Who is the Greatest?

Matthew 18:1-6

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Do you recall this question that was asked by the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ?  I have learned this from life, never ask a question unless you are willing to listen to the answer.  “And calling to Him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”  

Jan and I stopped at a Whataburger for a quick lunch and a mother came in with the cutest little boy, I’m guessing he was two years old and full of life.  Children have a tendency to talk loud, so Jan and I began to eavesdrop, and he was so innocent with his questions and comments.  He said, hey mom, you see all those cars out there, wow!  Hey mom, you like pickles, as he was taking his out of his burger, putting them on his mother’s plate and saying, I do not like pickles.  Those are just samples of the many questions and statements he made, but not once did his mother acknowledge or reply to this wonderful little person.   Let me acknowledge that the mother may have heard all of these questions many, many times and just needed a rest; I wondered if she understood that Jesus said this little boy was an example of the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

That flies in the face of some of the religious teaching that says it requires actions to become a saint, but this child that Jesus has called and put in the middle of the disciples, has never done any act of greatness, and yet Jesus is clear that greatness in the kingdom of heaven is becoming like an innocent child; “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Have you noticed in our culture that children are often ignored and even disdained?   As the famous Paul Harvey would say, “let me give you, the rest of the story” and this is it from the mouth of Jesus: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice