Become As Little Children

Part 2- What did Jesus mean by saying this?

In part 1 of this series, I looked at the question that the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 18, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Comparing ourselves to others in our Christian walk was the subject. I ended with the challenge to not compare ourselves to anyone except Jesus. This week, I want to focus on Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” This is the question that Jesus’ disciples asked Him in Matthew 18:1. I can just imagine Jesus thinking, “nope, they don’t get it. I’m going to need to show them an example that they can understand.” The disciples needed a lesson in humility. Would anyone who was truly a humble person be worried about who is the greatest? Let’s think about this in regards to a team. On any sports team, all the players are, or they should be anyway, of equal importance to the coach. They each have different levels of ability and different sets of skills that are valuable to the team. The quarterback of a football team cannot win the game all by himself, nor can any other member of any team. It is the coach’s job to find each player’s strengths and build on them and use them for the success of the team. Everyone cannot be in the starting lineup of a basketball team, as there can only be five on the court at a time. However, those players who start the game on the bench, are every bit as valuable and should feel as such. That is….if they have a coach who truly cares about all of his/her players and has his/her priorities right. And…..everyone cannot be the leading scorer on a basketball team. However, can that leading scorer win the game all by himself or herself? Do you see where I’m going with this? 

In comparison, the disciples were Jesus’ ministry team. To tie in with the above examples, Jesus was their “coach”. He had handpicked each one of them to be by His side throughout His ministry, up until His death, His resurrection, and ultimately up until the birth of the church and the spreading of the gospel to the whole world. All of these men had characteristics, abilities, and qualities that Jesus was looking for. Even Judas. Jesus could see inside each one of them, into their heart, and know that each one of them would ultimately help Him fulfill His purpose here on earth. He was also training them to be His vessels after He ascended back to heaven to be with His Father. After His ascension, He would appear to Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, on the road to Damascus, and handpick Him to be the apostle to take the gospel to the gentiles. All of the disciples were equal in Jesus’ sight, just like we are all equal in His sight. Each disciple probably had his own special talents and abilities, just like we do today. They were all equally important to Jesus’ ministry, just as we are. They probably each had specific responsibilities or roles in the work of Jesus’ ministry, just as we do in the church today. Just like on a sports team, they all should have been working together for a common goal, instead of being concerned with who was the greatest. Shouldn’t we also be working together for a common goal in the Lord’s church today?

So……how did Jesus answer them? He brought a little child to Him and set that child before the disciples. (Matthew 18:2) Then Jesus answered them. He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4) Let’s begin with “unless you are converted”. Some synonyms for convert are: turn, change, transform, and metamorphose. Jesus is telling His disciples that they need to convert or transform their way of thinking. They are completely missing the mark. Their concern for greatness is wrong and is hindering them from humility. Of course, they weren’t talking about “greatness” in the physical world. They were talking about “greatness” in heaven, in the spiritual world, when their physical life was over. It doesn’t matter though. Instead of being concerned with each other’s souls, they were trying to see who could be the best in Jesus’ eyes when they got to heaven. They were turning Jesus’ gift of eternal life into a competition!! They didn’t realize at that point how wrong they really were. If the disciples were desiring to be more important than someone else in heaven, then they would not be in heaven. We talked about this in my last post, about turning our Christian life into a competition. We can’t do this. The bottom line is, if I have the desire to be more important than others in the kingdom here on earth, the church, then I won’t get to be in the kingdom of heaven when Jesus returns. The disciples were commissioned by Jesus in Matthew 28:19 to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. How would they have been able to do that with their attitude in Matthew 18? This commission by Jesus is still ours today and we have to have the right mindset as well. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” You can substitute humble in place of “poor in spirit”. And to end this section on being converted, I give you these beautiful inspired verses written by Paul, “ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4 NASB) Wow. There is nothing I need to explain about those verses. God’s word says it all, friends.

Why did Jesus use a child as an example? What did He mean by “become as little children”? Children had no status during the time when Jesus was on earth. Even in today’s society, children are minors and don’t have all of the rights that we have as adults. It is not a morality issue. It is an issue of significance. He doesn’t want us to act like children and never mature in our thinking. This is about our attitude in regards to ourselves and others. Jesus is saying that we have to lower ourselves, not elevate ourselves. Imagine a doorway that only a child could fit through easily. As adults, we would have to stoop, or lower ourselves, maybe even crawl, to fit through that door. Use this analogy to illustrate us getting into heaven someday. We have to lower ourselves and put others ahead of ourselves if we want to “fit” through the door of heaven. This is the definition of humility. If we look at Matthew 18:4, Jesus says if we humble ourselves as a little child, then we will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Well, if we look at this logically, verse 3 says we won’t enter unless we become as a little child. Therefore, we will all be equally “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”, because all of us who are there spending eternity with God, will be those who lowered ourselves so we could “fit” through heaven’s doorway. Isn’t this what Jesus did? Jesus is the ultimate example of lowering oneself. After Paul tells us to lower ourselves and put others ahead of ourselves in Philippians 2:3-4, he explains to us how Jesus put Himself ahead of us. Just listen and ponder what He did for us. I know that we all know what He did, but do we really know? Do we really truly understand how what He did for us should affect how we live our lives and treat others today? Listen to these verses and truly think about them. Read them out loud. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 NASB) I want to key in on the phrase “emptied Himself”. Other translations of this phrase include, “gave up everything” (CEV), “made Himself nothing” (ESVUK), “made Himself of no reputation” (KJV), and “gave up His place with God” (EXB). Let those words sink in, friends. He gave up everything for us. So I ask myself, what have I given up for Him? Have I emptied myself for Him? Have I lowered myself to become as a little child? Am I doing what Jesus told the disciples to do in Matthew 18? Everything Jesus said to them applies to me today.

These are the questions that I leave with you this week, my friends. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead! Thank you so much for reading my blog!

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

• We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 
• Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 
• Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 
• Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 
• Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
• Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)