“At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:1-4
The first thing we must understand about this passage is that Jesus was not speaking about salvation. He was teaching with respect to humility; what is more, there never was an equal Master Educator of it! Those who contend that little children can be saved using this as a proof text are wrong. These children did not come up to our Lord concerned for their souls as Nicodemus once did. No one came burdened by their sin debt like Zacchaeus. Not a one cried out as the Philippian jailor, “What must I do to be saved!” Christ was teaching the disciples a fundamental principle of the Christ like life; the child was the object lesson.
So let us consider the context and the scene.
Now mind you, the disciples, bless their hearts, were debating about which one among them was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven, those who were the saved on earth at that time. Who was, they were desirous to know, the outstanding one-the supreme Christian? They did not ask what spiritual character traits would be considered the greatest, or if the Lord could recommend what each of them individually should work on in order to strive
to be an asset to the kingdom. Peter, James, and John had only just returned from a high mountain where they saw Christ transfigured; his person, his raiment in blinding, blazing light before them. Moses appears on one side-Elijah on the other and they begin to speak with Christ. Peter, for some absurd reason, aligns himself with these three who are conversing and pitches a building plan for the mount. A bright cloud overshadows them and God the Father speaks, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Matt. 17:5. The disciples fell flat on their faces struck with great fear. When they looked up, Christ alone was with them, and so they began the long trek back down the mountain. Waiting for them at the foot of the mount is a desperate father with a demon possessed son. He runs to Christ and asks for help for his boy, declaring that Christ’s disciples could not deliver. Christ addresses his disciples: “Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.” Immediately the Lord casts the demon out of the boy and he is cured. A few moments later the disciples kind of tip toe up to Jesus apart from the onlookers and ask why they fell so short of the power they needed. Christ’s answer was concise-it was because of their unbelief. Not long after Christ began to tell the disciples of the sorrow and suffering that was before him. The disciples listened and were sorry. Yet, the Bible says at the same time they were disputing among themselves who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven! They had just seen Christ transfigured-actually saw and heard Moses and Elijah-and heard the voice of God the Father! They must have been speechless all the way down the mountain! Even Peter! And then-when Christ comes and heals that boy-I mean, should not they have all been speaking of the incomparable Christ? But no…they want to know who is the star among them. Moreover, they are supposing that, surely one or two of them have got to be among the top picks. After all, these are the disciples; the ones who have left all to follow Christ. Could it be Peter? Christ had just recently given the keys to the kingdom to this most outspoken disciple.
Judas was the treasurer. That’s a position of trust in the church. Could it possibly be him?
What about John, the beloved disciple? Who could argue
that choice? And yet, James was the Lord’s half-brother-surely that has to go some distance. Andrew, however, was the first disciple to be called and to follow Christ-maybe in the Kingdom he could have the title of, “Andrew, The Very First One.”
The answer Christ gives to his disciples is really a rebuke as he condemns the very thought of such a question. Had Christ intended to choose one of them as an example he would have. But no. He calls an innocent, little child to him and places him right in the center of the disciples. Right where everyone can focus his attention on this little one. Now picture a child back two thousand years ago. Let us suppose it was a little boy. Typical Bible days clothing. Maybe some rough kind of fabric fashioned into a little tunic. Very likely barefoot, hair all scruffy and windblown-(no hairspray or mousse)…a beautiful, middle eastern, tan complexion. And here he is- the center of attention. This was not an illustration of salvation. This was a portrayal of humility! Christ begins his reprimand: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted…” The word as used in this context means to turn oneself from one’s current course of conduct. Jesus was not speaking to the disciples about being saved. No. Eleven of them were saved. But eleven of them were a far way off from where they needed to be. Christ was teaching that one must be converted from thinking way too highly of himself. You must be of another mind; these are not the thoughts of one who desires to be a servant in the Kingdom of God, who serves others in the fear of the Lord. The pride, conceit, and vanity which is so obvious in you must be repented of now. Our friend Matthew Henry puts in beautifully: “Besides the first conversion of a soul from a state of nature to a state of grace, there are after-conversions from particular paths of sin. Every step out of the way by sin, must be a step into fellowship again by repentance. When Peter repented of his denying his Master, he was converted.” The life-long responsibility of the Christian is to yield to the Spirit of God and walk in humility toward God and others.
Christ also told them, “…and become as little children.” When we are first saved we are possessed of that genuine, trusting belief in Christ. Whatever God tells us, whatever he wants, we are so willing to forsake all and trust him. I teach a class every Wednesday night to the youngest children in our church. Among
these is an adorable three-year-old, named Nathan. Once recently, as I was teaching a lesson about The Lost Sheep-Nathan stood up, looked at all of his little fellow classmates and said, “Kids! We really need to follow God’s will for our lives!” Out of the mouths of babes! So adorable! But so unaffected; so sincere. God wants us, as his children to be governable, and tenderhearted to His Spirit. To be harmless and unoffensive. To be humble as little children, who do not walk around like little elitists; “The child of a gentleman will play with the child of a beggar”, it has been said. Little children are void of arrogance and self-importance. Christ taught that we could certainly learn a lot from just watching a little child.
Now interesting to note, Christ does say that without this attribute, (humility) you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. In other words, unless the professing Christian shows signs that he is Christ’s, unless he has the life which backs up the profession, his faith is not genuine.
So how do we, from the heart, practice humility? Well, first and foremost we need to study the life of Christ and pray that we would be like him. We understand we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, and yet, we should know who we are, recognize the gifts and talents God has given and be thankful. To head toward the other extreme where one professes, as a Christian, to be the most worthless, insignificant, nonentity-void of anything good, useful, or worthy just becomes sanctimony-false humility, and hypocrisy. (I know a man like this-no matter when you give him the slightest compliment it is always, “No! No! Not me! I am nothing! I’m not worthy to walk the Lord’s earth!” etc. etc… He wants people to push back and tell him how wonderful he is. To put it in our everyday phraseology: he is fake news…) We should:
- Apologize fully when we are wrong-
- Stop worrying about what others think of us and be concerned about what the Lord thinks of us-
- We should be light-
- We should strive to be salt –
- We should be courteous –
- An encourager-
- We should learn to be gracious in every situation and with all people.
Yes- All of these things. But also, as a Christian:
Be astute-know the Word of God, know how to defend its truths and principles. But also know how to walk in this world.
Be discerning about the company you keep. “Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly”. We have every prerogative based on the authority of God’s Word to do so. Not in an air of conceit or elitism-but with discernment and in sincerity, knowing we have a testimony to keep in sterling condition. We should walk in honesty before the lost. Let them see Christ in every word, every action.
Now who was among the disciples that day? We can assume that more than likely there were onlookers, probably the parents of the child our Lord called to him were nearby. Maybe even the father of the formerly possessed little boy. But Christ was preaching to the choir on this occasion. Those who professed to know him. And Judas was among them. One more occasion for Judas to hear the truth. One more opportunity for Judas to examine himself. Certainly, the tenderhearted disciples bore the rebuke and examined themselves, but Judas, so filled with pride and arrogance-he rejected it.
Essentially, Christ was instructing all his disciples that, unless you get over this pride thing fellas, there are some real questions about your authenticity. No one will even come close to the kingdom of heaven if pride is what defines him or her. There is great danger in pride. “It is the sin,” one last line from MH, “that turned the angels into devils.” And truly saved people loathe it in themselves.
The humblest Christians are the best ones for they are most like Christ and well capable to serve him in this world.
Thanks ever so much for reading!
Liz
