Who is the Greatest

Gospel Diagnosis | Who is the Greatest | Matthew 18:1-9

Matthew 18:1–9 CSB

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a small child and had him stand among them. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me. 6 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes. 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire.

What is something you want to be really good at?

Genesis 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

I always wondered what it would really feel like to be the best at something. To the point where no one argues that you are truly great.

Like, what would it be like to be LeBron James or Michael Jordan in their prime? Or Mohammad Ali, or Mike Tyson. Knowing you’re the greatest at what you do.

As a pastor I try to do my best. What makes the greatest pastor? Right now I am once again reading through the Bible which would make I think the 3rd time I have read every single word, and I spent a lot of time in prayer this week.

Some of you might hear that and say wow that’s a lot of reading and others might say only 3 times I know someone who has read it 15 times.

I have baptized people, shared Jesus with people. Seen people dramatically change by God, but what if I was the greatest?

What if it wasn’t me but you? What would your life be like?

What if you could be the greatest, truly the one who is incredible as a Christian, a follower of Jesus.

What would you have to do for God to think of you as the greatest follower of Him?

pause

What would you be like if you were the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Are you pursuing that? Are you close like the Bengals? Is greatest in heaven what you are about?

I do believe heaven is real. I do believe it is eternal. Everything else in my life this week is temporary. The job I hold. My health, Even my relationships, even tensions of war, while everything I mention are important they are all going away including the books that will be written about this time. Temporary all of it, but heaven is eternal, so what if, should we, pursue being the best at the eternal?

As Jesus taught, his disciples lived on his every word, he taught them about life and he taught about the eternal. we too should hang on his every word because we just agreed we still desire the eternal today. Whatever age, gender, wherever we are to live as followers of Jesus so we desire to live out what Jesus said, and so they asked Jesus about what it takes to get an A+ in Jesus following, what it takes to be the best, specifically they asked who does one have to be, to be the greatest.

Matthew 18:1 CSB1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

What will Jesus say? PAUSE

It’s the answer to what I have talked this whole time. If we know who is the greatest than we will know why and we can pursue that.

Take a second and think about your answer.

Let’s get nerdy for a second. The bible wasn’t written in English it was written in ancient Greek. The greek word here for greatest is

may-zone which is the nominative adjective singular form of megas. Was that nerdy enough for you. We have an English word from it - MEGA!

Big, huge, most important!

So who is it Jesus? Who is MEGA in the kingdom of heaven.

Is it the disciple Peter? Is it Mary, his mom? Someone like Billy Graham who lived with integrity and preached about Jesus to the whole world. Who is it?

Matthew 18:2 CSB2 He called a small child and had him stand among them.

Who here has a younger brother or sister, maybe it’s them?

Jesus called young child up and said,

Matthew 18:3–4 CSB3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Not just MEGA in heaven but entry requires the humility of a child.

okay, so before when I asked what you thought might be a requirement for heaven we said....... but here Jesus says none of that. He says you need to be like a child.

Children don’t know much and they don’t have much. Kids have to learn how to do almost everything, by either copying or directly being taught. In the days of Jesus the father was the head of the household and the ultimate police power in a child’s life. A child in the days of Jesus would be anyone 11 and under. 5th grade and below. The children were to bring honor to the family and depended on the family. Just as they still do today. Kids can be remarkable but this was as we say, “just a kid.” Not a remarkable kid, not an incredible gifted kid, not a injured kid, just a kid. A kid who was farming with dad. A kid who was being a kid.

Why a kid? Because the kid is totally humble, totally dependent on God.

You may have come tonight thinking that if you did more, believed more, fasted more, prayed more, evangelized more, gave more, more attractive, smarter, something, if you do more for God if you had it all together than God will change you. God will answer your prayer. God will make you whole, better, important.

Nope.

Not more. Not more effort, not more work. Not out of you.

Instead a willingness to accept what the work He did for you. A willingness to accept that you can’t be “good enough” but you need God.

John 3:16 CSB16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Do you know that Jesus loves you so much he can’t love you anymore. There is nothing you can do that can change his love for you. God cares for you so much you could never care for someone as much as he cares for you.

You (and your siblings you thought of earlier) can never be more loved by your parents than you already are. Even on your worst days your parents love you so much.

Even thought your parents love you and could never stop loving you, God’s love for you is infinitely greater.

Would you accept that Jesus truly loves you?

Right now. God loves you.

Like a child will you rest in the fact that Jesus, your father, can be taken at His word. He made it right. It’s essential that all of us, with all of our sins recognize what the greatest love of our life did for us,

And this points to why we can trust him too!

It’s one thing for God to say he loves you, but it’s another thing for him to prove it.

Any parent who loves their child will tell you the thought of losing their child is the worst pain imaginable. And remember that as much as your parents love you, it pails in comparasion to God’s love.

When we remember this is puts into perspective what God did for you. He sent his one and only Son to die, for you, and you, and you. And to make it even worse, he didn’t just die for all humanity, but it was humanity that killed him. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to see one of my sons die, but even more so for me to SEND him to die for the people that want to kill him.

Today, hear God loves you. God loves you so much that he died for you.

God did it! You don’t have to.

Maybe this week you’re feeling terrible because once again you didn’t measure up, you failed in some way, or your stressed because of something you need to do.

God is waiting for you. In fact, it’s all that stuff that makes you the perfect candidate to come to God! He said you need to be like a child. So if you feel like a fialure, or needy, you don’t have the answers....that’s perfect! That’s exactly where you need to be to go to God.

What does that mean? What does it mean to be humble like the child.

Humble comes from another H word, humiliate. Humiliate is to cause someone to feel low. Humble is very different than humiliate. Humble doesn’t mean the shame of knowing someone caused you be lower, embarrassed, or ashamed. Humble is the understanding that you are already low. It it the understanding of how much you need.

Think about children. If a child wants to go to the park, what do they have to do? Ask their parent. They already know they are in a low position to their parents.

I get the honor of working with children with special needs and many kids I have worked with don’t know how to button or un-botten yet, they must be taught. So when they need to go to the bathroom many of them will walk up to me and thrust there hips out, because they can’t talk, and it’s there quick way of saying “ I need you. Otherwise I am going to be peeing in my pants being that I can’t unbotten pants. You have the choice to unbotten these now while they are dry or later when they have pee all over them.” My students can say a lot in a simple movement.

I’m kidding but Children have no problem being humble. They have no problem realizing they need.

We need to remember we can’t fix our spiritual state and we don’t get to be the greatest in heaven by somehow impressing God. Like a child, we don’t have to come up with the plans for the family, we have to follow.

IN the days of Jesus, the children would be expected to follow in the families job, work the family farm, do whatever the father said and then their mother said. They were adults in training and children became family workers immediately as soon as they could work. Children were the servants of their parents.

If a person wants to be great in the kingdom of God they need to become a servant to God like the children were to their parents.

Jesus said it again this way,

Matthew 20:26–28 CSB26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

My friends Jesus is not talking about a job but a lifestyle. A lifestyle of loving others. A lifestyle of serving the Lord by seeking out service through the church family and in ways to love others.

How does a child know what to do?

Listens and is taught.

I got to tell you about my big mistake this year as a teacher I have my students line up to leave for recess, lunch whatever we do when we leave the classroom. I even have little dots on the ground for them to stand on. You know what, they don’t stand on them. They wander, anytime an adult is not right next to them, they start heading somewhere and turn their back they start to wander. So I changed it up, because my students are humble children and I had to show them what to do. Now I require them to sit down on the dots. Some of them, as I said my students are special needs so they need a little more guidance so we might hold their hand to the dot and then push a little on the top of the shoulder and they sit. Ready to do. Only when they stop trying to figure out what they want to do and instead stay seated listening to what we tell them can we get everything ready for them.

My staff and I arrange whatever we need to go, like get all their lunches together, where we are going and then we get into position and say, “stand up.” Some of my little guys still need a helping hand up and then we go.

My friends, the Lord is a better guide than me. Some of you are wandering too and fro, bumping into stuff and wondering what you are supposed to do.

Let’s pop a squat, let’s take a seat and stop trying to impress anyone or fix everything. Let’s repent from the idea that we can be good enough or even never be good enough for God. Instead like kids let’s us surrender ourselves to God.

like a child and follow the directions God is laying on our lives. and recognize that our duty is to lay down our lives for one another.

If you know that Jesus loves you, than you have a duty, to serve in love.