Becoming Like a Child, Matthew 18:1-10
We have been addressing this issue of what is humility. For many people the idea of humility or meekness as that word is used in the English is somewhat confusing. People have the idea that humility is weakness and letting people just stomp all over us, being a doormat for everybody else. And that was just as true in the ancient world.
A classic example of humility is Philippians chapter two. Humility here is Christ humbling Himself and it is further qualified by the participle that follows it, by becoming something. He becomes obedient to the point of death. What humility is, is recognizing who is in authority over you. It may be parents, a husband, the Lord, an employer, etc. Humility is submitting ourselves no matter what the cost to the authority because that is what the Word of God says to do. It is submitting ourselves to the authorities that God places over us; even when by doing so it may cost us everything. That is the picture here is of Jesus Christ in Philippians 2:8.
Another aspect of humility comes out of the previous verse, which emphasizes His deity. The “form of God” [v.6] refers to His eternal essence as undiminished deity. For all eternity He coexisted with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Part of this section in Matthew chapter eighteen is focusing on a warning to the disciples in terms of leadership, and leadership in relation to little children. Jesus uses a little child as a visual training aid right there in front of them, but He quickly moves to where He is talking about this little child represents spiritually, i.e. believers/disciples who are willing to become like a little child. As we get into that Jesus warns of the danger of causing one of these little ones to stumble. Some versions say “to sin”. That is not what it says in the original; it says to stumble, and it is not the idea of just creating an environment where they sin but causing them to do almost irreparable damage to their spiritual growth. There are warnings all through the New Testament about the dangers of false teaching.
This is what was happening with Arius: that Jesus wasn't eternally God. So it is emphasized in Philippians 2:6 that Jesus Christ was eternally God. It uses the Greek word HUPARCHO, which means to exist. It is emphasizing as a present participle the continuing nature of this, that He always is, always will be in the form of God and existing in the form of God. We could translate it this way: “who existing eternally in the form of God”. Then we have the phrase “did not consider”. This is a word used in passages like James, “Count it all joy ...” and other passages where it is related to imputation. It is the word HEGEOMAI, which means to reason, to think something through, to consider something, regard something. So it is a mental term and it is saying that Jesus (mental attitude) did not think. The NKJV says, “... did not consider it robbery to be equal to God”. That really is a distraction for us and not understanding the text. The Greek word is HARPAGMOS, the noun form of the verb HARPAZO which is one that we think about every time we think about the Rapture, because the word Rapture comes from the Latin translation of HARPAZO in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 where the Lord will return and we will be “caught up together with Him”. It means to be snatched, grabbed, or seized.
That is the idea in Philippians: that Jesus existed in the form or the essence of God but He did not think that that was something to be grasped after or to be seized upon. The NASB translates it, “... did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped”. That is a good translation. And it emphasizes another dimension to humility, and that is that humility is not consistent with seeking status, seeking a position of power, seeking recognition. In the church we don't serve the Lord for personal recognition, for status. And that is exactly the idea that is present in this word for humility. The literal meaning was to be low-lying or brought low, and it came to mean someone of low degree, low estate, weak or insignificant, someone who doesn't have status in the eyes of the world. That is exactly what is going on here in this context.
So Philippians emphasizes two things. Jesus didn't think that His status as the Son of God was something to be held on to. He is the second person of the Trinity; He is the future Messiah; He is the Son of God, but He is not going to emphasize that, hang on to that and grab after that. He is not seeking to hold His status over the heads of His creation. So He humbled Himself, submitted to God's authority.
So these two are aspects of humility: first, to submission to authority; second, humility is not asserting your own rights, even though that is legitimate.
Mark 10:45 NASB “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served [emphasizing His status], but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Luke 14:11 NASB “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Self-exaltation is the core focus of the sin nature. We can't be self-assertive and we can't be self-absorbed in order to gain a position in the kingdom.
But this is exactly the situation Jesus discovers among the disciples. He has been away with Peter, James and John on the mountain where the transfiguration took place. He came back and found that all the other disciples were in a confrontation with the Pharisees, attempting without faith to cast out a demon, and they were miserable failures. He comes back and obviously something significant has happened with James John and Peter. They have had special privileges and then Peter himself seems to be singled out with reference to the episode of paying the temple tax. So there is some jealously, some approbation lust and power lust at work among the disciples: “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
That really becomes the frame for these first four verses because the question is asked in verse one and the idea is repeated in verse four when Jesus says, “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” This is important to understand because as we get into this topic we need to contextualize it.
It is indispensable to know the original languages of Scripture because you see so many things in the original languages that don't come across in an English translation. But even if you don't have the original languages you can figure out a lot of things from Scripture just by paying attention to context. There are a lot of things that are missed, especially today when we live in a world where more and more churches are opting for topical messages and you don't have people going through verse-by-verse exposition.
One of the values of going through verse-by-verse exposition is that sooner or later you have touched on every topic. You touch on the topics you want to touch on; you touch on the topics you don't want to touch on. That way the whole counsel of God is taught. Going through passages topically you often don't catch the broad context.
Matthew chapter eighteen is one continuous discourse, one long talk, and therefore it revolves around one central theme. It is not Jesus just answering questions, He is talking about basically the same thing and it revolves around training His disciples to be better leaders after He ascends to the Father. He is preparing them for what will come. He is training them in this section really to understand something about being qualified to enter the kingdom. He gives a serious warning, indicated by the use of the word “Woe” in v. 7 and the strong nature of His warning in vv. 8. 9. So He is preparing His disciples to protect the flock, the sheep.
The idea of stumbling that is presented there isn't the idea of just causing someone to commit a sin but causing someone to do serious damage, to have a major blowout in the spiritual life and be sidetracked, to be off on the shoulder of the road for a lengthy period of time. One of the emphasises here is on warning them against false teaching and the dangers of false teaching because it is false doctrine that sidetracks people.
This is presented in several places. Paul does it in Acts 20:28-31. As Paul was coming to the end of his third missionary journey he returned to Ephesus and he called to the pastors in Ephesus to come and meet with him.
Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. [29] I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31] Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”
Paul's ministry wasn't just teaching positively what the Bible says about the truth of God's grace but to warn them about the various errors and false teaching that would come up in the church. It was both positive and negative.
Peter does this. 2 Peter 2:1 NASB “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” This is what Jesus will describe as putting a stumbling block in front of these little ones. [2] “Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned”.
What we see in Matthew chapter eighteen is a warning that comes up in vv. 6-9. Then as we come to the next little section in vv. 10-14 we see: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” Doesn't that sound like a good verse talking about the mission of Jesus to go to the cross? Then in v. 14, “So it is not {the} will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
A lot of people have taken this verse out of context and they will talk about how Jesus loves the little children. This isn't talking about Jesus loving the little children. He used a little child at the beginning as an object lesson that all of us, if we are going to be a disciple, need to become like a little child if we are going to enter into the kingdom. But entering into the kingdom in Matthew isn't about justification or getting saved or having eternal life so that you don't go to the lake of fire when you die. Entering into the kingdom has to do with entering into the fullness of participation in the kingdom when it comes.
Just think about this. Who is Jesus talking to in this chapter? He is talking to His twelve disciples. Outside of Judas they are already justified. So He is not telling them how they can get into heaven and be eternally justified, He is talking about how they are going to be able to fully experience the richness of their position and role in the kingdom when it comes.
When we look at this we are going to see that the “little ones” are those disciples who have understood what it means to be like a little child, and they are growing and maturing as believers. The one who puts the stumbling block in front of them is going to threaten their spiritual life so that they could perish—not eternally, but just really foul up their spiritual life.
He develops this in vv. 10-14. He talks about a man who has a hundred sheep. Matthew 18:12 NASB “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?” Question: Does the man own the sheep already? Yes, he does—all 100. So the sheep is already his, but it wanders off. That is not a picture of somebody getting lost and being unsaved. He is already owned by the shepherd (a picture of salvation) but is straying. It gets back to the idea again of putting a stumbling block in front of a little child. So it is all talking about the dangers of someone falling away into apostasy and the need for the shepherd-leader to go and rescue the one who is in danger of really messing up their spiritual life. [14] “So it is not {the} will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones [who are saved] perish”, i.e. mess up their spiritual life.
A question is asked in Matthew 18:15-20. What about the person who is going to create this damage? Matthew 18:15 NASB “If your brother sins [creates the stumbling block], go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.” Out of this comes the discipline from the church on the person who is creating the stumbling block scenario causing that little sheep to go astray.
After Jesus talks about the procedure there Peter, who is thinking about this, says okay, somebody does this and you take them through this process and are forgiven, how many times do I have to forgive this guy?
Matthew 18:21 NASB “Then Peter came and said to Him, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? [22] Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven'.” And then Jesus is going to illustrate this with a parable.
So this is the context. When we understand the totality of this message what we see is that there is this initial encouragement to become like the little child. What that means is not only to put yourself under the authority of God in terms of being humble, but it also means you are not going to seek status in the church or status in the kingdom. You recognize it is not about you; it's about the Lord. So Jesus, in response to the question of who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven that it is a question related to status (it is a question of who is the number one disciple) calls in this small child (not an infant) and makes him the object lesson, the visual training aid. Matthew 18:3 NASB “and said, 'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven'.”
So the first thing we need to address is, what does it mean to enter the kingdom? Jesus uses this phrase several more times in Matthew, but so far He has used it in 5:20 and 7:20. In those verses, whom is Jesus addressing? The disciples, believers. He is not talking to them about how to get saved and avoid the lake of fire; He is talking to them about spiritual growth and spiritual maturity so that they can experience the fullness of everything God has for them once the kingdom comes. He is talking to believers, so He is not talking about how to get justified; He is talking about how a justified believer can enter into the fullness of the kingdom. And what they are supposed to do is be converted.
What is nice here is to understand that the context isn't talking about how to get saved, it is talking about wrong thinking. It is talking about the fact that they are arrogant, they are in competition with one another as to who is going to be the greatest in the kingdom, and the focus is on status and wrong behavior. The verb that is used here is the STREPHO, which simply means to turn or change course. This should be correctly translated “unless you turn [change course] and become like children”. You are already a believer but you are being disobedient, you are giving in to your sin nature in arrogance and competition, seeking personal power and approbation; if you don't straighten yourself out and change course you are not going to enter into the fullness of the kingdom.
It is not that they are going to lose their salvation; it is just that they will lose rewards and privileges in the kingdom. So what Jesus says is that they need to become like a little child.
If you read a lot of discussions on this there are a lot of people who will list a lot of different qualities about children; that young children are very dependent upon their parents, and they list all of these different qualities—they are more obedient, more innocent, more dependent, and are not really going out in a lot of rebellion. But anyone who has been a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or have just watched two and three-year-old kids, you know that none of that is true. Haven't these theologians or commentators ever been around kids? They are self-assertive! They are self-absorbed; they come out of the womb that way!
That is not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about the disciples being self-assertive, seeking status, and that they have to become like a little child. Now we have to understand the culture. This is where historical context comes in. In that culture at that time little children had no privileges, no rights. They were supposed to be as invisible as they possibly could be; they had no status whatsoever. That is the contrast. It fits the context; it helps us to understand what Jesus is saying. He says they have to quit trying to be somebody; you have to be like a little child and recognize that you are a nobody. Paul put it a little differently. He said we are to become fools for Christ's sake. Because we are living in a world that says wisdom and knowledge is based upon the wisdom of the world, and if we are rejecting that then we are operating on that the world thinks is foolishness. And that is Christianity.
What Jesus is saying here is not how to, in modern terminology, be converted and go to heaven but to straighten up your life and to recognize that the Christian life is not about who you are at all. It is all about who Jesus Christ is and serving Him, it is not about personal recognition for anything that we do. Therefore we humble ourselves like a little child that has no status. Part of the idea in the word there is to give up our privileges. Jesus had the privilege of being the eternal second person of the Trinity but He gave it up and didn't assert it. He did not assert His personal rights at all in order to enter into human history and to be our savior.
Jesus is saying you have to be Christ-like. It is not that you let people run over you, it is that you are not going to make an issue out of it because it is not about you, it is about serving the Lord. That is the priority.
Matthew 18:5 NASB “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me” – NKJV: “”Whoever receives one little child like this ...” It He talking about the little child in front of Him? When He says “a little child like this” He is talking about the disciple who has humbled himself. So now He is transitioning to what a disciple is, because the growing disciple is the one who will enter the kingdom. He says, “Whoever receives another believer who is a growing disciple in my name receives me”.
That sets the stage, because He goes on in the next verses to talk about whoever causes the little ones to stumble He is not talking about the little kid in front of Him. He is not talking about child abuse. He is talking about whoever causes a disciple who become a little child--not asserting their own rights but is totally submissive to the authority of God—to have a blow out is going to be in serious trouble.