Matthew 18:1-5 – As Children

¹ At that time the disciples approached Jesus and asked, “So who will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² He called a child to him and put him in the middle of the group, ³ and said, “I tell you truly that if you don’t turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever humbles himself as this child, that is the one who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever receives such a child in my name receives me.

Matthew 18:1-5 (my translation)

My wife set an interesting task for me in suggesting this text. The reason? It challenges just about everything about the way we tend to think, the way we do church, and the way we do community. In general, we’d prefer not to be challenged in this way.

A standard question, a good question, is just what aspects of being a child Jesus is pointing to here. Are we to be ignorant, inexperienced, demanding, perhaps a bit spoiled? Are we not to take responsibility for ourselves? I’ve heard every negative, or supposedly negative characteristic of children brought into the conversation.

But there is a point of context that sets the boundaries. The disciples were looking at who was greatest. They wanted a hierarchy. They assumed there would be a hierarchy. They wanted the best spots in that hierarchy. They would be able to protect themselves by having the places of leadership. They could keep other people in line by use of their positions in the hierarchy.

At this time the disciples expected Jesus to take over as king, so these positions would be those of political power. They would rule other people, always in Jesus’ name, of course, but taking care of themselves in the process. Everything would be on their side. And each of them wanted to be the one of them that was making the calls. That’s the place of control, the place you can protect yourself.

And Jesus says to them to become like little children. It’s not what that little child’s behavior that Jesus wants them to imitate, though there are certainly good characteristics of a child-like approach to life. What Jesus is saying is to them is this: “You’re going to have to give up the power and the control to become part of the kingdom of heaven.”

It’s not even that Jesus is standing at the gate of the kingdom blocking people from entering because they lack a list of characteristics of a child. The problem is that as long as you want the power, as long as you want the control, you really can’t fit into the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven is ruled by One who has absolute control and uses that on behalf of everyone. The glory of God is not that God is powerful. That is really glorious. We worship the power and the glory and we want that for ourselves. We admire it.

But the One with all the power and the glory went to the cross, enduring all the agony and shame because for the One who is really glorious, the glory is all there for the good of everyone and everything. And if you want to be part of the kingdom you’re going to be losing all that control as well, giving it up for everyone around you.

You will have to be powerless for all those who are powerless.

Why? Because the only one who ever had it put that power to work for the benefit of the powerless.

If you or I enter the kingdom we’ll realize that we actually were “as little children,” as those children would have been in the world of the first century, without their own choice or power. We’re going to receive others who are powerless as Jesus would have.

And what’s more, we’re going to realize that we are powerless even to do all this, because all power comes from God in the first place. We can only become those little children, and we can only receive those little children through God’s grace working in us.

God’s strength is manifested in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

So be weak today. Be dependent. Be helpless.

Let God.