to greatness.
• We know that one Man was actually the greatest in the kingdom: Jesus Christ. This means that Jesus Himself was humble like a little child. He wasn’t concerned about his own status. He didn’t have to be the center of attention. He could not deceive, and He didn’t have an intimidating presence.
The lower down, the higher up. In a certain sense the way to heaven is downward in our own esteem certainly. “He must increase; I must decrease.” Just as John the Baptist articulated it. And when that straight-backed letter “I,” which often becomes so prominent, vanishes altogether, till there is not an iota of it left, then we shall become like our Lord.
The ground is level at Calvary. All are welcome. The word ‘receive’ in this verse means to welcome. We strive to receive all types here. But some types are harder to receive ... it requires some humility on our part.
Illustration: A father took his family to a restaurant. Before the meal, his 6-year-old son prayed, “Thank You for the food, and I would even thank You more if Mom got us ice cream. Amen!”
Amid the laughter, a woman nearby said indignantly, “That’s what’s wrong with this country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream!” The lad overheard her and burst into tears. Just then an elderly gentleman came by, winked at the boy, and whispered to him, “Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.”
When dessert came, the boy picked up his sundae, walked to the lady’s table, and set it before her. With a big smile he said, “This is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes, and my soul is good already.”
This young boy showed the kind of selfless humility that Jesus talked about in Matthew 18. When the disciples asked Him, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He said that we must emulate the humility and trust of little children (vv.1-4). [Our Daily Bread, Dennis J. De Haan]
3. Welcomes and leads the children (v. 5-6)
Notice that Jesus says “one such child”. Of course, there is a literal child still standing in their midst, but that child is still serving as a symbol of all those who have very little significance and importance in the world. This would certainly include children, but it would not be limited to children. In verse five, instead of saying “one such child”, Jesus will refer to “one of these little ones”. When we hear “little ones” we can tend to think of words like “sweet,” and “innocent,” and “cute.” But this was not necessarily the connotation of “little ones” in Jesus’ day.
In the New Testament, one vivid way of referring to everyone and to all was to add something like “from the least to the greatest.”
Acts 8:10 – “to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest …”
Acts 26:22 – “Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great …”
We can see in these last two references that the “little ones” are not only children, but also the “poor” and the “slaves”. So the true connotation of “little one” is not sweet, and innocent, and cute, but rather small, and insignificant, and unimportant. And it’s this very same thing that is being symbolized by the child in the midst of the disciples. So Jesus is saying in verse five: “Whoever receives the small, and the insignificant, and the unimportant in my name receives me.”
It is no small thing to be able to appreciate humble and lowly characters. To receive one childlike believer in Christ’s name is to receive Christ. To delight in a lowly, trustful character is to delight in Christ. If we count it a joy to do service to such persons, we may be sure that we are therein serving our Lord. Those who receive little ones in Christ’s name will grow like them, and so in another way will receive Christ into their own souls.
Since the nature of Jesus is like one of these little children, how we treat children shows how we regard the nature of Jesus.
Jesus takes it seriously when one of His little ones is led into sin. Little ones does not only mean children, but those who humble themselves like children as Jesus described.
• It is a wicked thing to sin, and it is a far greater evil to lead others into sin. But leading one of Jesus’ little ones into sin is far worse, because you then initiate someone into an instance or a pattern of sin that corrupts whatever innocence they had.
A severe punishment is described here. It would be better for the offending one to receive this punishment of the millstone.
Jesus says to be “like” children - be “for” children - and, be “careful” with children. That is a mandate for our church! And, I have every hope and prayer that it will continue to carry us through, as we continue our ministry to children.
Application: Most of us think about our reward in heaven rather than the awe of meeting the Lord there. We are absorbed with our little issues rather than with the greatness of the Lord. We put priority on personal prestige and aggrandizement. We jockey for positions in the church. Pride is destructive to the heart of Christian living. True humility orients to God rather than to others or even self.
Lord, help us to learn this lesson and become more child-like in our relationship to You who is our Abba – Father. Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart.
