I believe that in God’s kingdom, greatness lies in acceptance of and dependence upon the Savior. Together in the church, believers are to welcome and love one another, encourage one another, allow everyone a place to shine according to their gifts, and appreciate one another. There is an interesting message here. Let’s look at these Scriptures in their context:
Matthew 18:1-5
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child, whom he placed among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.[emphasis added]
It’s interesting that Jesus Himself implies the concept of rank in the kingdom in Matthew 5:19. Pride is a basic part of human nature. Here the disciples are asking Jesus who will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps this question was somehow in response to the special privileges given to Peter earlier.
Here’s a good question: Who IS greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?
Jesus very often tells us that we need to be like little children. Here in verse 4, He tells us why. Humility…….humbling ourselves like children. I find it interesting that in the Aramaic language, the same word is used for both “child” and “servant”. So here we see Jesus taking a child into His arms and telling the disciples (and us) that to be great….one must serve, without worldly ambition, lust and power. Children are humble and teachable.
Why does Jesus want us to “change”? Could it be because of our attitude toward greatness? We often see greatness in terms power, prestige and organization……..however, Jesus tells us that being at the top means serving those underneath, humbly, sincerely, with compassion and love. These are the signs of a great person. Look at what Jesus tells us in Matthew 20:26-28. To be truly humble we must deny ourselves, accept the position as a servant of those around us, and completely follow the master…Jesus.
Additionally, Jesus taught that we should welcome “children”. Indeed, in the day and time that He spoke, children were second-class citizens. The way we treat others is the way in which we will be treated. Jesus speaks of this principal on many occasions, look at Matthew 6:14-15 and one of my favorite and binding passages of Scripture, Matthew 25:31-45.
Today’s CLUE: Jesus tells us that to be great in the kingdom of heaven/ kingdom of God, that we must be humble like a child, that we must adopt an attitude of humble servanthood.
What do you think?
RonLawHouston commented: You know – humility is the ultimate paradox – once you think you’re humble – you no longer are. You can’t say I’m going to be humble and then end up as a humble person. To me, you can only find humility by negation. When you strip away your learning, your knowledge, your ideas about yourself, when you are willing to die the spiritual death, then you can have a glimpse of humility.
Lane0129 commented: Wow…I could not agree more and what you have written is the core of who I have become. I have been fortunate enough to have an opportunity to serve in our children’s ministry and I have boiled it down to two simple points…Love God, and treat others better than yourself. I am amazed at how the kids have grown and what they have been able to do in our community–all you have to do is give them an opportunity and the tools to serve and it is in their nature to do so.