As little children
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and 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. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” (Matthew 18:1-5, NKJV)
This passage is yet another gospel incident where Jesus seems intent on shocking us and upsetting our preconceived ideas of what it means to follow Him. Children, in our day as in Jesus’, have a tendency to be considered as second-class citizens. All too often children are seen as being inconveniences who get in the way of the adults wanting to live their lives. But Jesus - in this and other passages - turns this thinking and view of children upside down. If we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we are going to have to become like children. What an insult!
What do children know about following God? How can being like a child in any way help entering the kingdom? Surely Jesus didn’t really mean what He was saying? I am sure we can all see the apparent legitimacy of these questions. But Jesus clearly meant what He said and said what He meant. He is undoubtedly talking in metaphorical terms, but the impact of His statement is in no way reduced because of that. What on earth can He mean?
I believe Jesus was showing the disciples that everything that people thought mattered and was essential to following God (which only adults would know) was irrelevant if they wanted to enter the kingdom. Only adults knew what needed to be done in following the Law; children didn’t know how to do this and so they didn’t really matter. But Jesus, I believe, is pointing to the reality that entering the kingdom is not about knowing what to do, but knowing who to believe in. And behind this is the truth that thinking you know what to do is actually what will keep you out of the kingdom. Instead, with the uncomplicated trust of a child who doesn’t know what to do, the way into the kingdom is simply believing in Jesus; putting our complete trust in Him rather than our own ability to obey the Law. And if we can do this, if we can become as little children, we have embraced the path to greatness.
April 24th, 2005 at 7:41 pm
Hi Sam,
I came back to your blog site this morning. I’m glad I did; I missed this posting the last time I was here, and it was wonderful!
There was a time I was considering a parallel passage in Mark 9, and the obvious pleasure the Lord found in His relationship with children. Then I began to consider a cycle He must see repeatedly, in the life of every person. I was still reading along in Mark, but another thought, a rabbit path, was taking form in my hearts as I did so:
Whereas we all start as children and the Lord says of us, ‘of such is the kingdom of God’, this begins to weaken as we grow older, and it become more tenuous. He becomes more and more disappointed as our hearts toward Him change, and the relationship with Him decays. By the time we reach adulthood we have changed so much that He may even have to call us a ‘Brood of vipers’ now.
As I was musing on that growing sorrow in His heart, on behalf of every person He sees, I thought of how pleased He would have been if only some young person had stayed the course and remained true to Him, even into the their adult years. And as I was musing, I finished Mark 9 and began Began Mark 10.
Now I came across the story of the rich young ruler, and of how he said to Jesus, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” (v 20). It had finally happened! And then I understood the next verse which said, “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him . . .”
Here was that joy He had so longed to see for al thes ecenturies! But then in the verses that followed, as the rich young ruler turned away from Him, I shared another familiar feeling on His behalf: here was a microcosm of the disappointment He always feels for each of us, over time, crystalized in a single moment. Sometimes I still get a moody when I think about that.
Anyway, Sam, I see that you and I are both fairly new to blogging, so if you don’t mind I’d like to set up a link from my blog site to yours. Maybe a few more people will come by and share in your thoughts, and you can bless some people on this side of the Atlantic as well. The Lord bless you.