Matthew 18:1-14 A Parable About True Greatness

Matthew 18:1-14 A Parable About True Greatness

Greatness! The Pursuit of Power. Fame Fortune Power and Pleasure… Chuck Swindoll summarised these four attitudes as that which constitutes life for most people.  This is the source of the problems in our world.  

What's wrong with the world?  I am!   Said G K Chesterton! "Pride is the mother of all sins, and there is a bit of her DNA in all of us."

What a question! Had they forgotten the first beatitude—"Blessed are the poor in spirit" (5:3)? Had they forgotten the faith-filled Roman centurion's humility—"Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed" (8:8)? Had they forgotten that father's mustard-seed faith—"a man came up to him [Jesus] and, kneeling before him, said, 'Lord, have mercy on my son'" (17:14, 15)? Yes. Yes. Yes. It seems they had forgotten.2

In 18:4 Jesus tells us that the motive behind his disciples' question was pride, for he begins that verse, "Whoever humbles himself . . ."

1. You Need To Be Converted

"The kingdom of heaven, a phrase Matthew uses some 32 times, is synonymous with the kingdom of God.

The phrase "enter the kingdom of heaven" is used three times in the book of Matthew (see also 7:21; 19:23-24) and in each case refers to personal salvation. It is the same experience as entering into life (18:8) and entering into the joy of the Lord (25:21).

The fact that a person must enter the kingdom assumes he is born outside of it under the rule of Satan and that he is not naturally a heavenly citizen under the rule of God. The purpose of the gospel is to show men how they may enter the kingdom and become its citizens, moving from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Col. 1:13). The central focus of Matthew's gospel is to draw men and women into the kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ, and that is doubtlessly one of the reasons the Holy Spirit placed this book at the beginning of the New Testament. Throughout his gospel, Matthew carefully and systematically presents the components of genuine belief.

The phrase are converted translates an aorist passive of strepho which elsewhere in the New Testament is always translated with an idea of "turning" or "turning around." It means to make an about face and go in the opposite direction.

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (3:2) "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted (Strepho  turn) and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." "turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9).

God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways" (Acts 3:19, 26).19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities." NKJV  turn, return. ESV NASB

The term is used repeatedly in the book of Acts to speak of conversion (11:21; 15:19; 26:18, 20).

David Wells describes conversion with this statement: Christianity without conversion is no loner Christian, because conversion means turning to God. It involves forsaking sin, with its self-deifying attitudes and self-serving conduct, and turning to Christ, whose death on the cross is the basis for God's offer of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus was judged in our place so that God could extend his righteousness to us. Conversion occurs when we turn from our waywardness and accept Christ's death on our behalf.

Sensitivity:  Be Tender about Sin  4 Whoever humbles himself … unaware of the need for power, self assertion, competition, aware of sin.

D. A. Carson says, "The child is a model, in this context, not of innocence, faith, or purity, but of humility and unconcern for social status. Jesus assumed that people are not naturally like that; they must change to become like little children."

Sincerity:  Be Turning from Sin To the Saviour

Simplicity:   Be Trusting In the Saviour

Wells "Conversion is not an isolated event but is related to the entire life of faith that follows from it. It is the moment of birth into a new life. It is like a doorway into a room. A person is born to live, not to linger on the edge of the womb in a time of limbo. A person opens a door not for the pleasure of standing forever on the threshold but to enter the room. The evangelical world has strangely perverted this truth. Evangelicals often make the test of spiritual life one's willingness to testify about the moment of birth. Describing one's sensations in passing through the doorway is considered proof that one is in the room! . . . The only real proof of our conversion is an obedient and fruitful life. P.43.

The point about conversion, though, is that it is the way into Christian faith; it is not the entirety of Christian faith. Conversion is only the threshold to the building of salvation. (p.22.) Christianity is inescapably preoccupied with changed lives. (p. 45.)

Conversion denotes a transformation from self-dedication to dedication to God. (p.45.)

Conversion results in a religion that becomes socially tangible. (p. 47.) Above all, conversion implies a movement from theory to practice. (p. 47) The reality of conversion witnesses to God's lordship . . . and is not just a figment of metaphysics. (p, 48.)

In the Christian world today, however, what we have all too often is an aberration–spiritual birth that is not followed by an obvious spiritual life. (p. 23.) When Jesus issued the Great Commission, he did not tell his followers to go into all the world and ask people to raise their hands or to fill out a decision card. Rather, he enjoined them to make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything he had commanded. (p10.) Just as there is no discipleship without conversion, so there also can be no conversion without discipleship. The two belong together. (p. 23.)

Boice: "To enter the kingdom people must possess the humility of children, but to do so they need to be radically changed. People are not humble by nature. We are self-seeking, selfish, and driven by pride. What do we need if we are to become humble, trusting what God has done for our salvation and not what we can accomplish for ourselves? The answer is clear: We need to "turn" or "be converted," which is God's work. We need to pray the prayer of Jeremiah 31:18: "Turn me, and I shall be turned, for you are the LORD my God" (my translation). We "must be born again" (John 3:7). How do we know if we are converted? The evangelical bishop John Ryle said, "The surest mark of [any] true conversion is humility." It is when we humble ourselves and trust Jesus alone to save us that we can be sure we are converted."

2. You Need To Be Concerned

Σκανδαλίσῃ   "he or she may stumble" sin 6,7 Don't Be A Stumbling Block To Kids

By Disenfranchising Them 5,6  receive or not?   

By Disillusioning Them  Skandalio 

By Despising Them 10 Why not Angels are witnesses,  God promises punishment if you do.

People have turned to this Bible verse above all others for the idea of guardian angels, though there is not much in the Bible elsewhere to support that idea. In Daniel the archangel Michael appears as a protector of the Jewish people (see Dan. 12:1). Hebrews 1:14 refers to "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation."  Revelation 1-3 refer to the angels of the seven churches. The "angels" may be pastors of these churches.

God cares for each of us individually. When I see a hundred sheep in a meadow, I cannot begin to imagine how a shepherd can distinguish one sheep from another and miss one if it is caught by a predator or wanders off. All sheep look alike to me. But I am told that shepherds know their sheep. They know them individually, and, what is more, their sheep know them and respond to their voices. Jesus was building on this fact when he told the people of his day, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:14-15).  We know that God knows his people individually and cares for them individually because when he calls them to faith he calls them "by name" (John 10:3). God cares for His children individually.  Don't despise that which God loves.

God's pursues the lost.

God understands our weaknesses and their weaknesses. I have never taken care of sheep or even had anything to do with them, except for seeing them in fields from time to time. But I am told that sheep are stupid creatures, probably the most stupid animals on earth. One way they show their stupidity is by so easily wandering away. They can have a good shepherd who has brought them to the best grazing lands, near an abundant supply of water, but they will still wander off to where the fields are barren and the water undrinkable.

God seeks us when we stray. God seeks them when they stray.  Don't not seek what God seeks! Make Seeking Children and Youth Your Priority 12, 13

God rejoices when they return to Him 13,14

Boice: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? "Jesus answered the question, and we have been trying to understand Jesus' answer. But here I want to follow up by asking, Did the disciples get it? Were they actually turned and changed to become like little children?  We know they didn't get it right away, because they are still fighting for the top position two chapters later. On that occasion the mother of James and John came to Jesus asking that one of her sons be chosen to sit at his right hand and the other son be chosen to sit at his left hand when he came into his kingdom (Matt. 20:21). They had probably put her up to it. So when the other disciples heard what she had asked Jesus, "they were indignant with the two brothers" (v. 24). They wanted those positions themselves.

What did Jesus do? He got them together and went through it all again. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (vv. 25-28).

As long as Jesus was with them, they didn't get it. But when he died, they did, for they understood at last that he had given himself for them and had bought their salvation at the cost of his own life. And they really were changed.

The disciples were all guilty of this self-advancing spirit, according to the Gospel. But among the many who were guilty, James and John stand out as the most guilty because of their compliance with the efforts of their mother to get them the first places. Yet think what happened to them! At one time Jesus called them "Sons of Thunder," no doubt because of their arrogant, boisterous attitudes (Mark 3:17). On another occasion they wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy a village of the Samaritans that did not receive them (Luke 9:54). They were changed when they finally got their minds off themselves and onto Jesus.

What were the disciples thinking about when Jesus told them about the lost sheep? They had been arguing about which of them should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. With that in the immediate background, presumably they were thinking of themselves as among the ninety-nine who were still on the hillside and were wondering which of the ninety-nine would be the "top sheep." As long as they were thinking of such things, they would never be concerned for the one who was lost, and they would never do anything to help find him or her.  We are never more like God than when we exert ourselves to seek others. God rejoices over the one we help to bring home.  Are you on board with God's plan?