Matthew 18, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
This evening we will discuss the behavior amongst humans. Many of us think we have arrived. Others that they will never arrive. But there are some who are just happy in the moment and go with the flow. In my opinion, we are seeing a glimpse into the personality of the disciples. They were more concerned over who would be considered highest in position in heaven that they were the needs of the lost. Their desire was for recognition and honor in an earthly kingdom. Jesus had to reeducate their thinking. The disciples’ struggle for position and power should not surprise us, for all men have the same needs, the needs for some recognition, position, prestige, money, authority, esteem, challenge, and physical satisfaction. There is nothing wrong with these needs. They are human and legitimate needs and they must be met. But men allow their hearts to be overtaken with selfishness and begin to want more and more to the point of lusting and consuming and hoarding. They become prideful, covetous, worldly, ambitious, envious, and hurtful even to the point of destroying and killing.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them
3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Notice it says disciples PLURAL - this was not just one or two disciples. We find in the other gospels a little more description of what has happened.
33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
46 An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
There was an argument, maybe Mark should say a “heated discussion”.
Nothing has changed! Even today we have people who are more concerned over what others think of them than they do what would please Jesus in the church. We want some type of honor, prestige, and glory from…man…instead of God. What Jesus tries to do is change the lives of these men in whom He has invested significant time trying to teach, mentor, and guide.
His first step is to realign their thinking of greatness.
Notice the mindset of the disciples. First, a person is great if he is in the Kingdom of Heaven. Second, there are degrees of greatness. Christ did not refute or deny these assumptions. On the contrary, He taught both: a person is great if he is in the Kingdom of Heaven. Everything and everyone in heaven is great, even perfected. As Christ says, a person can be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:4 “4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” We find in Luke this synopsis:
Luke 9:48 (ESV)
48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Let me ask you a question, what did Jesus mean by this?
Jesus turns this around into not who IS the greatest, but HOW do you become great in the kingdom of God! How does one prove that he is trustworthy and responsible before God? How does one show God that he can be trusted and depended upon and should be rewarded with responsibility in heaven.
Note closely what the disciples were asking: they did not mean the greatest in quality or character but in name and position. They were thinking in terms of power, fame, wealth, position, and name.
What were the possible reasons why they asked the question?
1) They sensed that Christ was about to set up His kingdom, that He was about to assume His throne. They were looking forward to becoming chiefs of state in His kingdom.
2) They had seen three of them honored in special ways during the transfiguration (Peter, James, and John—Mt. 17:1–13), and one of them in particular had been distinguished as the rock on whom the church would be built (Peter, Mt. 16:17–19). Who were the leaders to be in the Lord’s kingdom? They were apparently gripped with jealousy, envy, ambition, and some rivalry.
3) They had just been arguing among themselves about who the greatest was going to be. Mark says that the argument had begun immediately after Christ began to intensify His teaching on His death and resurrection (Mk. 9:33–34; see 9:30–37). They misinterpreted what He was saying, spiritualizing it instead of taking His Word at face value (see note—Mt. 17:22). Apparently they connected the thought of rising from the dead with the setting up of His kingdom and began to argue over the top positions of leadership.
They did not yet understand what the Kingdom of Heaven is. They still saw an earthly, temporal kingdom and not a spiritual, eternal kingdom. It is interesting what Christ said in v.3. He was speaking to the disciples, and He actually said that they would not enter the kingdom of heaven unless they became as little children.
Christ gave a living demonstration of greatness. He “called a little child unto him.” The child was not an infant, for he was personally called to come to Christ. Note how the child immediately demonstrated several traits of children. He trusted Christ enough to respond (trustfulness) and did what Christ requested (submission, humility, and obedience).
This says something about the nature and character of Christ as well. He demonstrated enough warmth and openness for the child to feel free to respond and to enter a group of adults who were sitting together in a formal session.
The first condition for greatness is conversion. The word conversion (straphete) means to turn, to turn around; to be converted; to turn from one thing to something else. The meaning here is that the disciples must turn; they must turn completely around. Christ warned them: “Unless ye turn.” Turn from what? Their sins were many, sins that are so common to men as they walk in selfishness day by day. They desired position, power, prestige, fame, and wealth, while having the spirit of pride, covetousness, ambition, jealousy, worldliness, envy, and rivalry. Except you turn, change, be converted… you will not inherit eternal life.
How is a person converted? By turning and becoming as a little child. What does it mean “to become as a little child”? When Christ called the child to Him, the child demonstrated exactly what Christ meant. The child trusted Jesus, immediately came to Jesus, was obedient to Christ, and was humble before Jesus. We must come to Christ in the same way. If the disciples were warned, how much more are we and everyone else warned! The absolute necessity of conversion is hereby stressed.
The second condition for greatness is humility.
How does a person learn to become humble? We must accept our limitations. We must learn we are not and cannot be the best at everything. One of the hardest things is to recognize and admit we have faults. Take ownership of our mistakes. Be open to constructive criticism from others. Give credit to others where it is due. AND don’t brag on your own accomplishments.
This child was humble - they immediately stopped what they were doing. The child had to overcome whatever thoughts, fears, and anxieties they had. And they had to obey and go to Christ. The greatest persons in the Kingdom of Heaven will be the persons who have been converted and walked most humbly among men.
So why is it hard to be humble? We fear humility. We feel that humility is a sign of weakness and cowardice. They fear humility will make them the object of contempt and abuse. They fear humility may cause them to be passed over, but the very opposite is true. Humility leads a person to Christ and to conversion. It leads a person to realize his full potential. It causes a person to evaluate himself and to work at improving himself. It leads a person to become all that he can and should be. It also leads to better and more healthy relationships and to a stronger and more productive community and world.
Christ used the child (see Mt. 18:1–4) as an object lesson to teach that believers have an awesome responsibility for watching over one another. Christ cares deeply for children, for all who have the childlike spirit and character. He calls those who follow Him “little ones”. The depth of His care is clearly seen in this passage, a passage that lays a terrible responsibility upon all men—a responsibility that is unmistakably clear and so desperately needed. Christ gives three terrible warnings against offending a child, and He spells out the three terrible offenses against a child, “little ones who believe in” Him. Do not lead a child astray, do not be a stumbling block, and do not despise or degrade a child.
To receive a child is to receive Christ. Whatever is done for the child is done for Christ. Christ cared for each child, every single one. He said, “one such little child”; that is, that single child is important to Christ. Yet today, we have churches that focus on their adult congregation. They have adopted the attitude children should be seen, but not heard. When in reality, many of those children are AS spiritually mature as those adults. Hey, let me tell you something, we have young people in our churches that are TIRED of the status quo, are TIRED of the way it’s always been, and are TIRED of the church not following the example of Christ to teach and train them as Jesus did His disciples.
To be honest, many services today are not spirit filled worship. Instead, a funeral director would be more appropriate than a pastor. Congregants walk in to funeral dirge type music, sing slow and mournful tunes, and wonder why everyone falls asleep. This is NOT what God intended. We should have youth led service. We should invite the Spirit of the Lord into our services, and we should praise God when we hear the noise of children in our sanctuary.
Why should we be worried about it? Because Jesus was! We are to receive a child (even a new believer) with warmth, care, tenderness, regardless of how low or unimportant or poor. Christ is contrasting the child with the greatest person, the person over whom the disciples had just been arguing. It means to receive the child when he is in need physically or materially: to feed, cloth, shelter, visit, and help him. It means to receive the child spiritually: to help him grow, build him up, encourage, and motivate him to follow Christ and to share his faith. Christ cared for every child individually and pointed out that EACH AND EVERY child is important to Him.
There is also a warning to not lead the child astray. Leading a child, a follower of Christ, astray is the worst conceivable sin. There is nothing worse than leading another person into sin. In fact, it would be better to hang a millstone about one’s neck and cast oneself into the depths of the sea than to lead another person astray. This sounds severe, very severe. And it is. But note: Christ meant what He said and said what He meant.
The millstone (mulos) spoken of by Christ was the huge millstone, the one that the oxen or donkey pulled around to grind the grain. The very fact that Christ chose the huge millstone to illustrate His point shows just how great this sin is. The person would be held at the bottom of the sea by the most awful and terrible weight. The sin of leading a child astray is the worst imaginable sin; therefore, its condemnation shall be the worst punishment imaginable. Drowning was a form of criminal punishment used by the Romans but never by the Jews. The Jews saw drowning as a symbol of utter destruction and annihilation. They feared it. Even the Romans reserved it only for the worst criminals.
Christ added to the fear of His audience. He painted the picture of a stone around the offender’s neck so that the body could never rise to the top and be recovered for proper burial. And then He added even more to the fear. He pictured the huge millstone, not the small one. Why? Why did He strike fear into the hearts of His hearers? The answer is clear: the sin of leading another person astray is terrible, and the offender must know the fate that is awaiting him.
Think hard about this… which one of us wants to be the one who leads a new believer or a child astray and face the wrath of God?
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Matthew: Chapters 16:13–28:20. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.