Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 18:1-6

Welcoming the Little Children

 

/At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” /

/He called a little child and had him stand among them.

And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

/

/ //“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”/

You may recall the context in which Matthew relates this account of Jesus’ concern for children.

The incident is recorded in each of the Synoptic Gospels.

Mark’s account [*Mark 9:33-37*] and Luke’s account [*Luke 9:46-48*] flesh out Matthew’s account.

Jesus had been on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Peter, James and John had witnessed His metamorphosis and were made aware of the Divine intent for His exodus to be shortly accomplished.

Subsequent events would reveal that though they heard the words they failed to understand the Divine mandate for the Son of God.

Coming down from His Transfiguration, Jesus had healed a demonised boy.

The other disciples had attempted to deliver the child, but had failed miserably.

Mark adds the insightful comment that fasting may be required in combination with prayer for some instances of deliverance [cf.

*Mark 9:29* – *Majority Text*].

Leaving there, the disciple band began to journey to Capernaum.

On the way the disciples began to argue among themselves.

The source of their disagreement centred about the question of who was to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In fact, we might imagine that they were arguing about which of them was the greatest.

Who among them would qualify as the most important individual to the cause of the Master?

Regardless of the particulars of their argument, they did not involve the Master.

We need to be cautious in drawing any hasty conclusions about their argument.

I’ll address this point further in a brief moment, but first I must make two observations at this point.

First, this was not the only time the disciples argued about the ethics of the Kingdom of God and more particularly about their relative importance to the work of the Kingdom.

This seems to have been an ongoing argument right up to the night Jesus was seized and dragged before the Sanhedrin.

In this, the disciples were not so very different from the professed people of God in our day.

Too often, instead of thinking of the glory of God we seek our own advancement in the Kingdom.

A second observation of perhaps even greater importance is that Jesus said nary a word during their discussion.

They did not ask Him to settle the dispute, no doubt because of their discomfort with the issue.

Upon arrival in Capernaum, however, Jesus asked them about their conversation during the trek.

At last one of the disciple band screwed up enough courage to confess the discomforting question to the Master.

It is apparent that all alike were eager to know the answer to their query.

The entire band gathered around the Master, thinking to settle the issue and to thus forever set the pecking order.

At Jesus’ word the issue would be settled once and forever.

As the disciples posed their question, our translation omits one word.

Perhaps it isn’t necessary to understand the teaching of the Master, but it does provide insight into the mind of the disciples.

Consequently, it will assist us in clarifying our own vision.

If you read one of the more literal translations, such as the *New American Standard Version*, you will notice that the question is advanced by the query /Who then/.

That little word /then/ is easily overlooked, but think what it means.

In this instance /then/ has no time value, but it indicates that the disciples were thinking in terms of the teaching they had only recently witnessed.

Jesus was teaching them so many new things concerning the Kingdom of Heaven and the disciples, as is true of us, thought in terms of the kingdoms of this dying world.

Greatness permits action; and greatness is measured by power over others.

Jesus had begun to insistently teach that He would go to Jerusalem where He would be crucified.

The King was making preparation to die!

The King was planning to remove Himself through regicide!

Yet, the Kingdom was to be established despite His absence.

Who then would be greatest?

If the One they expected to be greatest was removed, who was left?

If He was going to die, the One in whom all hopes of greatness were placed were dashed.

Now they stood in the midst of the wreckage of their aspirations, their hopes, their cherished anticipation.

He would not break the power of roman tyranny.

He would not re-establish David’s throne at this time.

He would not assert Himself.

You see they may not have been seeking personal power or appointment to office within God’s Kingdom, but they were desperately trying to understand the implications of the Kingdom and they had no model by which to compare it.

When the disciples asked, /Who then is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven/? what they really asked was /What is the condition for greatness in Your Kingdom/?

In effect they said /Greatness in our kingdom is exhibited by authority and power.

If You rob us of our ideals, what then is Your ideal of greatness/?

These poor men were baffled and perplexed, and we also are bewildered and confused by these identical issues.

The Model for Greatness in Christ’s Kingdom — Notice that Jesus addressed the issue of greatness by inviting a little child to come stand by Him.

There is perhaps more in this picture than meets the eye.

Too often we look and fail to see.

It is not merely that He stood a little child in the midst of the disciples, but I wonder why a child was present?

Jesus was apparently in the house to which he often retired when in Capernaum.

Capernaum served as His unofficial centre of ministry whenever He was in Galilee.

If, as it seems reasonable to assume, He was in that particular home which served to provide Him a measure of rest and retirement from the world, we might well ask what a little child was doing present?

This was a paidivon, a toddler.

The child was likely no more than three years of age and perhaps as young as one year old.

Whether the child could speak well of not is left unstated.

All we know is that this was a toddler, a little child.

What was such a young child doing nearby these big men?

Of course we could theorise that the child was a member of the family which owned the home.

Perhaps that is correct, but why was the child standing nearby, apparently absorbed in listening to this exchange?

It is just as likely that the child was a neighbourhood child who simply wandered in.

What is important for us is that the child was not an invited participant in the discussions which were taking place.

Curiosity and childlike innocence led the child to stand nearby watching these adults.

Children are a delight to those of us who are older.

They are naïve, innocent, unsullied by the dicta of polite society which demands that we pretend to ignore what is going on around us.

Such little ones assume the best about people and wait for recognition from adults – recognition which usually fails to be extended by busy adults.

We have only returned from visiting out grandchildren.

While in Vancouver, our Caiti observed her third birthday.

Her brother Joel is a big boy of five going on twenty-six.

Our Joel, being somewhat older and also being accomplished with Nintendo (especially games built around the antics of Sonic the Hedgehog ®) he can occupy himself for hours on end.

Caiti, on the other hand, alternates between trying to get her older brother to play with her and playing around the adults seated in the living room.

From time-to-time she comes to either of her parents or to one of her grandparents, bringing a book or a toy and asking to be seated on a convenient lap so she can be part of the activity.

How very like a child!

They assume others will be interested in what they are interested in and in sheer innocence insinuate themselves into our hearts.

The little child Jesus called out to was likely hanging around the edges of the group hoping to gain recognition or obtain an opening which would permit play.

The toddler likely peeked from face-to-face occasionally in hopes of obtaining a brief smile of approval for simply being a child.

When Jesus called the little one there was immediate response.

The child seems to have moved quickly to His side, the disciples surrounding both Jesus and the little one.

How trusting and obedient to the Master’s call.

Listen to the Lord’s words.

They are solemn words.

Whenever Jesus wished to emphasise the importance of what He was saying, He would begin with a variant of the phrase ajmh;n levgw uJmi'n – /I tell you the truth/, or more literally /Amen, I say to you/.

It was a linguistic mechanism to alert His disciples to pay attention.

What was to follow was of utmost importance to their eternal well being.

What Jesus had to say concerning the Kingdom of Heaven revolved around His model of a little child.