He was the sort of man that children would come to willingly. The fact that the child came when Jesus called says something about Jesus. Instead, Jesus drew their attention to His nature by having them look at a child as an example. Jesus called a little child to Him: Jesus might have answered the question, “who is the greatest?” by pointing to Himself. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”Ī. Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. ( Matthew 18:2-4) Jesus sets a child as an example of humility. “They doubtless fancied a temporal kingdom of the Messiah, in which places would be bestowed.” (Poole) “They dreamt of a distribution of honours and offices, a worldly monarchy, like the kingdoms of the earth.” (Trapp)Ģ. Is greatest in the kingdom of heaven: The disciples wanted to know who would hold the highest position in the administration Jesus would soon establish. “He spoke of his abasement, they thought of their own advancement and that ‘ at the same time’.” (Spurgeon)ī. We can imagine the disciples arguing amongst themselves about which one was the greatest (as they did in Luke 9:46 and other places), and then saying, “Let’s let Jesus settle this.” They seem to ask this question thinking that Jesus has already chosen one of them as greatest, or as if they wanted Jesus to decide among them. Who then is greatest: The disciples were often concerned about the question of greatness. ( Matthew 18:1) The disciples ask a question.Īt that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”Ī. The heart of a child and care for God’s little ones.ġ. Their Manual of Disciple dealt with many specific rules here Jesus deals with principles and attitudes that should mark His people as they get along with each other.Ī. Some people think Matthew 18 is an early church version of a “Manual of Disciple.” Yet there is a great difference between Matthew 18 and what the Essenes of Qumran had. Qualities and Attitudes of Kingdom CitizensĪmong the separatist community at Qumran - those who kept the Dead Sea Scrolls, later discovered in the 20 th Century - there was a “Manual of Discipline” (known as 1QS by scholars).
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