The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Matthew 18:1 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8 ‘If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13 If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. 15 If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.’” (NASB)
In last week’s Gospel lesson from Matthew chapter 16, Jesus began to teach His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem, “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Matthew 16:21) Shortly thereafter, in chapter 17, “Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.” (Matthew 17:1–2)
After the transfiguration, Jesus and His three disciples came down from that mountain and Jesus told them all again that “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” (Matthew 17:22–23)
Jesus had given three of His disciples a glimpse of His glory. He told all of them about His impeding suffering, death, and resurrection. Now the word “disciple” means “student.” You’d think that as students, they’d have had an interested in the topic at hand. From glory to crucifixion.
Jesus was not introducing a light hearted lesson. The topic of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice was as somber a topic as any could ever be, but the disciples just kept rolling on with stupid.
It was not that they were totally oblivious to the topic of the kingdom of heaven. It’s just that they hadn’t really taken to heart what Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of heaven. He had spent a good portion of His time teaching that the kingdom of heaven did not work like the kingdoms of this world. In chapter 17 and now in chapter 18 Jesus was showing them the two sides to the kingdom of heaven. He was preparing for His suffering and death (on the one hand) and His resurrection and glory (on the other). You’d think at least one of them would have had a question about what was going to happen in Jerusalem and why it was necessary.
Instead, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’” (Matthew 18:1) The Son of God took on flesh, took the form of a servant, submitted Himself to the Law, suffered and died as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, and would rise from the dead on the third day; and the disciples were arguing about their ranking in the kingdom of heaven.
So it has always been. (Genesis 3:3–6) “God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.’”
Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. They wanted to improve their ranking in the world so they ate thinking it would bring them an even greater status before God. They would be like Him, equal to Him.
The first murder came about because of one brother’s desire to be considered greater than the other brother. [Genesis 4:4b–5] “The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard.” So Cain was angry. His face fell. He perceived that in the eyes of God Abel was greater and Cain didn’t like it one bit. Instead of repenting, [Genesis 4:8b] “Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” Cain attempted to make himself greater by eliminating the competition.
From then to now the desire for power and greatness almost always produces blood, death, and tyranny. We are beginning to see that sort of thing in our own country now. Since the fall into sin, mankind has had an unholy desire for holy and unholy power.
The Gospels records three separate times when the disciples argued over which of them would be the greatest in the newly established kingdom of heaven. and who would sit at the right and at the left hand of Jesus. In Mark 10:37, James and John came to Jesus and said, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” Jesus told them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
Mark 9 and Matthew 18 record the same event, the exchange we have in our Gospel lesson this morning, when the whole group comes to Jesus asking about who is the greatest. The third and most inappropriate and badly timed conversation over who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven was on the night in which Jesus was betrayed. As they were sitting at the Last Supper “there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.” (Luke 22:24–30).
There at the Last Supper, Jesus “said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.’” (Luke 22:26)
Let’s not forget that the men weren’t the only ones guilty of this unholy desire for holy power. In Matthew 20:20, “The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”
In the assigned reading this morning, Jesus answers the question by making use of a nearby child. 2 “He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’” The child was probably a little child, perhaps a toddler or just slightly older. One that was able to walk when called, but one that could be picked up and set before the disciples easily.
The disciples were talking about who would be the greatest in newly established kingdom. Jesus begins His answer by directing the conversation in a different direction. He focuses on who it is that enters the kingdom of heaven.
The disciples simply assumed that they will be among they would be some of the foremost citizens in the kingdom. The question for them, was the pecking order. Instead of being worried about becoming the greatest, Jesus teaches them that their attention ought to be on getting into and staying in the kingdom of heaven.
“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’” The word translated here as “converted” is literally, “unless you allow yourself to turn” (ean mē straphēte, aorist-past tense, mood “passive”). The passive denotes that this turning is achieved by the act of another, namely God. The turning will then enable them to “become as the little children.” Jesus dispels any notion of self-promotion and self-righteousness. Failure of allowing God to do His work means a person will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Since Jesus is addressing the question of “greatness,” we can be assured he makes clear that the answer to greatness is found in the opposite of what the disciples expect.
So the question becomes, “What is it about a child that qualifies a person who is like a little child to enter into the kingdom of heaven? Jesus answers that question too. He said, 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Let’s be clear on this point. Jesus is using the child as an object lesson, a lesson about status or standing in a community. A little child does not have any legal status. It’s like that old saying, Children are to be seen and not heard. That was the basic idea in former times. A child is lowly, has no power, no ranking, no legal standing. Jesus is not referring to the child’s nature. He is not holding the child up as a moral example.
Let’s deal with the reality of children. They are sinners just like the rest of humanity. They have to be taught to share not to be selfish. They have to be taught to be patient not demanding. Children do not possess the ability to think rationally. Lttle children like the one Jesus put in front of the disciples are driven by emotions, including rage.
Children are small and physically weak. They’re virus magnets, always with the runny nose. They can’t take care of themselves. That’s why God gave them parents. Jesus was speaking of becoming children in the sense of the status of the child who possesses nothing, but needs everything.
Jesus is teaching us that true faith makes us totally dependent on our heavenly Father, our brother Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. True faith brings with it humility because apart from Christ Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, we have no status before God the Father. We possess nothing of power or position with regard to the kingdom of heaven. We can’t even resist sin as we ought.
In the verses that follow, it looks at first glance like a potluck of sayings. Having addressed how it is that one becomes a citizen of the church here in time, Jesus issues a series of warnings. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Then Jesus talks about the manner in which various offense come. They come by way of fellow human beings. They come by way of our own sinful natures via our eyes, hands, and the like. In the verses that follow, Jesus talks to the disciples as children of the heavenly Father, as citizen/children of the kingdom of heaven/church. He teaches that He is the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to find the one that is lost. He is warning us that as children we need to be protected and on our guard against sin, the world, and the devil. All of which seek to lure us way from Christ and the church.
We are not as strong and durable as we think we are. Though we have been made children and have been imputed with the righteous robe of Christ, we are still weak. We still stumble and fall. 7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”
Those who understand that without Christ, they are without standing and helpless are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. St. Paul said of himself in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “[God] has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses…,”
When we were at our most helpless, when we were dead in trespasses and sin, yet the Lord rescued us and treated us as the greatest in the kingdom. He took on our weakness and died that we might live. He rose that we might have eternal life with Him forever. God “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
When we were at our most helpless, when we were dead in trespasses, the Lord came to us in His Word and Sacrament ministry and made us members of His divine family. Forgiven children in the kingdom of the church. We are living in uncertain times, but fear not. You belong to that which is certain. The church eternal and your family numbers as many as the stars in the sky.
AMEN
May the Peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.