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

Is this a question you have ever wanted to ask? To ask Jesus? To Ask God? To ask the Spirit?

Or one something like it?

Who can I trust to show me the path of the Kingdom of God? The path of fellowship with and friendship with God? Surely whoever is greatest could befriend me and show me the way to the Kingdom.

I wonder what kind of answer the disciples expected from Jesus? That he would say one of them was the greatest? That he would say he was the greatest?

Yet, Jesus takes them in a different direction entirely.

Rather than pointing out an individual, he calls attention to a class of people, to ones that his disciples may routinely overlook and perhaps even disparage – children.

What are we to make of Jesus’ answer? What might it suggest to us as the path to the Kingdom?

This week let’s spend time listening to Jesus and paying attention to where his words about greatness lead us as we follow him into the Kingdom of God.

II.
Matthew 18:1-9 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a child, whom he put among them and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

“If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things are bound to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

“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 maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 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 to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.

III.
Jesus speaks about greatness, children, humility, sin, and responsibility.

He speaks of the humility of children and of how one welcomes children.

How might that tell his disciples about the character of those who walk toward the Kingdom and those who have come home to the Kingdom?

Why do you think Jesus mentions children as an example of Kingdom greatness?

What else do you notice about children that leads you to acknowledge the greatness that resides in children?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Desu ibi est}