“Matthew 18:1-11”

Saturday, June 06, 2020

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “’Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And 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. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 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. 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! 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. 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. 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. [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]”

---End of Scripture Verses---

Christ’s disciples wanted to know who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Who was going to sit in the greatest positions of leadership in the kingdom that Christ was about to establish: His church? Jesus said that you can’t even enter the kingdom of heaven, let alone occupy a place of greatness in it, unless you become as a little child first. In order to become “great”, you must become “little”. You must become a nobody in your own sight, in order to be a somebody in the kingdom.

Jesus said we have to be “converted” to enter His church. This word literally means “turned”. The disciples were thinking in just the opposite way that they should have been thinking. They needed to make a complete 180 degree turn, and utterly alter their entire thought process. And this is true for “whoever” (verse 4) desires to be a part of Christ’s church. We all must humble ourselves before Christ so that He can exalt us, and sit us beside Himself on His heavenly throne (Matthew 19:28; 23:12).

Once we have been accepted into Christ’s kingdom of “little ones”, it is of supreme importance to Him that we treat each other properly (verses 6-11). We must go to extreme measures to keep from causing a brother or sister in Christ to stumble spiritually. It would be better for us to hurt ourselves than to bring harm to one whom Christ has died for (verses 8-9). We all will ultimately be responsible for our own decisions and our own sins when we stand before Christ on Judgment Day, but if we are complicit in the fall of a child of God, we will have to answer for that as well.

“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” (verse 10). We have to be careful to not make this verse say more than Christ intended for it to mean. At the very least, this means that the angels in heaven take a special interest in the affairs of God’s children on earth. I am convinced that Jesus is talking about Christians here, His covenant “children”, not only innocent, underage children. The entire discourse of this chapter is about kingdom citizens and their attitudes and relationships.

Jesus said these beautiful words about those who would chose to give their lives up in order to follow Him: “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Matthew 11:25). He said this right before He extended the invitation for all who are weary and heavy-laden to come unto Him (Matthew 11:28-30).

Please read Matthew 18:21-35 for tomorrow – Jesus teaches about forgiveness.

Have a blessed Day!

-Louie Taylor

Share