Jesus Christ not only resorted to parables in order to make his teaching vivid; sometimes he made use of object lessons. Thus he answered the question as to who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven by pointing to the little child whom he had called to himself, and set up in the midst of his disciples. The child himself was a visible embodiment of the reply our Lord wished his questioners to receive.
I. THE TYPE OF THE KINGDOM. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of the childlike. When we look on a little child we see a typical citizen of that glorious kingdom. Let us consider what there is in childlikeness to be thus representative. We must approach this subject from the ground from which Christ and his disciples came to it. The question of primacy being in the minds of the disciples some contrast to their feelings and dispositions is vividly suggested by the sight of the simple, unconscious, unworldly child.
1. Unambitious simplicity. This would be the first impression produced by the sight of the child, when suddenly he was called by Jesus to confront self-seeking ambition. Even if we may believe that there was no self-seeking in the minds of the disciples, and that their inquiry was general, not personal, still the spirit of ambition was roused by it. But the little child does not possess ambition. The subtle calculations by which men scheme for pre-eminence are all unknown to him. He is pre-eminent without knowing it. They are the least of their own sanctity.
2. Unworldliness highest saints who think The little child is quite unconventional. He knows nothing of the ways of the world. Of course, it is not desirable to imitate his defects, to go back to childish ignorance. But knowledge is dearly bought when it is acquired at the cost of spirituality. Wordsworth tells us that heaven lies about us in our childhood.
3. Trustfulness. The child came to Jesus as soon as he was called. A look of the Saviour was enough to dispel fear. We need the innocent confidence of the child to come into right relations with Christ.
II. THE DOOR TO THE KINGDOM.
1. The entrance. The disciples had forgotten this. Busying themselves about the rank of those who were in the kingdom, they neglected to consider how to enter it. Yet this is the first question, and all else is unpractical till this step has been taken. But when it has been taken, all else becomes unimportant. It is everything to be privileged to enter the kingdom, even though in its lowest region. Moreover, the true citizen of the kingdom will have lost the ambition that busies itself about questions of pre-eminence.
2. The turning. We are all selfish and self-seeking until we learn to repent and take a better course. No one can enter the kingdom of lleaven while he remains worldly and ambitious. The very spirit which seeks a first place in the kingdom excludes from the kingdom. We need grace to turn back to childlikeness. We must be converted into little children. The greed and ambition must be taken out of our hearts, and the simplicity, unworldliness, and trust of the child received in place of those ugly attributes. - W.F.A.
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
I. THE OCCASION OF THIS QUESTION. The payment of the tribute money (
Matthew 17.) They might have learnt from hence humility and obedience to princes, though tyrants exacting that which is not due; and a willingness to part with their right rather than to offend. But prejudice makes Christ's humility an occasion of evil. Some of the Fathers were of opinion that the disciples, when they saw Peter joined with Christ in this action of the tribute, did imagine that he was preferred before them. The true explanation is that "We trusted that this had been he" (
Luke 24:21). Can Christ do this, and thus submit Himself? Can He be a king that thus pays tribute. This, instead of teaching the disciples humility, foments their pride.
II. THE PERSONS THAT MOVE THE QUESTION — "The disciples." The disciples had been instructed that the kingdom of Christ was not of this world, yet conceit shut their understanding against the truth. "Ambition finds a pillow to sleep on even in the bosom of disciples themselves." Satan makes snares of our own desires. He maketh curious nets, entangles our fancy, and we straight dream of kingdoms. "Who shall be greatest?" They are not always the worst men that put this question.
1. And this we need not much marvel at, if we consider the nature of this vice. It is a choice vice, preserved by the devil to abuse the best; this weed only grows in a fat soil, Base natures seldom bear it. What cares the covetous person for honour, who will bow to dirt?
2. It is a vice to which the world is much beholden, and therefore finds more countenance than any. Ambition has been productive of the world's chiefest books and deeds.
3. It is a vice which amongst many men hath gained the reputation of virtue. It is the kindler of industry.Inferences: —
1. Prejudice kept the disciples so long from the true knowledge of the Messias who had been so long with them. Prejudice puts out the eye of our judgment. So dangerous was it to the disciples that no words or miracles could root it out; not till the fiery tongues consumed it (Acts 2:2, 3).
2. Since the devil made use of this error of the disciples, and attempted them where they were most open to him, let us as wise captains used to do, double our watch, and strengthen our weakest part. If the disciples leave all and follow Christ, he will tempt them with honour.
3. Let us not seek the world in the Church, nor honours and preferments in the kingdom of Christ. Let us not fit religion to our carnal desires, but lay them down at the foot of religion. Let Christianity swallow up the world in victory. Let us clip the wing of our ambition, and the more beware of it because it carries with it the show of virtue.
III. THE QUESTION ITSELF. The disciples were mistaken in the terms of their question, for neither is greatness that which they supposed, nor the kingdom of heaven of that nature as to admit of that greatness which their fancy had set up. In this kingdom Lazarus may be ruler over Dives. The difference between this kingdom and the kingdoms of this world.
1. The subjects of this kingdom are unknown to any but God Himself.
2. Of this kingdom there is no end.
3. The seat of this kingdom is the hearts of the faithful.
4. Their laws are different. It is a common error amongst men to judge of spiritual things by carnal. Goodness is greatness. Let us seek for honour; but seek for it in its own coasts; let us look up to the highest heavens where its seat is.
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For all mistake is from the eye, all error from the mind, not from the object. If the eye be goggle or misset, if the mind be dimmed with malice or ambition and prejudice, it puts upon things what shape it pleaseth, receiveth not the true and natural species they present, but views them at home in itself, as in a false glass (which renders them back again as it were by reflexion), which is most deceitful. This makes gods and sets up idols in itself, and then worships them. And this is the reason why Christ is so much mistaken, why the gospel of Christ receives such different entertainment. Every man lays hold on it, wrests it to his own purpose, works it on his own anvil, and shapes it to his own fancy and affection.
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The craft of Satan is various, and his wiles and devices manifold. He knows in what breast to kindle lust, into which to breathe ambition. He knows whom to cast down with sorrow, whom to deceive with joy, whom to shake with fear, and whom to mislead with admiration. He searcheth our affections, he fans and winnows our hearts, and makes that a bait to catch us withal which we most love and most look upon. "He fights," as the father speaks, "with ourselves against ourselves;" he makes snares of our own desires, and hinds and fetters us up with our own love. If he overcome us with his more gross temptations, he insults: but if he fail there, he then comes towards us with those temptations which are better clothed and better spoken. He maketh curious nets, entangles our fancy, and we straight dream of kingdoms. Like a wise captain, he plants all his force and artillery at that place which is weakest and most attemptable. We see the disciples' hearts were here the weakest, and here lay most open: hither therefore the devil directs his darts, here he placeth his engines, to make a breach. So dangerous a vice is ambition; and so hard a thing it is even for good men, for mortified persons, for the disciples of Christ to avoid it!
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Nothing accrues to a good man when he rises. and comes on in the world; nothing is defalked from him when he falls and decays. The steed is not the better for his trappings; nor doth the instrument yield sweeter music for its carved head, or for the ribbon which is tied unto it.
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It is but a fancy, and a vain one, to think there is most ease and most content in worldly greatness, or that we sleep best when our pillow is highest. Alas! when our affrighted thoughts shall awake each other, and our conscience put forth her sting; when those sins shall rise up against us, by which we have climbed to this pitch; all the honour of the world will not give us ease.
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Congregational Pulpit.
I. A STRANGE INQUIRY.
1. They did not inquire about character, but persons.
2. They did not perceive the nature of His kingdom.
3. They thought of the crown without the cross.
4. They set up a mistaken claim.
5. They forgot the Saviour's omniscience.
II. AN INSTRUCTIVE REPLY.
1. It SHOWS a danger.
2. It teaches a necessity.
3. It speaks a privilege.
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I. THE QUESTION. It showed ignorance, pride, selfishness.
II. THE ANSWER. Learn: The way of entrance. The principle of recompense, not merit; not personal worth and greatness. The acknowledgment of unworthiness even to get in at all.
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I. None but the childlike are in the kingdom at all. The entering implies a "conversion," a turning of the back upon the old course of life, and setting the face in the opposite direction.
II. The most childlike are the greatest. That which is most admirable in a Christian man, and the mark of truest greatness, is childlike humility.
III. The childlike are Christ's truest representatives in the world.
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People
Jesus,
PeterPlaces
CapernaumTopics
Disciples, Greater, Greatest, Heaven, Heavens, Higher, Hour, Kingdom, Ranks, Reign, SayingOutline
1. Jesus warns his disciples to be humble and harmless,7. to avoid offenses,10. and not to despise the little ones;15. teaches how we are to deal with our brothers when they offend us,21. and how often to forgive them;23. which he sets forth by a parable of the king who took account of his servants,32. and punished him who showed no mercy to his fellow servant.Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 18:1 7621 disciples, calling
Matthew 18:1-3
6134 coveting, prohibition
Matthew 18:1-4
5489 rank
5857 fame
5937 rivalry
7708 apostles, function
Matthew 18:1-5
2036 Christ, humility
2378 kingdom of God, characteristics
5554 status
Library
May 31. "Whosoever Therefore Shall Humble Himself as this Little Child" (Matt. xviii. 4).
"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child" (Matt. xviii. 4). You will never get a humble heart until it is born from above, from the heart of Christ. For man has lost his own humanity and alas, too often has a demon heart. God wants us, as Christians, to be simple, human, approachable and childlike. The Christians that we know and love best, and that are nearest to the Lord, are the most simple. Whenever we grow stilted we are only fit for a picture gallery, and we are only good …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth The Lost Sheep and the Seeking Shepherd
If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth Into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray!--MATT. xviii. 12. We find this simple parable, or germ of a parable, in a somewhat more expanded form, as the first of the incomparable three in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel. Perhaps our Lord repeated the parable more than once. It is an unveiling of His inmost heart, and therein a revelation of the very heart of God. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Persistence of Thwarted Love
'If so be that he find it.'--MATT. xviii. 13. 'Until he find it.'--LUKE xv. 4. Like other teachers, Jesus seems to have had favourite points of view and utterances which came naturally to His lips. There are several instances in the gospels of His repeating the same sayings in entirely different connections and with different applications. One of these habitual points of view seems to have been the thought of men as wandering sheep, and of Himself as the Shepherd. The metaphor has become so familiar …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Forgiven and Unforgiving
'Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.' --MATT. xviii. 22. The disciples had been squabbling about pre-eminence in the kingdom which they thought was presently to appear. They had ventured to refer their selfish and ambitious dispute to Christ's arbitrament. He answered by telling them the qualifications of 'the greatest in the kingdom'--that they are to be humble like little children; that they are to be placable; that they are to use all means …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Law of Precedence in the Kingdom
'At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2. And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, 3. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5. And whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Six Sweeping Statements.
Jesus' own words make this very clear. There are two groups of teachings on prayer in those three and a half years as given by the gospel records. The first of these groups is in the Sermon on the Mount which Jesus preached about half-way through the second year of His ministry. The second group comes sheer at the end. All of it is in the last six months, and most of it in the last ten days, and much of that on the very eve of that last tragic day. It is after the sharp rupture with the leaders that …
S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon—Quiet Talks on Prayer
On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xviii. 15, "If Thy Brother Sin against Thee, Go, Shew Him his Fault Between Thee and Him Alone;" And
1. Our Lord warns us not to neglect one another's sins, not by searching out what to find fault with, but by looking out for what to amend. For He said that his eye is sharp to cast out a mote out of his brother's eye, who has not a beam in his own eye. Now what this means, I will briefly convey to you, Beloved. A mote in the eye is anger; a beam in the eye is hatred. When therefore one who has hatred finds fault with one who is angry, he wishes to take a mote out of his brother's eye, but is hindered …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xviii. 7, Where we are Admonished to Beware of the Offences of the World.
1. The divine lessons, which we have just heard as they were being read, warn us to gather in a stock of virtues, to fortify a Christian heart, against the offences which were predicted to come, and this from the mercy of the Lord. "For what is man," saith Scripture, "saving that Thou art mindful of him?" [2694] "Woe unto the world because of offences," [2695] saith the Lord; the Truth says so; He alarmeth and warneth us, He would not have us to be off our guard; for surely He would not make us desperate. …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
The Forgiveness of Sins.
(Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity.) S. MATTHEW xviii. 28, "Pay me that thou owest." The Gospel shows us in a parable a picture of a king who called his servants to a reckoning. That King is the Lord God Almighty. We are His servants, and He calls us to account every day. All we possess we owe as a debt to God. Day by day He gives us our food, and supplies our wants by His good Providence. On every hour of our existence is written, Jehovah-Jireh--The Lord will provide. Day by day God takes …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2
Fourth Day. Forgiveness of Injuries.
"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."--Luke, xxiii. 34. Many a death-struggle has been made to save a friend. A dying Saviour gathers up His expiring breath to plead for His foes! At the climax of His own woe, and of human ingratitude--man-forsaken, and God-deserted--His faltering voice mingles with the shout of His murderers,--"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" Had the faithless Peter been there, could he have wondered at the reply to a former …
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus
Lix. The Preacher and his Hearers.
22nd Sunday after Trinity. S. Matthew xviii. 23. "The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants." INTRODUCTION.--I have been a good deal abroad, over the Continent of Europe, and whenever I am in a little country inn, I make a point of going into the room where the men are smoking and drinking wine or beer, and hearing their opinions on the politics of the day, and of their country. Now, my experience tells me that in country taverns in France, and …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent
The Wicked Servant
ST. MATTHEW xviii. 23. The kingdom of heaven is likened to a certain king, which would take account of his servants. This parable, which you heard in the Gospel for this day, you all know. And I doubt not that all you who know it, understand it well enough. It is so human and so humane; it is told with such simplicity, and yet with such force and brilliancy that--if one dare praise our Lord's words as we praise the words of men--all must see its meaning at once, though it speaks of a state of …
Charles Kingsley—The Water of Life and Other Sermons
Meetings for Prayer.
Text.--"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."--Matthew xviii. 19. HITHERTO, in treating of the subject of Prayer, I have confined my remarks to secret prayer. I am now to speak of social prayer, or prayer offered in company, where two or more are united in praying. Such meetings have been common from the time of Christ, and even hundreds of years before. And it is probable …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion
The Necessity and Effect of Union.
Text.--Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.--Matthew xviii. 19. SOME weeks since, I used this text, in preaching on the subject of prayer meetings. At present I design to enter more into the spirit and meaning of the text. The evident design of our Lord in this text was to teach the importance and influence of union in prayer and effort to promote religion. He states the …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion
The Mission of Little Children
"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them." Matthew xviii.2. Everything has its mission. I speak not now of the office which each part of the great universe discharges. I speak not of the relation between these parts,--that beautiful ordinance by which the whole is linked together in one common life, by which the greatest is dependent upon the least, and the least shares in the benefactions of the greatest. In this sense, everything has, strictly, its mission. …
E. H. Chapin—The Crown of Thorns
False Ambition Versus Childlikeness.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 1-14; ^B Mark IX. 33-50; ^C Luke IX. 46-50. ^c 46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. ^b 33 And he came to Capernaum: ^c 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, ^b and when he was in the house [probably Simon Peter's house] he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34 But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. [The Lord with his disciples was …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
Sin and Forgiveness Between Brethren.
(Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 15-35. ^a 15 And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. [Having warned against giving offense, Jesus now shows how to act when offense is received. The fault is to be pointed out to the offender, but for the purpose of gaining him--not from a desire to humiliate him. The offended is to seek the offender, and the offender is likewise to seek the offended (Matt. xv. 23, 24), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
The Unmerciful Servant.
"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved …
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Divine Teacher of Prayer
A friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him! He knocks again. "Friend! lend me three loaves?" He waits a while and then knocks again. "Friend! I must have three loaves!" "Trouble me not: the door is now shut; I cannot rise and give thee!" He stands still. He turns to go home. He comes back. He knocks again. "Friend!" he cries. He puts his ear to the door. There is a sound inside, and then the light of a candle shines through the hole of the door. The bars of …
Edward M. Bounds—The Reality of Prayer
Fifteenth Lesson. If Two Agree
If two agree;' Or, The Power of United Prayer Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.--Matt. xviii. 19, 20. ONE of the first lessons of our Lord in His school of prayer was: Not to be seen of men. Enter thy inner chamber; be alone with the Father. When He has thus taught us that the …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer
The Third Wall.
The third wall falls of itself, as soon as the first two have fallen; for if the Pope acts contrary to the Scriptures, we are bound to stand by the Scriptures, to punish and to constrain him, according to Christ's commandment; "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation
Found
Gerhard Ter Steegen Matt. xviii. 12 O God, through Christ the living way, My Father and my God, So near, and I so far astray, Brought nigh Thee by His Blood. Myself, and this, and that, I sought Behind, around, before-- And yet the nearest found I not, Until I sought no more. O Love, Thou deep eternal tide, How dear are men to Thee! The Father's heart is opened wide By Jesus' Blood to me. It was Thyself, O God, who sought, With tender yearnings deep, The loveless sould who sought Thee not, The …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others
The School
Gerhard Ter Steegen Matt. xviii. 3 Where is the school for each and all, Where men become as children small, And little ones are great? Where love is all the task and rule, The fee our all, and all at school, Small, poor, of low estate? Where to unlearn all things I learn, From self and from all others turn, One Master hear and see? I learn and do one thing alone, And wholly give myself to One Who gives Himself to me. My task, possessing nought, to give; No life to have, yet ever live-- And ever …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others
Commentary on Matthew. Introduction.
According to Eusebius (H. E. vi. 36) the Commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew were written about the same time as the Contra Celsum, when Origen was over sixty years of age, and may therefore be probably assigned to the period 246-248. This statement is confirmed by internal evidence. In the portion here translated, books x.-xiv., he passes by the verses Matt. xviii. 12, 13, and refers for the exposition of them to his Homilies on Luke (book xiii. 29). Elsewhere, he refers his readers for a fuller …
Origen—Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
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