Originally posted: 04/17/2019
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,” (18:1-4).
Did you find it incredulous that the disciples would ask such a question? After all, the Greatest in the kingdom of heaven stood before them. Again we see the heart of man in His followers, the same heart that beats within us all.
Yesterday, the Voice Out of the Cloud, the Father’s Voice, called out to introduce His Humble Child: the only remedy for the heart of man.
“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5).
The Father’s Beloved Son, His Humble Child; is there any more perfect example, the epitome of the Humble Child, than Jesus Christ Himself?
Consider His Humble Child
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey,” (Zechariah 9:9).
“I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting,” (Isaiah 50:6).
“He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him,” (Isaiah 53:3).
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth,” (Isaiah 53:7).
And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart, (Luke 2:51).
And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” (Luke 9:58).
“For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves,” (Luke 22:27).
For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me,” (Romans 15:3).
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich, (2 Corinthians 8:9).
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, (Philippians 2:7-8).
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered, (Hebrews 5:8).
…Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, (Hebrews 12:2).
How do we respond to His Humble Child?
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself…” (18:1-2).
And He continues to call children to Himself…
- He calls us to convert and become like children.
- “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (18:3).
- Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” (John 3:3-6).
- “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (18:3).
- He calls His children to remove any stumbling blocks from others.
- “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea,” (18:6).
- It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles, (Romans 14:21).
- “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea,” (18:6).
- He calls His children to remove the stumbling blocks from self.
- “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell,” (18:8-9).
- …let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… (Hebrews 12:1).
- “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell,” (18:8-9).
- He calls His children to a settled security in Himself.
- “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?” (18:2).
- “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day,” (John 6:39).
- “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?” (18:2).
- He calls His children to extend mercy and forgiveness, just as we also have received from Him.
- “Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?” (18:33).
- Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you, (Ephesians 4:32).
- “Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?” (18:33).
- He calls His children to be conformed to the image of Himself, the Humble Child.
- “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (18:3).
- For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren, (Romans 8:29).
- “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (18:3).
He calls us to Himself! May we daily and intentionally listen for His call, and answer as His humble child.