That Is Great
Read This Week: Matthew 18
At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:1-4 NIV
Peter, James, and John had just been on the mountain with Jesus during the Transfiguration. They had seen the glory of God and been through something few human beings had ever encountered. They had an experience that should have infused passion, joy, and harmony into their community, yet the Bible tells us that it led to rank, file, and posturing about who was the greatest among them.
They got pulled into the human hierarchical view of life. This view asserts that the higher you are will translate into the most influence, significance, and greatness. The world’s philosophy is you are great if others are working for you, but the message of Christ is that greatness comes from serving others.
This brings us to Matthew 18. It is packed full of theological and practical teaching that can inform our lives at all levels. Not least of which is Jesus addressing the question of who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? The answer to this particular question cuts to the heart of so many issues we face in life. The assertion that lowliness or humility makes a person great underwrites all the principles taught in the passages that succeed it. This statement from Jesus in verse 4 sets the tone for the rest of the chapter:
“Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Servanthood and humility are the prerequisites for a life that honors God on this earth. To take the position of a servant as Jesus did and be humble as a small child is to navigate all the nuances of the Christian life that expresses the heart of God to the world. These postures can prevent us from stumbling and causing others to be damaged by our choices (v. 6-9). These spiritual heart attitudes can empower us to stay in the pursuit of God and not wander away, but if another person wanders, humility will cause us to pursue them as the Lord pursued us (v. 10-14).
Servanthood to Christ and the humility of a child pave the way for dealing with sin in the church, resolving conflict and disputes in a Goldy manner (v. 15-20). These attributes lead to restorative justice and reconciliation among people who have erred and bring people back together in community. The lowly position tunes our hearts to compassion, forgiveness, and mercy for others lost on the wicked servant in verses 21-35. This idea of true greatness through assuming and aspiring to the lowest place in the kingdom is what the Lord wants.
May we not be concerned with the questions that preoccupied the disciples. May we be so intent on and interested in serving others and doing so from a position of humility that we forget the idea of status altogether. And may the Holy Spirit inspire and empower us to be involved in great things for the glory of God and know that it probably won’t have anything to do with the world’s standards of greatness. But as Jesus instructed, that is what will make it great.
This week, God gave me a song from Matthew 18 called “Children of the Lord”:
We are children of the Lord, children of the Lord
We are children of the Lord.
Trusting, loving, and forgiving becoming humble
Whoever forgives will be set free, will be set free
Let’s openly love one another
Helping each other become more like Jesus
We rejoice, rejoice, we rejoice in the Lord
We are children of the Lord, children of the Lord
We are children of the Lord. Amen.
We are children of the Lord so let’s shine bright and share His love with each other and those who we come in contact with.
I love this, Alma. I think that Christians should be reminded and remember each day that we are God’s children. That we are loved, cared for, adored, and given mercy and grace by our Father God.
We don’t have to do anything, earn anything, or be anything for Him to loves us and call us His children. I hope we sing this as an offering of praise and gratitude to God:
We are children of the Lord, children of the Lord
We are children of the Lord. Amen.
Matthew 18:21-22 says, Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.
Jesus is inviting us into a process of transformation. But you have to want to, we need to keep making the choice of trusting God for His help through the process. At times, people do things that upset us, or they hurt us with their careless words. I’m sure most of you at one time or another have experienced a situation where you have felt that someone you cared enough about has caused you pain, anger, and sadness because of some kind of serious misunderstanding in your relationship.
What happens to a person when a hurt festers and grows? How do you let that go? Well, God wants you to be free, to have a heart that is soft, seek Him how to learn how to guard it too. Ask God to help you to let it go, finding forgiveness frees you, gives you peace, Forgiving someone may not take the hurt away at first or the memory of what happened, but it does set your heart free. When you forgive someone, helps you to see the person or the situation in a whole different light.
It doesn’t mean if you’re in a situation where it is harmful, dangerous to stay there please get good godly counsel on what to do. But you do need to forgive for your heart, so you’re not living in anxiety, resentment, or bearing a grudge, ask God what to do He will always lead you into the right direction. Forgiving helps you to move forward on your journey with Jesus. Forgiveness encourages compassion. Let the past be the past, don’t do reruns over and over, it doesn’t help you, let it go. Forgiveness is an act of kindness and goodness, It’s a path that leads to peace.
Thank you, Jesus, that you forgave us, we don’t deserve it, yet you love us so much, that You were willing to die in order to forgive us. May we ask Father God to please help us to have a heart like His and Jesus and may we be lead by His Holy Spirit to forgive as Jesus forgave us. We want to live in your peace and to forgive and have Your love for others.
There is so much good stuff here, Heidi that I feel like I could write a novel and engage in it all. But the idea of being actively involved in God’s process of transformation and the issue of letting past hurts go really stood out to me. This statement grabbed me immediately:
Jesus is inviting us into a process of transformation. But you have to want to, we need to keep making the choice of trusting God for His help through the process.
This is such a good reflection of the pursuit of God and the pursuit of man. We are not only changed by God but we are invited by Him out of His goodness and grace to pursue His truth and word and be an active part of the change He creates in us. It is a participatory thing versus a passive and spectator thing. It’s so important for us to remember this in our Christian walks.
This was the other part that jumped off the page at me and quite frankly was convicting and challenging in its truth and counsel:
It doesn’t mean if you’re in a situation where it is harmful, dangerous to stay there please get good godly counsel on what to do. But you do need to forgive for your heart, so you’re not living in anxiety, resentment, or bearing a grudge, ask God what to do He will always lead you in the right direction.
The heart is the thing God is interested in. He wants our hearts to be right with Him because out of it comes the pace and nature of our lives. I pray we all experience forgiveness and healing in our hearts even while we may need to make difficult decisions to get out of a toxic situation or relationship. The two can be mutually exclusive, yet the forgiveness and eradication of anxiety, resentment, and holding a grudge is the most important thing. This honors God and is for our good,
Thank you, Jason, for your beautiful words of wisdom.
Thank you, Heidi. Many blessings to you!