Sermon Tone Analysis

We have reached the 4th out of 6 major teaching sections in the book of Matthew.

The first, of course, was the great Sermon on the Mount, where we learned who are the blessed ones, and what it looks like to exhibit true righteousness.

The next was Jesus’ teaching to the disciples as he commissioned them to go out on their own preaching and healing mission.

We learned that we should expect persecution, and that we should continually fear God over men.

We also learned, for the first time, that in order to follow Jesus truly, it involves death to self, a carrying of the cross - the death march that leads to true.

The third was the section of Jesus’ Kingdom Parables, where we learned how the Kingdom grows and spreads.

We learned about different kinds of hearts, the hard, the stubborn, the shallow, and the good heart, and we learned that while the Kingdom of God may start with small beginnings, it grows miraculously like the little pinch of yeast in a lump of dough.

Here in Matthew 18, Jesus is yet again speaking about what it looks like to be a citizen of His Kingdom, and the themes are relatively basic.

Humility + Forgiveness.

Now, there are other points of teaching, but between those two, that is the major emphasis.

And we really see both of those themes in two ways

We see a need for humility on our part, as well as the stooping down, so to speak, in humility of the Lord Himself.

And in terms of forgiveness, we see a great need for us to exhibit forgiveness, as well as seeing the Master exhibit and supreme example of the Lord’s forgiveness of his own children.

We will look at verses 14 this morning, and focus in on humility.

In the rubric of Christ’s Kingdom, humility is the true measure of greatness.

May we humble ourselves before our Lord, and like our Lord.

1. Humility before the Face of the Lord - Vs. 1-6

We see the disciples coming to ask Jesus a question, and their question has to do with the operation of Jesus’ Kingdom.

All along, the disciples have been hearing Jesus say peculiar things about His Kingdom.

Things that nobody expected, and things that nobody anticipated.

Jesus was altering the viewpoint of many, like his own disciples, but becoming a stumbling stone for many at the same time - whether those national zealots, who focused their attention on the Kingdom as a radical overthrow of other political powers like Rome, or those Pharisees and Scribes, who were fearful for their positions of power if too many people caught wind and followed the teachings of this Jesus.

And even though the disciples were learning and starting to pick up on things, we see right up until the end of the Gospels that they still didn’t have a full grasp on the Kingdom that Jesus was inaugurating.

There, right before Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Father, they were still wondering about the true nature of the Kingdom.

“Now/At this time” - they were hoping for a physical manifestation right there and then

“restore” - they were hoping for a movement, and overtake, a visible change

“to Israel” - they were hoping for a national/political experience of Kingdom and Kingship.

So even when Jesus left, the disciples were still being “discipled.”

That is, they were still learning.

And here, they are learning as well - and even if their question revealed their ignorance, it is still i helpful question because the teaching that sprung from it is critical to our own Kingdom living.

“Who is the greatest?”

At this point, there is no doubt in their mind that Jesus is the Messiah, that He is the promised one to come, that He is the one to bring the Kingdom that he speaks of.

They had that right, but they were still fuzzy on the mechanics of the whole thing.

They asked “who is greater in the Kingdom?”

That is the literal translation - but there are clues that tell us that they were really looking for a name of a person who would be right up there - like the second in command.

“Who” - they were looking for a person

“is” - right now.

They were interested in knowing a name, maybe even one of their own names - who was the standout individual among them.

It was clear that Jesus would in some way and somehow reign in His Kingdom, and seeing as they were clearly chosen by Him to follow and help Him, they thought it should be clear that one of them might be his right hand man!

Would it be Peter, the outspoken leader and spokesperson of the group?

Would it be John, the more quiet but beloved disciple?

Would it be Nathanael, the one who Jesus saw and said “behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile!”? Would it be Matthew, the tax collector with some idea of how the financial element of a Kingdom works?

Whatever they were thinking, we should have some element of sympathy for them - how could you not be wondering this in some regard?

They were with the greatest individual who ever walked upon the face of the earth!

They were chosen by him specifically, by name, out of multitudes of people they were called to walk with Him and learn from him.

They were in the aura of greatness.

Three of them had just seen the transcendent glory of the Divine nature shine through Him in the Transfiguration.

Yet, none of them were great.

They were from lowly origin.

Commoners.

Fishermen.

A despised Tax collector.

None of them were powerful.

9 of them had just failed to cast out a demon.

They were not wealthy.

They often did not have enough food, and they seemingly didn’t have enough even to pay the two-drachma temple tax.

They were not eloquent.

They had no course in communication or public speech.

They did not sit at the feet of the great rabbis and lecturers of that day.

They were not great - yet something in them sought greatness.

And to this, Jesus gives them this lesson.

Now, if ever there was an object lesson, it was this one.

Jesus, in his candor and wisdom, calls a little child - typically a word for a child up to 7 years old - out of the crowds or bypassers, and places him squarely in the middle of his group of disciples - of grown men.

If you imagine a circle of men with a little boy in the middle, the comparative nature of that child would be known immediately.

To the disciples, the little boy must have looked weak and insignificant.

Perhaps a bit confused and even a little frightened.

He might have looked naive and timid.

And that was exactly the point.

In seeing the insignificance and characteristic smallness of that little child, the disciples received their answer - who is the greatest in the Kingdom?

The greatest are those like this little one.

Insignificant and small.

Of course, the object lesson was not given in silence, but Jesus spoke and expounded on what he has just shown them.

Jesus then gives a great lesson in humility, and the first element of genuine humility involves what we might call repentance, or even conversion.

“Unless you turn… you will never enter the Kigndom.”

The need for genuine conversion, real repentance granted by God and coupled with faith, cannot be understated.

Have you ever asked a person, “how long have you been a Christian?”

And heard the response, “I have always been a Christian.”?

Now, there may be a sense in which you’ve never experienced a radical transformation from wickedness and immorality and debauchery to righteousness, but dear one, just because you’ve never decided against Christ does not mean that you have turned and become like one of these little children.

In fact, in resting upon your good record or having a background in a Christian upbringing, you may be exhibiting the very pride that needs this sort of conversion - this sort of repentance.

Jesus is speaking, of course, metaphorically, of becoming like a child.

He is not saying that only little children will be in heaven, and he is not even saying that all children are automatically in the kingdom.

He is comparing the humility and weakness of the child to the relative pride of the disciples’ question, and we can compare that to the relative pride that is naturally present in all of our hearts.

Jesus is not teaching anything new here, but he is teaching something critical.

The first question is, have you ever become like a little child before the Lord, turning from your self-reliance, self-righteousness, and moral-good-standing to become to bow before Him?

I hope you have - and you may not remember a time and place, a date and occasion, but you know in your heart - you know between you and the Lord whether it is Him you are trusting in or yourself.

I urge you to make that clear.

But still, for those who have come to this point, this element of pride and humility is still a constant battle.

What does it mean to humble ourselves like a little child?

Admittance of weakness.

Admittance of limitation.

Readiness to believe what our Father tells us.

Real understanding and appreciation of consequences.

This is one of many seemingly paradoxical statements in the Bible, but it is so beautiful.

Only those like little children will be the greatest.

Only those who humble themselves will be raised up.

Christ’s Kingdom is counter-culture, it is counter-expectation as well.

In order to be great in Christ’s Kingdom, ours is not to build our reputation and resume and list of accolades, but rather to humble ourselves, to admit our weakness, our limitations, to be ready to believe, to obey, and to follow.

Is our confidence that of a little child who is trusting in His father, or is our confidence in ourselves?

Do we boast in our ability or do we quickly recognize our weaknesses?

Do you see Jesus’ teaching coming through in Paul’s words here?

Not wise - not mighty - not noble or important