Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in the 18th Chapter
of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 1–20:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And
calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly,
I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 “Whoever
receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 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.
7 “Woe to
the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations
come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if
your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is
better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet
to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it
out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than
with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10 “See
that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in
heaven their angels always see the face of
my Father who is in heaven.12 What do
you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray,
does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one
that went astray? 13 And if
he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the
ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who
is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15 “If
your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and
him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if
he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge
may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he
refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to
listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a
tax collector. 18 Truly,
I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I
say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it
will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I among them.”
Today’s Gospel causes me to marvel at the
patience of Jesus. How many times did
the disciples try to establish a pecking order among themselves? “Who
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
In the preceding verses, we learn that Jesus has been pouring out His
heart concerning His upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection, and what do
the disciples do? They came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?” Could any
topic be more inappropriate? From a human
perspective, it just amazes me that Jesus could contain his anger at times like
this.
The desire for power has been at the root of sin
from the beginning. Consider the very
first temptation. [Genesis 3:4–5]
The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For
God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.”
There it is, right in the middle of the temptation. “You
will be like God.” Here is the
serpent tempting Eve with the lie that she could be as great as God Himself.
The first murder is a similar story. [Genesis 4:4b–5] The Lord had
regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his
offering he had no regard. So Cain was
very angry, and his face fell. Cain
perceived that Abel was greater in the Kingdom of Heaven. However, instead of repenting, [Genesis 4:8b] Cain rose up
against his brother Abel and killed him.
He attempted to make himself greater in the Kingdom of Heaven by
eliminating the competition.
Consider the history of mankind. How many people have shed blood and died
because someone … somewhere … wanted to be the greatest … wanted to have the
most power … wanted to have the most influence in the affairs of men?
How much do we lose today because people are
more interested in winning than they are in learning the truth? Jesus held the truth in high esteem. He said, [John
8:31–32] “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We often forget these words and become more
like the disciples. We are not
interested in the truth. We are more
interested in winners and losers. We are
interested in who is the greatest.
The Lord patiently demonstrates the sinful
nature of this sort of thinking by calling a child to stand among the
disciples. In Biblical times, a child whilst probably loved, was considered
totally dependent and inferior in standing – the least in the social pecking
order. Then He said, “Truly, I say to
you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven.” Here Jesus is
emphasising that the question of who is the greatest is totally inappropriate. Instead, He focuses on who it really is that
enters the Kingdom of Heaven.
You see, the disciples’ question about who is
the greatest simply assumes that they will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus’ response causes us to rethink that
assumption. Instead of being worried
about becoming the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, we should focus on
entering the Kingdom of Heaven. What a
tragedy it would be to struggle to be the greatest and then discover that we
are not even entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus pointed to the child as an object lesson
of what it takes to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The question then becomes, “What is it about
a child that qualifies those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven? What does Jesus mean when He instructs us to
be like a child?”
It seems as though children produce nothing that
makes them worthy of anything. Children
are physically weak, subject to the will of adults, and susceptible to
sickness. Children do not possess the
ability to think rationally. Children
are ignorant, cannot choose between good and evil, cannot defend themselves,
and are easily deceived. All these
things seem to indicate that children have no inherent qualification to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven, nor can they do anything that makes them worthy of the
that kingdom. Instead of possessing
great power, children are totally dependent on others for their very existence.
But that is the point. Children are totally dependent. They bring nothing of power to any
situation. In the same way, Jesus
instructs us to realise that we are totally dependent. We possess nothing of power or position with
regard to the Kingdom of Heaven. Like
children, who are totally dependent on others for their very existence, we are
totally dependent on the mercy and grace of Almighty God for our entrance into
the Kingdom of Heaven.
This teaching could be utterly alarming. It means we are totally helpless. It means that if God is not a God of mercy
and grace, we are eternally lost. We
really are at the mercy of our God and Creator!
As humans, we struggle to find any comfort at all in this teaching? It is only through Holy Baptism; the Lord’s
Supper; the Word of God; the confession and absolution and prayer that we come
to the great revelation that the comfort for all humankind lies in the One who
gives this teaching … Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Consider the work of God the Son. The Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of
the Apostle Paul and said, [Philippians
2:5–8] “Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but
emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of
men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” These words teach us that God the Son loved
us so much that He took on our human flesh in order that He might be our
substitute before God. As our
substitute, He humbled Himself under the law and kept it perfectly. As our substitute, He allowed men to nail Him
to a cross. As our substitute, He
endured the wrath of almighty God. As
our substitute, He died.
Jesus does not leave us dangling in the wind
after He teaches us that we are totally dependent on others. Instead, He is the one on whom we can
depend. In fact, we must depend on
Him. He is our only hope. [Romans 8:34] Christ Jesus is the
one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us. He
is the one who suffered and died so that we can enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. He is the one who rose from the
dead in order to show that God the Father accepted His sacrifice for the
reconciliation of the world.
If you are worried about your position in the
Kingdom of Heaven, repent and depend on Jesus.
If you are worried about which group has the most influence in the
church, repent and depend on Jesus. If
you are worried about who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, repent and
depend on Jesus. Ultimately, it is Jesus
who is the greatest. It is Jesus who has
all the influence. It is Jesus to whom
the hosts of heaven bow and sing [Revelation
5:9–13] a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to
open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for
God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them
a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” And again, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and
wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” And again, “To him who sits on the throne and to the
Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!” Amen
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that
is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen
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