The King’s Humble People (Matthew 18:1-14)

Introduction

Thanks to a friend a few weeks ago, I saw this quote from John Stott:

“I sometimes hear old people, including Christian people who should know better, say ‘I don’t want to be a burden to anyone else. I’m happy to carry on living so long as I can look after myself, but as soon as I become a burden I would rather die.’ 

But this is wrong. We are all designed to be a burden to others. You are designed to be a burden to me and I am designed to be a burden to you. And the life of the family, including the life of the local church family, should be one of ‘mutual burdensomeness.’”

Stott is correct. We as Christians are meant to have the mutual burdensomeness among one another. Yet, this idea presses against our sinful nature, especially our individual nature that is so prominent in our western culture. And so we resist the idea of needing others, of the need to be vulnerable before others, acknowledging our need for help and care. 

This tendency is prevalent in us I think in part because of the fact we fail to see ourselves rightly, even as Christians. We fail to see that we are not meant to be seen as strong, at least not in and of ourselves. In fact, the passage we are looking at this morning tells us that we are little children, weak and needy. Those in need of care and protection. 

So, please then turn in your Bibles to Matthew 18:1-14. Or you can find it in the Red Bible there in your seat on page #978.  

Recap: We continue to work our way through the fourth section of Matthew’s gospel which begins in Matthew 13:53 and runs through Matthew 19:2. A section that focuses much on the establishing of the church, its ordering, who is in, and how this new people of God are to live together. These things are why R.T. France calls this fourth section, the Church Administration Narrative-Discourse section.   [1]

For in this fourth part of Matthew’s gospel account, we have seen Jesus continue to reveal himself in who he is, culminating in Matthew 16 with Peter’s confession that he is the Christ. A confession that becomes the basis for who is in and who is out of the church. Or who is and isn’t the people of God. Those who make a right confession of Christ are to be bound in, but those who do not are to be loosed. And it is the church, this new people of God that the gates of hell will not prevail against. 

More of this confession and faith was unfolded for us a couple weeks ago in Matthew 17:14-23 and the call to true faith in Jesus. 

But then we come to Matthew 18 this morning as well as the next two weeks, and we see how this people is called to live in proximity to one another. 

Next week, we will return to the keys of the kingdom where they are to be used in the act of Church Discipline. Then in two weeks, we look at forgiving one another as the body of Christ. 

But before we get there, in our passage this morning, we consider our care for one another in the midst of us all being little children. Let us then hear the word of the LORD from Matthew 18:1-14…

Main Idea: Greatness in God’s kingdom will look drastically different from the world’s greatness; for it calls us to child-like humility and a careful watchfulness over one another.

The humility of little ones

The vulnerability of little ones

1. The Humility of Little Ones (Matthew 18:1-4)

Jesus has now twice shocked his disciples by telling them of what must soon come, that he must soon be put to death. This has both confused and troubled the disciples. But as they are faced with their teachers foretold coming death, they themselves begin to look ahead a bit. They begin wondering what will be and who will then be leading us. And so we read a question put before Jesus there in verse 1…

As readers and hearers of this question, especially if the first time we are hearing it, is that the answer is going to be Peter. For Peter was in the inner circle with Jesus who went up the mountain to see Jesus’ transfiguration. It was Peter who answered who Jesus was rightly. It was Peter who has been the spokesman for the whole group. It was Peter who had just been approached on behalf of Jesus, and had tax paid for himself and Jesus from the mouth of a fish. 

Even in Church History, there is a tradition that believes Peter to have been the first head of the church, the first Pope. But all of this is not the way of the kingdom of heaven. For to teach these original disciples and those who either are disciples or would be disciples today, a child is brought in to be used as an example of greatness in the kingdom. Hear verses 2-4 again…

We read and hear this today about a child being brought in the midst of these disciples and we might not think much of it. Even still, we hear to be humble like a child, and begin to wonder just what kind of humility here are we talking about. For it does not take long for a child to begin to think more of themselves than they ought to. 

Yet, the reality is this call to turn and become humble like children is a call to become dependent like a child. Children are little ones in need of much attention and care. They are weak and in need of protection. They are helpless in many ways and still in need of provision and aide from their dad and mom. It is with this in mind, that Jesus points to a child and their humility of neediness and says this is what greatness looks like in the kingdom. And this kind of humility is needed to even enter the kingdom of heaven.

For Jesus says, unless you turn and become like children, like these helpless, needy little ones, you will certainly never enter the kingdom of heaven. This means that this kind of humility is not just something that we need to continually be sanctified in, this kind of helpless, neediness is the very foundation of our entering into the kingdom, to becoming a disciple of Jesus, to being a Christian. 

Apart from this kind of turning to become like helpless, needy, dependent children, we will never rely on Christ and Christ alone for our salvation. This kind of child-like posture is necessary to even rightly come to Christ and to follow him. We must come to the realization that there is nothing we can do of our own accord to remove such sinfulness. 

We must realize that we are weak and wounded, sick and sore from the state of our sinfulness. The stain of our sin runs too deep, is too weighty, is too deadly for us to remove of our own ability. And so, we are dependent like children upon another. We are dependent upon him for our care, our healing, our restoration. 

The gospel is only good news once we realize just how helpless we are made by our sin. And the good news is that Jesus has come to remove that which we could not. He comes and removes our sin from us, despite how deep it runs, how weighty it is, and the deadliness of it. For as the ole hymn goes, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

It is by what Jesus has done that salvation comes, so unless we turn and become like children, becoming dependent upon him for our salvation, we cannot ever enter the kingdom of heaven and be a disciple of King Jesus. Jesus is our only hope! 

If any then thinks that they can earn their salvation by their own efforts, their own merits, they are sadly mistaken. Your morals, your good works, your religious activity cannot and will not save you. There is nothing in and of you that can remove the stain of sin. You must turn and become like a child, depending not on yourself, but upon Christ and Christ alone for your salvation. For he alone bore the weight of sin on the cross and was crucified, dead, and buried but rose from the grave on the third day, defeating both sin and death. Friend, repent and turn like a child to Jesus today so that you may enter the kingdom of heaven! 

Then there is continued application here for the Christian. For those who have already come and confessed such child-like dependence on Jesus, trusting in him alone for their salvation. There is the continued reminder that greatness in the kingdom is not something that we earn. 

And so, if we seek to be great in the kingdom of heaven, we must continue to remain dependent like children upon our Triune God and his working in us and through us for his glory. 

For me as a pastor, that means the fruit I so desire to see, I must remain dependent like a child on the father to provide the fruit he would so desire to give me. Fruit that will surely come, but fruit that I therefore can take no credit for. For my only boast is Jesus! 

That means for you beloved, that for you to be great in the kingdom of heaven means to remain dependent on Jesus in your daily walk with him. Being dependent upon him like a child for your daily nutrition and growth. Being dependent upon him for your daily provision. Being dependent upon him for his daily grace. Being dependent upon him for even your very endurance to reach the end. The end when your faith becomes sight. 

Beloved, this is the humility to which Christ has called us to turn to if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. O Lord Jesus, give us here such continued dependence upon you. 

That’s point #1, the humility of little ones. To point #2 now, the vulnerability of little ones. 

2. The Vulnerability of Little Ones (Matthew 18:5-14)

Little ones are not just in need of being humble, but are vulnerable. Vulnerable to many cruelties, many deceptions, many stumbling along the way. A vulnerability that cause us as other little ones to action and care for one another in light of who the Father is. That is what we see here in verses 5-14. 

For the phrase little ones begins in verse 5 and continues through verse 14. Verse 14 reveals to us that it is God’s desire and heart that none of these little ones should perish. More on that to come. But this shames the call we receive in verses 5-6 where we see a comparison in these two whoever statements. Again here we read (V.5-6)…

To receive Christ is to receive little ones. That is to welcome them, to care for them, to protect them, to guard them. In comparison, however, those who do not receive such little ones and who would cause them to become a stumbling block for them, causing them to sin, it would be better off for them to be tied down with a great weight and dropped into the depths of the sea to never arise again. 

This says something about the great sin of being a stumbling block for others, but also reveals the heart of one who has received Christ as one of his little ones. 

This receiving part and what it looks like is more tied to the parable of the lost sheep which we will turn to in a moment, following the order of the passage. 

But turn with me to consider what the text turns to in between of this great woe against one who causes one of these little ones to stumble. A stumbling that comes by the bringing of temptation and sin to one of these little ones. Verses 7-9…

This particular stumbling of these little ones comes as a result of bringing temptations to one of these little ones. Jesus acknowledges that temptations are in the world and woe to the world for these temptations. While at the same time acknowledging that these temptations are necessary. They are necessary because it is through the fire of temptations that we will be taken through the fire of testing to grow in our sanctification. The Lord uses something so woeful for our ultimate good. 

Yet, Jesus here turns to a second, a double woe to the one who brings about these temptations, the one who would tempt and cause a little one to stumble. Temptations that would cause them to sin, forsaking the ways of their heavenly Father! Temptation that comes because of our own sin. 

For continue to look there at verses 7-9, there is this double woe for the one who brings it, and immediately in the giving of this second woe, attention is turned to the need to cut off and throw away our members if given over to sin.

Now, this language of cutting off and trowing away of our hand or foot or tearing out our eye is clearly a bit of hyperbole. Meaning not to literally cut off our bodily members in the midst of sin, just as we saw back in Matthew 5:29-30 where Jesus previously used this. 

But what it is saying is that we must be killing our sin, cutting it off from us. To use that well put phrase from the Puritan, John Owen:

“We must be killing sin lest sin be killing us.”

Sin is so serious that it must be cut off quickly, lest it have opportunity to continue to plant itself in our hearts and minds, further pulling us away from the Lord and the holiness that he has called us to. A pursuit of holiness that will not only be good for our souls, but for other little ones as well. 

If left unchecked, our sin will not just be a stumbling block for our own sanctification, but it will become a stumbling block for other little ones among us.  Our sin will show the hypocrisy in our lives and cause other little ones to doubt the transformative power of the gospel. It is our sin that will cause others to stumble as they are persuaded that sin is not that big of a deal as they watch our lives. 

This is why J.C. Ryle writes, 

“We may do it indirectly by living a life inconsistent with our religious profession, and by making Christianity loathsome and distasteful by our own conduct. Whenever we do anything of the kind, it is clear, from our Lord’s words, that we commit a great sin.”

Beloved, for the love of one another we must be killing our own sin for the sake of other little ones among us, lest we should make them stumble, either by causing them to follow in our same sinful footsteps or worse, to turn and deny Christ. Let us not despise any of the little ones among us. For it is these that God cares for and therefore so should we. Verse 10…

These little ones are so deeply cared for by the Father, that angels themselves are serving the Father in caring for them in his own ways. We should not take this care to be our own guardian angels, for that is not what this says. But we should see that these little ones who trust in Jesus are loved by the Father and will be cared for by him, and so then should we. 

In fact, we see the love the Father has for such little ones with the use of a parable. A parable is a tool to help communicate heavenly realities to us using illustrations that we would understand. And so, the example to communicate the heavenly reality of this care of the Lord for these little ones is the imagery of a shepherd with his flock. And so we read in verses 12-13…

A good shepherd desires to lose none of his flock. He will leave the ninety-nine sheep that remained to go after the one sheep that wandered away. He will leave the ninety-nine relatively safe, but vulnerable to go in search of the one in great danger of being picked off. And in finding this little one he will rejoice to have recovered it more so than the ones that remain. 

That is a fairly straight forward illustration for us. Shepherds love their sheep, they protect their sheep. They are going to labor to see that none of their sheep perish. And it is as with this shepherd that we are to see God’s heart for these little ones, these disciples of his. 

For just as the shepherd goes after the sheep that went astray, so the Father in heaven is going to go after these little ones, keeping them from stumbling and going astray. 

But we must return here to verses 5-6 and put the whole together so that we may see the right application for us. We must see that what set this whole calling to kill sin and this parable up was that we are to receive little ones in the name of Jesus if we are to receive Jesus. And that woe to the one who would cause one of these little ones to stumble into sin. 

We must see how little ones are vulnerable. They are vulnerable to temptation, they are vulnerable to wandering, they are vulnerable to danger. But these little ones are not talking about a subset of Christians. All Christians are little ones. All Christians are therefore vulnerable. All Christians are loved and cared for by God. No little one does God the Father desire to perish. 

And so, then if we have rightly come to know this God, to love this God, to being conformed to his God in having his mind and his heart, we too then are to love and care for other little ones. We are to care for them as we have already seen by pursuing holiness for our sake and for theirs. But as we will see even more next week. We are to be loving them and caring for them by pursuing them in encouraging them, teaching them in the ways of the LORD with a genuine care in the form of discipleship so they will not be led astray.

And when they do begin to wander, helping draw them back to the Lord by loving rebuke and correction as we will see more about that process in Matthew 18:15-20 in the form of church discipline. 

For these are the ways in which we receive and care for such little ones as ourselves in displaying the heart of the Lord that none should perish. 

This is one reason here at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church we have a church covenant. A set of promises that we make to one another. One of those covenant promises is as follows:

That we will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over each other, and faithfully warn, rebuke, and admonish one another as the case shall require.

We do this, because we want to know that to belong to this particular church, this particular body of believers, that this is part of the expectation for our lives together. To be in constant watchfulness and care for one another, to help pull one another back quickly before any should wander and fall away, God enabling us to do that. 

And so, for those who are members here at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church, understand this responsibility that you have, yes to all Christians, but most particularly with those you are in covenant with, because these are the promises we make to one another.

But if you are not a member, let me encourage you that this is part of why church membership is important. For yes, part of church membership is affirming a particular set of beliefs, it is affirming to holding to the same line. But it is also about submitting ourselves, both to a group of leaders responsible for shepherding you, but also submitting to one another in this kind of watch care over one another. It is submitting by saying, yes I see I need this kind of watchfulness in my life and I am asking, I am giving you the authority to carry that watch care out rather than continuing to be my own authority. 

Beloved, see how Matthew 18 starts and will continue to be about a defined people who gather together and live in community together for the purpose of living as God’s new, covenant people. A community of little children who humble themselves by declaring their need in Jesus and their need for one another in the midst of the troubles that lay before us in this world. 

Let’s pray… 

Endnotes

[1]  R.T. France. Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher. (Eugene, OR, Wipe and Stock Publishers, 2004) 144.

[2] double negative in the Greek

[3]  J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 221.