Recapitulation
In our study of Matthew’s Gospel, we have come to Jesus’
teaching concerning the citizens of the Kingdom. We have already seen that citizenship in the
kingdom involves choosing to trust in the King and while we wait for the
kingdom to come (as the Lord stated in His model prayer) we continue to trust
in Him. But is it possible to excel as a
citizen? Are some citizens of the
kingdom greater than others?
We saw at the end of chapter 16 that when Jesus comes into
His kingdom He will repay each one “according to what he has done.” This was in the context of denying yourself,
taking up your cross and following Jesus.
And furthermore, we know that Jesus is NOT teaching salvation by our works. He is speaking to His disciples. This is something that must be said to
believers, not only by Jesus, but in the epistles as well. Why? Because
believers do not automatically do these things.
They must be taught and led. And
there is the incentive of rewards.
Greatness in the Kingdom
This idea of equality in the Kingdom is true in the sense
that we are equally loved by our Savior Who died for us while we were all yet
sinners. But the Bible is clear that
there are rewards for faithful service as well.
It is against that backdrop that several times in the Gospels, we see
the disciples discussing the issue of ‘greatness’ in the Kingdom of Heaven.
But ‘greatness’ does not come at the expense of
others—rather it comes in the service of others. In our pericope at hand (Matthew 18:1-9), we notice that we are following closely after
Matthew’s discussion of the sufficiency of Jesus for every need. And as a final
example (Matthew 17:24-27) we looked at how Jesus dealt with the issue of the
temple tax. Yes, as citizens of heaven
and members of the royal family of God we should not be subject to this tax but
just like Jesus who came from heaven for a higher purpose to seek and to serve
the lost and to not give unnecessary offense in all our conduct, we pay our
taxes and give honor to the powers that be. Jesus now links this idea of humble
service to the notion of ‘greatness.’
Navigating ‘Offenses’
There are several Biblical words and phrases here that will
need to be clarified as we go along.
Let’s start with ‘offense.’ Some Bible
versions will have ‘stumbling-block’ or ‘lead astray.’ The original word here is ‘trap.’ Whatever may cause the ‘offense,’ it is a
temptation to be led astray—something that can trip us up and cause us to sin—to
go the wrong way. This is what Jesus
wished to avoid in the case of the temple tax.
Speaking of the necessity of the cross and will be offense enough. No one wishes to hear that they are sinners
but it is necessary that they understand their predicament in order that they
might be saved.
Now, returning to the disciples’ question concerning who
would be the ‘greatest’ in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus used a ‘child’ and had him stand ‘in
the midst of them.’ He wanted to make
clear that entrance and greatness in the kingdom are not the same thing but
they are related. They both require
something represented by this child.
Entrance and Greatness in the Kingdom
Just as the child innocently trusts a loving father, so entrance
into the kingdom requires childlike belief in the promise of God. But the child also illustrates a willingness
to then humbly follow this same loving father.
This humble service, Jesus says, is what characterizes greatness in the
kingdom. So, the one who wishes to be great in God’s kingdom must “turn around”
and “become like this child.” This phrase
“turn around’ usually refers to how someone moves so they can face the person
they are talking to. (Jesus turned to
them and said . . .) But it can also be used figuratively like ‘turning the
other cheek.’ The idea here involves a change in your viewpoint so you can “become
like this child” – a humble viewpoint.
Viewpoint Repentance
Some Bible students connect this “turning” with repentance
although the specific word is not mentioned here. Still there are aspects of
repentance that are crucial to entering the kingdom of God. Whatever false ideas about God or sin that
you may have that prevent you from trusting in Jesus alone must be dealt with. (How can you believe what you previously
thought is a lie?) But full behavioral and heart repentance is a lifetime
project. Some things in our lives we
will know instantly are sinful and need to stop. But it may take some time to
fully deal with not only changing our behavior and our thought life but also
reconciliation with the ones we have hurt.
Those things will take time but we don’t wait for perfection to become citizens
of the kingdom of heaven. So, the “turning”
here is a beginning. It is also a
continuing change of viewpoint to humble service.
In theological terms, both justification and sanctification
are in view here but the latter is viewed as a process in the life of the
believer. We become citizens of the
kingdom by believing and we become great in the kingdom by progressively humbling
ourselves as a child to serve others. We
do NOT enter by making a change. We may
need to change a viewpoint to enter, but once we enter we are exhorted to “turn”
in order to humbly serve others and this service is what defines ‘greatness” in
the kingdom.
Further down in verse 6, Jesus tells us that He is talking
about one of these “little ones” who “believe in Me.” These are the ones who must humble
themselves. This is where the idea of
‘having faith like a little child’ comes from.
‘Child-like faith’ involves a big turnaround for adults. The child continues to have questions, but
they are borne out of relationship, not skepticism. Yes, the skeptic is invited to ‘come and see’,
but he enters the family of God only when he changes his skeptical mindset and
just trusts in Jesus. He continues to
take his questions to God, but realizes that even though he may not get all his
questions answered, he can totally trust the One Who has the answers. That’s entering the kingdom and then living
like a citizen. There are still issues,
questions, and sinful attitudes and past failures that need change but now AFTER
entrance he begins the process of transformation.
Citizens of Heaven Still Need Humility
Citizenship does NOT automatically confer ‘greatness.’ So, Jesus
quickly moves on from citizenship to greatness in verse 4. ‘Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the
Kingdom of heaven.’ The word ‘then’ here
means ‘subsequently.’ First, I become a
citizen of heaven then, I can consider ‘greatness.’ We used to sing the praise song, “Humble
thyself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.” I don’t wish to belabor the Greek but it may
help you to know that this word ‘greatest’ is not limited to just one person at
the top of the heap like it sounds in English.
Anyone can aspire to be among those Jesus calls the ‘greatest’ in the
kingdom of heaven.
Avoiding Pride
This word for ‘humbling himself’ is also used in Philippians
2:8 where Jesus is said to have left heaven to come to earth and taking the
form of a slave He ‘humbled Himself.’
Paul goes on in that passage to say that Jesus is now highly exalted “that
at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.”
The Greatest One Ever humbled Himself also. Those who aspire to be among the greatest in
the Kingdom of heaven should humble themselves and serve others, too. So, the first obstacle to greatness is
pride. Pride whispers to us, ‘But
wait! This is so counter-intuitive. Won’t people take advantage of me?’
Yes, just like Jesus had done, He instructed Peter to humble
himself and pay the collectors of temple tax.
Peter had balked at paying so instead of ponying up he approached the
Master and complained. But Jesus told
him to go back and pay up. Now it is up
to these others to respond. The tax
collectors left unoffended as Jesus predicted.
They had their money. But what if others are inhospitable to us
anyway? Jesus said that He would count
the kind of reception these ‘little ones who believe in me’ receive as if it
were given to Him. We represent the King
and if people ‘take advantage of our willingness to serve’ then the King will
consider that a reproach against Him. We should always seek to serve and to
avoid unnecessary offense but the world will not necessarily receive our
message with kindness. But, be assured,
Jesus will notice.
Citizenship in heaven is not gained by what we do but by
trusting the One Who died for us.
Greatness in heaven, however, requires service to others.
Now, who exactly are ‘these little ones who believe in me?’ Many
people say this passage refers to causing little children to sin because of the
context with the child standing there.
And while I think it is truly a terrible thing to lead children astray,
remember Jesus is talking about becoming like
this child. The context is talking about
becoming great by humbling ourselves like this child and welcoming such
persons—not only literal children.
‘Little’ is from the word ‘mikron’
from which we get the word ‘microbe’ while ‘great’ is from ‘mega’ as used in megabyte. ‘Little’ is a deliberate wordplay with
‘great.’ Jesus takes care of His ‘little
ones’ with His ‘great’ power. We humble
ourselves and become little so He can make us great. No wonder the world does not understand!
Terrible Traps
There are two more obstacles—terrible traps—for which Jesus
now issues drastic warnings.
1) Anyone who lays a trap or causes one of His ‘little ones
who believe in Me’ to sin—it would be better that such a person be executed by
drowning. Such an end was considered
horrible—to die and not be buried and ‘resting with your ancestors.’ Those who brought shame on their family were
not buried in the family tomb when they died.
(By the way, was this uttered by the One Who said to ‘love your
enemies?’ Jesus is perfecting people to
live in His perfect kingdom and all imperfection will be done away with. Is it not loving to warn someone, at all
costs, of terrible calamity lying ahead?)
2) Jesus then cried out: “Woe to the world for temptations
to sin!” (Literally, traps, stumbling
blocks or offenses.) All those things in
the world that cause us to sin will one day be done away with. No more traps! But why are they necessary? In fact, why is evil in the world at all? (The age-old question!) God has set before us a series of real
choices that require a moral choice between doing good or doing evil. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where only
those who choose good will want to go.
Hypothetically speaking, if you knew that heaven could be
yours if only you completely gave up
your sin would you still want to go?
(This is the question that CS Lewis takes up in his powerful story, ‘The Great Divorce.’) God did not create sin or evil. But he created us with the ability to choose (good
or evil). Sin is an evil choice which
Eve was the first to make. (By the way,
what dire consequence came upon the one who deceived her?) Someday, this world where evil choices are
possible will be done away. In the
meanwhile, we must learn to live here in dependence on our good God.
Everything in this world, whether other people, our own
body’s addictions, or the devil and his followers can be used to make us
stumble, to trick us into choosing evil.
Just as the person who causes us to sin deserves to be drowned, neither
must we allow our own bodies to cause us to sin. Just as Jesus was not commanding the church to drown all the persons guilty of tempting
others to sin, neither was He commanding all who were deceived to mutilate
their bodies. But he was using vivid
terminology to warn us of the horrible consequences of sin—consequences which
are seen somewhat dimly here in our time bound world outside eternity.
Straying from Greatness?
With overwhelming obstacles like this no wonder so many of
Jesus ‘little ones’ go astray in their journey toward greatness. Considering Jesus love for His ‘little ones’
he warns of the terrible consequences for leading them astray and also the
deadly serious need for His ‘little ones’ to be vigilant for the traps of this
life that may attempt to prevent them from reaching greatness.
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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