Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them, and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Matthew 18:2-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them, and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck, and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
Parallel Translations
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Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,
and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Iesus called a chylde vnto him and set him in the middes of them:
and sayd. Verely I say vnto you: except ye tourne and become as chyldren ye cannot enter into the kyngdom of heven.
Whosoever therfore humble him sylfe as this chylde the same is the greatest in the kyngdome of heven.
Show all 3 translations
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And Iesus called a litle childe vnto him, and set him in the mids of them,
And sayd, Verely I say vnto you, except ye be conuerted, and become as litle children, ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen.
Whosoeuer therefore shall humble himselfe as this litle childe, the same is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen.
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Contradictions (2)
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Cross-references (40)
- Mark 10:14-15 (v3) But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for…
- 1 Peter 2:2 (v3) as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow,
- Matthew 19:14 (v3) But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these.”
- Luke 18:16-17 (v3) Jesus summoned them, saying, “Allow the little children to come to me, and don’t hinder them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.…
- 1 Corinthians 14:20 (v3) Brothers, don’t be children in thoughts, yet in malice be babies, but in thoughts be mature.
Show all 40 cross-references
- Psalms 131:2 (v3) Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
- John 3:5 (v3) Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
- James 4:10 (v4) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
- Mark 10:43 (v4) But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.
- John 3:3 (v3) Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
- Psalms 51:10-13 (v3) Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from…
- Luke 13:24 (v3) “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.
- Luke 14:11 (v4) For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Acts 3:19 (v3) “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the…
- Matthew 5:20 (v3) For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of…
- Matthew 23:11-12 (v4) But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- Luke 9:48 (v4) and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is…
- Luke 22:32 (v3) but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers.”
- John 1:51 (v3) He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on…
- Acts 28:27 (v3) For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their…
- Matthew 20:26-27 (v4) It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you…
- 1 Peter 5:5 (v4) Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another;…
- Matthew 18:1 (v4) In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
- Mark 4:12 (v3) that ‘seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their…
- James 5:19-20 (v3) Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his…
- Psalms 131:1-2 (v4) Yahweh, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty; nor do I concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me. Surely I…
- Isaiah 57:15 (v4) For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a…
- Matthew 13:15 (v3) for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive…
- 2 Peter 1:11 (v3) For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
- Matthew 6:5 (v3) “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,…
- Matthew 19:23 (v3) Jesus said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.
- Acts 14:22 (v3) strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into…
- Matthew 6:16 (v3) “Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be…
- Matthew 19:13-14 (v2) Then little children were brought to him, that he should lay his hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said,…
- 1 Kings 3:7 (v2) Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or…
- Matthew 6:2 (v3) Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,…
- Mark 9:36-37 (v2) He took a little child, and set him in the middle of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such little child…
- Isaiah 6:10 (v3) Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears,…
- Jeremiah 1:7 (v2) But Yahweh said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you.
- Matthew 5:18 (v3) For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Humbleness of mind is the right way to preeminence.
Humbleness of mind is the right way to preeminence.
A child in years.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him,…
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Ver. 2. And Jesus called a little child] Nicephorus saith this was Ignatius, who was afterwards Bishop of Antioch; but I am not bound to believe him. It is well known that he is full of fictions. Christ calling for a little child, who neither thinks great things of himself nor seeks great things for himself, rightly and really confutes their preposterous ambition and affectation of primacy, and gives them such a dumb answer as Tarquin did his son, when walking in the garden he struck off the heads of the poppies in the sight of the messenger: and as Periander the Corinthian did Thrasybulus the tyrant of Athens, when pulling off the upper ears of grain, he made all the standing grain equal, intimating thereby what a tyrant must do that would live safely and quietly.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v2 Mark saith, Mar 9:35-37, And he sat down, and…
Mark saith, Mar 9:35-37, And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, &c. Luke saith only, that he took the child, and set him by him, Luk 9:47; and adds, Luk 9:48, he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. How easy a thing had it been for our Saviour, had the intended any such primacy in the church as the papists contend for, to have said, Peter shall be the greatest! Here was a very fair opportunity for him, if he had pleased, so to have declared his will; but here is not a word of such tendency. Mark saith our Saviour,
1. Sat down, as the manner of their teachers was, when they taught, to denote their authority.
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2. He called the twelve, to let them know that what he was about to speak was a grave matter not of a particular but universal concern for them to learn, that, they might teach others.
He said unto them, ( saith Mark), If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all; and (which Luke adds) he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. You would know (saith he) who shall be greatest he that doth not desire to be first; he who is most remote from pride and ambition; he that most contemneth the world, and the priorities and superiorities of it. The proud and ambitious man, he that seeketh great things for himself, shall be of least esteem in my kingdom; he is really least in grace, and ought to be of least esteem and repute among Christians, and he will be the last in the kingdom of glory.
Then he calleth to him a little child: the word doth not always signify a very young child; here it doth, for,
1. He took him in his arms (saith Mark).
2. A young child was the fittest pattern to commend humility to them.
This was an ancient and usual way of teaching, by types, as it were, or patterns: see Jer 19:10; 27:2. He reads this lecture upon the child, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, &c. The prefixing Verily adds much to the authority of this saying. Converted here, στρα-φητε, doth not signify the change or conversion of a soul from a state of sin unto God, (so the apostles were already converted), but the turning of their souls from a particular lust or error, into the opposite right way of truth and holiness: except ye repent of your pride and ambition, ye cannot be saved. The next words expound it, and become as little children: not as little children in all things, (which was the Anabaptists’ dream in Germany, upon which they would run about the streets playing with rattles, &c.), but, Mat 18:4, humbling yourselves as little children.
1. Little children know not what dominion means, and therefore affect it not, are not ambitious.
2. They are not given to boast and glory, and to prefer themselves before others.
3. They are ready to be taught and instructed.
4. They live upon their fathers’ providence, and are not over solicitous.
5. They are not malicious and vindictive. In malice (saith the apostle) be ye children.
The three first are principally here intended. If ye be not thus like little children, ye will be so far from being greatest in the kingdom of God, that you will never come here at all. So as this text teacheth us all,
1. The necessity of humility in order to salvation.
2. That even converted souls have need of a daily conversion. Repentance is a work which will never be perfected till we come to die.
3. How abominable in the eyes of God ambition and pride are in any, especially in ministers of the gospel.
4. That in the church the way to be great is to be humble.
5. That true humility lieth in a mean opinion of ourselves, not minding high things, condescending to men of low estate, not being wise in our own conceits, Rom 12:16; in honour preferring one another, Rom 12:10.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv2, 4 Our Saviour intending to cure this pride and ambition…
Our Saviour intending to cure this pride and ambition in his disciples, first preaches to them the doctrine of humility, and to enforce his doctrine he sets before them, a little child, the proper emblem of humility; assuring them, that unless they be converted, or turned from this sin of pride and ambition, and become as a little child in lowliness of mind, and contempt of worldly greatness, they cannot be saved.
Learn hence, 1. That no sins are more odious and abominable in the sight of God, than pride and ambition; especially amongst the ministers of the gospel.
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Learn, 2. That persons already converted, do stand in need of farther conversion: they that are converted from a state of sin, may want to be converted from a particular act of sin: this was the disciples case here; they were turned from a course of sin, but they wanted conversion from a particular act of sin; to wit, from ambition.
Learn, 3. That conversion, though sincere, may be very imperfect. Converts still have remains of corruption, some lust often breaking forth, which they must take special care to resist and subdue.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–4 And Jesus called a little child unto him,.... One,…
And Jesus called a little child unto him,.... One, very likely, that was in the house, and might belong to the master of it, and which was big enough to come to him at his call. Some have thought that this was Ignatius the martyr, but without any foundation. His own words, in his epistle to the church at Smyrna (y), can give no countenance to it; where he says, "for I also know, that after his resurrection he was in the flesh, and I believe that he is." The Latin version indeed renders it thus; "for I also saw him in the flesh after the resurrection, and believe that he exists." But it does not follow from hence that he must be this child, but rather the contrary; since it cannot be thought, that a child so young as this, in half a year after, had it seen Christ, when risen from the dead, could have took so much notice of him, as this version represents Ignatius to do; but it matters not who it was; Christ designed, by this emblem, to give them his sense of the question, and convey some proper instruction to the minds of his disciples:
and set him in the midst of them; that everyone might see him; and upon the very sight of him, had he said no more to them, they might easily have perceived what was his opinion; that he that was but a child, the most humble, and least in his own eyes, would be the greatest: but besides setting the child in such a situation, he pointed to him, saying what follows.
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(y) p. 3. Ed. Voss.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–3 And Jesus calling to him a little child -…
And Jesus calling to him a little child - This is supposed to have been the great Ignatius, whom Trajan, the wise, the good Emperor Trajan, condemned to be cast to the wild beasts at Rome! Mark ix, 36; Luke ix, 47.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Verse 2. A little child] But this child could…
Verse 2. A little child] But this child could walk, for he called him to him. Nicephorus says, this was Ignatius, who was afterwards bishop of Antioch, and suffered martyrdom under, and by command of, the Roman Emperor Trojan, in the 107th year of our Lord. But this good father is not much to be depended on, being both weak and credulous.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Mat 18:2. And Jesus — Perceiving the thought of…
Mat 18:2. And Jesus — Perceiving the thought of their heart, says Luke, or the dispositions by which they were animated, and their ambitious views and expectations; in order to check and eradicate all such sinful inclinations and affections, he called a little child, and set him in the midst of them — That they might consider him attentively, and learn by the sweetness, docility, and modesty visible in his countenance, what the temper and dispositions of his disciples ought to be, and how dear to him persons of such dispositions are. This little child is said to have been the great Ignatius, whom Trajan the wise, the good Emperor Trajan, condemned to be cast to the wild beasts at Rome! This method of instruction was agreeable to the manner of the eastern doctors and prophets, who, in teaching, impressed the minds of their disciples by symbolical actions, as well as by words. Thus, Joh 20:22, Jesus, by breathing on his apostles, signified that through the invisible energy of his power he conferred on them the gifts of his Spirit. Thus also, Joh 21:19, he bade Peter follow him, to show that he should be his follower in sufferings. And, Rev 18:21, an angel cast a great stone into the sea, to signify the utter destruction of Babylon.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–4 And Jesus calling ... a little child. In St.…
And Jesus calling ... a little child. In St. Mark (ix. 32) we find that Jesus did this in the house, when they were arrived at Capharnaum.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. Called a little child — There is an…
2. Called a little child — There is an interesting tradition that this was St. Irenaeus, one of the most celebrated fathers of the early Church.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. set him in the midst of them] St…
2. set him in the midst of them] St Mark adds, “when He had taken him in His arms.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–4 (2) Jesus called a little child unto him.—As the…
(2) Jesus called a little child unto him.—As the conversation was “in the house” (Mar_9:33), and that house probably was Peter’s, the child may have been one of his. As in other like incidents (Mat_19:13; Mat_21:15-16), we may recognise in our Lord’s act a recognition of the special beauty of childhood, a tender love for the gracious trust and freedom from rivalry which it shows when, as yet, the taint of egotism is undeveloped. St. Mark adds that He folded His arms round the child as in loving fondness, and, before He did so, uttered the warning words, “If any one will (wishes to) be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” A late tradition of the Eastern Church identified the child with Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, taking the name which he gave himself as passive, Θεοφόρος (Theo-phoros), “one who had been carried or borne by God.” Ignatius himself, however, uses it in its active sense, “one who carries God within him.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–4 A little child. Our Lord teaches, not only by…
A little child. Our Lord teaches, not only by spoken parables, but by symbolical actions also. This was not a mere infant, as Christ is said to have called him unto him. A tradition, mentioned by Nicephorus, ("Hist. Ec:," 2:35) asserts that this child was the famous martyr Ignatius. Set him in the midst of them. Taking him in his arms, as St. Mark tells. What a picture of Christ"s tenderness and human love! From the boy"s trustfulness and submission he draws a needed lesson for the ambitious apostles.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v3 And Jesus called a little child unto Him.
Mat_18:3-5
And Jesus called a little child unto Him.
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Christian humility
The question of the disciples brings them very distinctly before us, and makes them very real to us, as men like unto ourselves. Nothing can be more artless, and evidently truthful, than their representation in these Gospels of their own thoughts and conduct. How beautifully does Jesus rebuke all this. What a profound and original idea of greatness does this unfold!
I. The commendation of humility. That humility is not set forth as the sole condition of the heavenly estate, The Saviours words do not limit the entire range of Christian character to this one quality. It is its secret fountain. What humility is not.
1. Humility is not a weak and timid quality. It must be distinguished from a grovelling spirit. We should think something of our humanity, and not cast it under mens feet. Servants to all; servile to none.
2. It is not to be confounded with that morbid self-abasement which grows out of certain religious views. We may well be humble when we see the infinite love against which we have sinned.
3. Genuine humility is not incompatible with a consciousness of merit; for a secret persuasion of power is the spring of noble enterprise.
The consciousness of possessing something is essential to the sense of deficiency which makes us truly humble.
1. Now see how humility lies at the base of all true greatness. We instinctively associate humility with greatness. We always suspect ostentation.
2. The weakness which pride covers, but does not obviate, in the matter of dress and show. It is a great thing for a man to know and feel that he is a man; it is a great thing for him to understand where he is, and to profess what he is. Humility is the spring of all intellectual greatness; also of religious. The man who is convinced that he is perfect, the farthest from being perfect. God be merciful to me, a sinner, is the spring of all real acquisition in religious things. The childs humility is unconscious; mans humility is reached by experience.
3. The child-like relation in all who in any degree enter into the sphere of Christian faith and feeling. Christ would bring all men to filial dependence upon God. There is no humility without love and confidence; subjection to a tyrant is not humility; but the reverence which I give to a father. (E. H. Chapin, D. D.)
Greatness determined by use, not extent
When you take the loftiest standards in comparison, who is filling a great sphere in Gods universe? What king, what president, what statesman, what man of pride and renown, is filling a great sphere? But the moment you come down and take the ordinary earthly standards, the true test of any mans condition is the uses to which he puts it-and to which the Almighty Himself puts it. The uses of a thing make it great, not its extent. The uses of the wayside spring, that refreshes the travellers march; or the flower that grows at the foot of awful ice-peaks and battlemented crags, unfolding all the summer long its beautiful parable of Providence and love-who can limit the usefulness of that? and who can say that it is nothing, because its sphere is little? (E. H. Chapin, D. D.)
Humility the spring of intellectual greatness
The humbler men are, the greater they are. What are the proudest triumphs of our day, intellectually speaking? They are in little things. The great men of our day do not construct cosmologies; do not sit down and build up great theories of the universe. We laugh at such things; we suspect their soundness at once. When a man comes to us and tells us that he has a new theory of creation, we begin to think whether he had not better have a theory of his own sanity. The things which occupy the greatest minds of our day are the little sparks of electricity, the little wayside shells, the blossoms, the infusoriae myriad-fold that hang in a single drop of water. Down in the little lowly things men find the great secret of the world; away down they begin to find the spring and sources of things, and the profoundest books of science are founded on these little ordinary, unobserved affairs. Humility is the spring of all intellectual greatness. (E. H. Chapin, D. D.)
The unconscious humility of a child combined with the experience of a man
But we have-and let us thank God that we have-something better than childhoods innocence, if we have lived truly and Christ-like. We have strength to overcome evil which the child must learn; we have a power to trample sin underneath us that the child must undergo much to gain; we have not the innocence of Eden, but by Gods help and Christs example we may have the victory of Gethsemane. It is a great thing to have the humbleness of a child. But it is to be joined with the consciousness and the effort of the man. (E. H. Chapin, D. D.)
The spiritual worth of childhood
But, moreover, there is testimony in Christianity, not only for the love of God to the child, but to the spiritual worth of the child. The child illustrates the value of the soul as Christ brings it before us here. Now, observe, there is no materialistic theory that would be consistent with the way in which Christ treats the child, because, on the materialistic theory, everything grows upward, grows wider and better. But the doctrine of the text is not the doctrine of development; we must go back to childhood again; we dont develop humility. We may develop physical strength; we may develop intellectual splendour; we may develop imagination or reason, but we do not develop humility. In that the child has the advantage of us. If it were merely material, why should not the child have less humility than the man? No; we come back to the childs condition, in some respects; and that illustrates the childs share of our common spiritual nature, And here is the reason why we find the element of greatness set forth as it is by Jesus Christ. Greatness is in spiritual power; it is not an outward attainment that the man can attain and the child can not. It is not any outside clothing; it is not in crowns; it is not in the worlds fame; it is a spiritual quality, and the child has that spiritual quality which is the condition of all greatness. (E. H. Chapin, D. D.)
The nature and necessity of conversion
I. The nature of conversion. A change of character (Psa_51:13; Act_13:19; Jam_5:20) implies-
1. A change of mind.
2. A change of heart.
3. Followed by a change of conduct. Regulated by the word of God.
II. The effect of conversion. Its subjects become as little children, not, indeed, in every respect-ignorance, idleness, etc. But.
1. In the affectionate dispositions of their hearts towards each other.
2. In simplicity and sincerity.
3. In humility and lowliness of mind.
III. The necessity of conversion.
1. What we are to understand by the kingdom of heaven.
2. The necessity of conversion in order to enter into this kingdom. The unconverted have no right to, and no meetness for, this kingdom. Were it possible for them to enter they would still be unhappy. (R. Treffrey.)
The necessity of conversion
I. The nature of the kingdom of Christ, and what is implied in entering into it.
1. The kingdom of Christ is, His reign in and over mankind. It must be considered in two states and periods-
(1) In a state of imperfection, warfare, and suffering on earth.
(2) In a state of perfection, triumph and joy in heaven.
2. We enter this kingdom by becoming members of Christs true Church-militant, triumphant.
II. The nature of this conversion, or in what sense we must be converted and made like little children, in order to our entering into this kingdom.
1. It implies being turned from self to Christ; from the world, and sin, etc.
2. It implies being inwardly changed, understanding enlightened, etc.
3. Conversion makes us like little children-sincere, humble, etc.
4. The works of conversion. Light in the understanding; love to the godly; obedience to all Gods commands; hatred to, and victory overall known sin; avoiding temptation, etc.
III. The absolute necessity of this conversion. Unconverted persons are unfit for heaven. (Joseph Benson.)
Conversion
The occasion of this remark was like the manifestation of a desire for preeminence.
I. The nature of conversion.
II. The evidence of it is the disposition of a child.
1. A disposition which is the opposite of an ambitious spirit.
2. A child is confiding. It trusts its parents.
3. A child is submissive.
III. Why this change is necessary. Because the disposition of a child is the only one that agrees with our relation to God. This will apply-
1. To our ignorance.
2. To our weakness.
3. To our guilt and pollution.
IV. The blessedness of this disposition.
1. The peace it gives.
2. The security it affords. God cares for us.
3. It places us in our normal relation to God.
4. It secures our admission into the kingdom of God, of which Christ is the head and centre. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
This teaches us all
I. The necessity of humility in order to salvation.
II. That even converted souls have need of a daily conversion.
III. How abominable in the eyes of God ambition and pride are in any, especially in ministers of the gospel.
IV. That in the Church the way to be great is to be humble.
V. That true humility consists in a mean opinion of ourselves, not minding high things, not being wise in our own conceits, in honour preferring one another. (M. Pool.)
Conversion
Let us see what turn is necessary before we can be Christians.
I. It is evident that we are all too much men and women, else it would not have been said, Turn and be children.
1. We as men fancy ourselves independent and self-sufficient; we must get back to simplicities, self-renunciation, to a babyhood of trust.
2. To be a little child is to be in a state to receive. Be a little child in the lowest form and receive discipline.
3. This image does not convey the idea of a perfectly new being, but of an old being begun again, that it may do better.
4. There is another beautiful trait of childhood, purity. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Conversion; its nature, effects, and importance
I. Its nature.
II. The evidences of conversion.
1. A child is inquisitive.
2. Teachable in his disposition.
3. A child believes the testimony of his parents.
III. Its necessity. (J. Williams, M. A.)
Conversion
I. The temper that distinguishes the subjects of divine grace. AS little children. Not like them in ignorance, not in fickleness, not in waywardness. Little children are teachable and ready of belief; are devoid of malignity; are characterized by humility.
II. The way in which we are to attain it. We must be converted and become as little children.
1. The temper we are required to possess is not in us naturally, but is the consequence of a Divine change.
2. The change is to be judged of by its effect.
III. The importance of possessing this temper. Ye shall not enter, etc. This exclusion-
1. The most awful.
2. The most unavoidable. Without holiness man shall see the Lord.
3. The most universal.
4. What a difference there is between the opinion of the world and the judgment of God. (W. Jay.)
I. Childlikeness is the test of greatness in the kingdom of heaven. Resemblance to children, not in ignorance or in fickleness, but-
1. In a teachable spirit (Act_9:6; Act_10:33; Act_16:30).
2. In a consciousness of weakness (2Co_12:9; Php_4:13).
3. In a dependent spirit (Mat_6:31; Php_4:18-19).
4. In freedom from ambition (Rom_12:16).
5. In a forgiving temper (1Co_14:20; Eph_4:32).
II. The degree of childlikeness is the measure of greatness.
1. Because it raises its possessor in the scale of our excellence.
2. Because it qualifies its possessor for higher usefulness.
3. Because it assimilates its possessor more nearly to the Redeemer.
4. Because it secures for its possessor a more exalted position in the heavenly world.
(1) The necessity of conversion.
(2) The beauty of humility.
(3) The attraction of heaven. (Various.)
Humility
1. Some are naturally more humble than others; there is a natural humility.
2. Still lower than this, there is a humility of word, love, and manner, which is a mere worldly ornament to be put off and on.
How shall we cultivate humility?
1. Be sure that you are loved. We are all inclined to be proud to those whom we think do not like us.
2. Realize yourself the object of great mercy.
3. Seek to be reverent in worship, for if humble before God you will be before men.
4. Always try to re-live the life of childhood, to think and feel as when you were a child.
5. Deal often with your real self in some of the humbling parts of your history.
6. Exercise inward discipline to meet the first buddings of pride.
7. Do acts of humility.
8. God always empties before He fills; He will humble before He will use a person.
9. It is a great thing to have much intercourse with little children. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
A lesson of humility
The question of the disciples reveals the appearance and the nature of the kingdom of heaven. To these disciples it was the most natural question in the world.
I. The ambition to be greatest is a very common weakness in our nature. But there are very many considerations which wonderfully qualify this desire to be first.
1. It is a thing of great responsibility.
2. You may be first and be very miserable.
3. It is utterly inconsistent with the religion of Jesus Christ.
II. How our Lord taught the lesson of humility to his disciples. He not only spoke about it to them, but He showed it to them. What is the ground of comparison between that beautiful boy and a true disciple-a disciple in the right spirit?
1. The per-fact non-resistance of a child. Christ called the child, and the child came, etc. There was no resistance. The very reverse of this was the case with the disciples. Give instances. They did not, like the little child, yield and come the moment the Master called. They resisted the Spirit of Christ; the darkness in them opposed the light that came from Him. There is very much in the best of us that resists Christ.
2. Perfect trust and the absence of all fear. It was so with this child. To be a Christian is to trust Christ perfectly, and to cast all fear to the wind. In our darkness and ignorance, etc. In our sin and weakness. In our trials and perplexities. And when death comes.
3. Humility. Observe what Christian humility is-Coming when Christ calls, etc., without endeavouring to appear to be anything that we are not. Conclusion. The dignity and glory of true humility. (Thomas Jones.)
The nature of humility
It is not at all the thing that people suppose it to be. Take Christs exposition of it. The child humbles himself. How did the child humble himself? He came when Christ called, he suffered himself to be embraced, and he stood where Christ put him, without pretending to be anything more than he was, an honest, fine, healthy-looking boy. Christ calls that humility. People think that going and moping about the world and saying, I am very imperfect, is humility. Protect me from such humility. Some of the proudest creatures I ever met in the world were the most humble, if that be humility-people who complained about themselves; but if you were ever to say to them, Yes, sir, or Yes, madam, I know you really are bad, they would turn round and say, Who told you so? What do you know about me? That is not Christian humility. Humility is that of the boy coming when Christ called, suffering himself to be embraced, standing there as long as Christ wanted him to stand, without endeavouring to appear to be anything that he was not. That is Christian humility. There is a real charm in this child, if you will only think of it, in his unconsciousness. He never thought he was doing anything praiseworthy; it never entered into his little head that there was anything beautiful in his little actions. That is the essence of the thing. He came quickly when the Master called, he looked happy in His arms, he stood where Christ put him, and he never thought for one moment that there was any praise due to him for that. He was moved to confidence; the instincts of the boy were moved by the tenderness of Christs voice and the expression of His face. The little man went under his natural instincts and never thought for a moment that there was any virtue or beauty in his actions. What; is that? That is Christian humility-to yield ourselves to Christ, to serve Him, to serve our brothers and our sisters, going about doing good, beautiful as lamps in the darkness, sweet and fragrant as the breeze from the south. Go and do this, live this beautiful life, yet never showing that we are conscious of its beauty, never letting it escape the lip that we know we are doing anything grand. What is the most beautiful thing in the world? A man or a woman living a high Christian life-without ever letting it escape the lip or the expression that they consider there is anything beautiful or grand in it. It is the unconsciousness of the child that constitutes the highest climax of the Christian life. To be great, to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven is to excel in that direction. I have looked lately at some large fruit trees covered with fruit; and a rich fruit tree is a very beautiful object; it has a massive trunk and far-stretching boughs; the foliage is rich, the dew of the morning is wet upon its leaves, and the sun plays in the little crystal drops, and the branches bending under their fruit barely move in the very gentle movement of the wind. There are very few things in nature more beautiful than a tree like that, and a man of sensibility, a man with a right state of heart, looking upon such a thing cannot but admire it. But if (which of course it is folly to suppose) that tree for one moment could be self-conscious, if it had the power of speech for one instant and let out the secret that it thought itself very beautiful, it would be a different thing to us the moment it had spoken. It is the unconsciousness, the absence of the knowledge of self, that is one charm of the vegetable world. So in character. It is very difficult to be this, my brethren; it is very difficult for me to stand here Sunday after Sunday and speak to you without revealing some little bit of vanity, some little bit of self-consciousness; but if I have not got it I cannot show it. Two great preachers in Wales met at a public meeting. It was usual then, I am sorry to say, as it is now, for men of different denominations to justify their appearing before each other. One of them was a very eloquent man, one of the greatest preachers in the Principality, and he said he had left his party zeal at home before he started. Another as great as he got up and said, Well, I thank God I had none to leave, and I came here just as I was at home. Let a man be free from vanity and self-consciousness, and it will not appear. This is Christian humility as taught by the Savior. (Thomas Jones.)
The desire to be great natural
Now this ambition to be the greatest is a very common weakness in our nature,-to be great, to be first, to be the greatest anywhere, however small the little kingdom may be, to be the first minister in the kingdom, or, if you can, to be the king of the little kingdom. Better reign anywhere than serve in high positions. To have power, to see our own thoughts carried out, to make men, and things, and circumstances, do as we like,-it is very delightful, exceedingly fascinating, and it has a great charm for our minds, believe somewhat of it is natural, and I do not think it is altogether sinful. The natural is not sinful. Whatever God has put in us is right. A lad has fine powers and God has put ambition into the lad to use his powers, so that if he is at school he desires to take the first place. Do not blame him; it is quite natural; the ambition is in him. But, on the other hand, I must say what is true about this. There are very many considerations which wonderfully qualify this desire to be first. (Thomas Jones.)
The responsibility of greatness overlooked
To be first in the world is a thing of great responsibility. To be first is very pleasant. Yes but it has a burden of responsibility. To be the first poet-the fierce rays of criticism beat upon you; to be the first preacher, the first minister-it is a most solemn responsibility. Nothing is expected of a delicate flower but that it should be beautiful and just give a little fragrance. Everybody is satisfied with the flower if it will do these two things. But a large tree upon which nature has expended years of time and care, and made the trunk massive, and the boughs wide, and the foliage thick and rich, a tree that nature has taken years of trouble with, much is expected front that Oh, delicate flower, if thou art beautiful and hast a little fragrance nobody wilt blame thee; but a great, massive tree, everybody will blame thee and thy foliage, and thy massiveness, except thou bringest forth much fruit. Like the delicate flower is the man with one talent, the humble Christian man, doing his duty walking humbly with God. I think myself that is the finest life in the whole world, incomparably the most blessed life in the world-not to be rich not to b,-very poor, to have a little home of your own, surrounded by those you love and by whom you are loved, unobserved by the world around, like the delicate flower, just being beautiful and giving forth fragrance. The world never critise you, never says anything about you: you pass on doing your duty, you lay your throbbing head down in death, you shall rest and go home and be with God, and the report of your doings shall be read in another world than this. The responsibility of being first is very great, and the criticism upon those who are first is very fierce. Plant the sapling in the valley, it shall have shelter,-put the same sapling on the mountain top, and the fury of every element shall be expended upon it. There are men in England, authors, statesmen, and preachers, upon whom every element, good, bad, and indifferent, at the command of criticism comes in all its fury expending its strength upon them. I would not be one of them for any earthly consideration. I would not be first in England for the possession of a noblemans estate. To be in such a position, especially as Tennyson says, in the fierce light of the throne, is to he in a position of solemn responsibility. My friend, if God has not called you to be very prominent you have reason to thank God that He has consented you should live a quiet, reverent, honest, generous, Christian life uncriticised, unpraised, and unabused. (Thomas Jones.)
Child-like non-resistance
There is very much in the best of us that resists Christ. We are not like that little child. Christ calls (it is all the better for you if I am not speaking truth), but there is no answer; Christ commands, but we do not obey; Christ stands at the door, and we do not open; He has been there long, He is there now, and will be there to-morrow and many of you keep Him out. The comparison in the Bible to express this want of child-likeness, this want of non-resistance, is a rock. The rain comes, the rock is not softened; the winds blow, the rock makes no response; the sun shines, the rock is not made fertile; summer comes, autumn comes, winter comes, spring comes-spring, summer, autumn, winter find and leave the rock the same cold hard, insensate thing as it ever was. I do not know you, but I am describing exactly the state of many hearts even in the Church of God. The gospel comes like rain showers upon the rock, but it has not softened you; breezes from the eternal mountains blow upon you-they are not vivifying; Gods eternal love shines upon you-it has not changed you; life with its wonderful lessons comes-you grow very little better. Do you not know men in the circle of your acquaintance who are not at all better than they were ten years ago? Success came-they were no better; disappointment came; the marriage morning came, they were the same . the funeral day-they were the same. All the elements of the gospel, all the influence of the Divine Spirit, all the wonderful events of life, all its friendships, all its love, left them where they were. They resist God, they resist His influences. Brethren, I ought to be a better man, having enjoyed the friendship of many of you for many years; I should be unworthy of that friendship, if I were not wiser and better, and more humble and more reverent. You ought, as day after day carries you nearer to eternity, to resist God less. Oh, my friends, be as little children; lean to Christ, resist not the Holy Spirit of God. (Thomas Jones.)
The mission and ministry of infants in the family and in the world
I. Some of the doctrinal lessons taught us by the mission of infants.
1. By mans original transgression temporal death ensued to infants as a part of the race.
2. Universal atonement.
3. Their immortality.
4. Their resurrection.
II. Some of the practical, lessons.
1. The duty of parental watchfulness and tender care over the helplessness of infancy.
2. The duty of self-sacrifice is taught by the mission of infants.
3. The solemn responsibility of a most important trust.
4. The duty of resignation to the work of God, in the dispensations of His Providence.
5. The ministry of infants in the family is intended to teach patience.
6. It teaches the highest Christian virtues, such as innocency, dependence.
7. Gods providential care over childhood.
8. That the path of true greatness lies through the vale of humility. (J. E. Edwards, D. D.)
Gods care of little children
A poor little boy was found standing in the streets by a kind-hearted man. The child was lean and thinly clad, bearing the marks of hunger and poverty. What are you doing here? inquired the man. The boy replied: I am waiting for God to come. What do you mean? inquired the man, touched by the novelty of his reply. The poor little boy responded: Mother and father, and nay little brother died, and nay mother said God would come and take care of me. Wont He come? … Yes, replied the man, I have come. Mother never told me a lie, said the little boy; I knew you would come; but you have been so long on the way.
Childhood educates man on the best side of his nature
It is probable that every one of the traits of higher manhood in adults springs from the drill and the training which little children require and inspire. I doubt whether preceptual teaching could ever have brought into this world any considerable degree of disinterested affection. I doubt if self-denial and heroism in that direction could ever have been propagated in this world as a matter of duty. Conscience never brings forth love. Intellectual reasoning never produces rich and warm caresses. It is the economy of Gods providence to set men and women together in the household, and give them little children, and draw them toward these little children by the instinct of love dinstinct in the early day, and companionable love in a later day, and out of this love to develope all the character, forethought, and industry which are necessary for the good of these children. There are men who are very selfish toward their neighbours, very selfish in their business, very selfish in their pleasures; there are men who, as citizens, are not true to the laws under which they live, not true to commonwealth, but who, if you go into their households, and see how they deal with their children, seem to have an entirely different nature. They lay aside their selfishness. The pride and greediness which characterize them out-of-doors are gone when they are indoors. Indeed, the faults which they exhibit outside are often faults which they take on for the sake of being able to take care of the little children that are inside. (H. W. Beecher.)
Christ in a child
There is an old story, a kind of Sunday fairy tale, which you may sometimes have seen represented in pictures and statues in ancient churches, of a great heathen giant who wished to find out some master that he should think worthy of his services-some one stronger than himself. He went about the world, but could find no one stronger. And, besides this, he was anxious to pray to God, but did not know how to do it. At last he met with a good old man by the side of a deep river, where poor wayfaring people wanted to get across and had no one to help them. And the good old man said to the giant, Here is a place where you can be of some use, and if you do not know how to pray, you will, at any rate, know how to work, and perhaps God will give you what you ask, and perhaps also you will at last find a master stronger than you. So the giant went and sat by the river-side, and many a time he carried poor wayfarers across. One night he heard a little child crying to be carried over; so he put the child on his shoulder and strode across the stream. Presently the wind blew, the rain fell, and as the river beat against his knees, he felt the weight of the little child almost more than he could bear, and he looked up with his great patient eyes, and he saw that it was a child glorious and shining, and the child said, Thou art labouring under this heavy burden because thou art carrying one who bears the sins of all the world. And then, as the story goes on, the giant felt that it was the child Jesus, and when he reached the other side of the river, he fell down before Him. Now he had found some one stronger than he was, some one so good, so worthy of loving, as to be a master whom he could serve. (Dean Stanley.)
Nature of countersign
Converting grace makes persons become like little children; both like those just born, and those who are a little grown.
I. Converts resemble little children newly born.
1. Children enter the world with much difficulty and hazard. So Gods children have a difficult entrance into a state of grace.
2. An infant has always a principle of life and motion; so converts have a principle of spiritual life infused into their souls.
3. The child bears the image of the father; so converts bear a likeness to God; they have His image.
4. A child comes weeping into the world; so Gods children are crying children.
5. There is a natural instinct in children, as soon as born, to seek the mothers breast; so a gracious soul, when newly converted, desires the sincere milk of the word, that he may grow thereby.
6. Converts resemble little children in their weakness and dependence.
7. There is a resemblance between little children and converts in their harmlessness.
II. Converts represent children a little grown.
1. In their guileless disposition. Little children are generally plain and downright, what they seem to be, and do not dissemble.
2. They are of a gall-less disposition; they may be angry, but bear no malice.
3. They are submissive to correction.
4. They are full of jealousies and fears.
5. They are very affectionate.
6. They are very inquisitive.
7. They are generally tractable.
8. They do all for their parents, and acknowledge them in all they have; so the child of God does nothing for himself but for Gods glory.
9. Converts resemble little children in their growth.
10. They are mostly of an humble and condescending disposition. Application-
(1) If converting grace makes persons become like little children, then conversion is no half work;
(2) If true conversion makes men become like little children, then there is reason to fear few people go to heaven. (Oliver Heywood.)
Marks of a true conversion
I. What are we to understand by our Lords saying? The words imply-
1. That before you or I can have any well-grounded, scriptural hope, of being happy in a future state, there must be some great, some notable and amazing change pass upon our souls.
2. That little children are not perfectly innocent, but in a comparative and rational sense.
3. That, as to ambition and lust after the world, we must in this sense become as little children; we must be as loose to the world, comparatively speaking, as a little child.
4. That we must be sensible of our weakness, as a little child.
5. That, as little children look upon themselves to be ignorant creatures, so those that are converted, do look upon themselves as ignorant too.
6. That, as a little child is looked upon as a harmless creature, and generally speaks true, so, if we are converted, we shall be guileless as well as harmless. (George Whitefield.)
Humility aids spiritual vision
He that is in the low pits and caves of the earth, sees the stars in the firmament, when they who are on the tops of the mountains discern them not. He that is most humble, sees most of heaven, and shall have most of it; for the lower the ebb, the higher the tide; and the lower the foundation of virtue is laid, the higher shall the roof of glory be over-laid. (John Trapp.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. And Jesus called a little child unto him.…
2. And Jesus called a little child unto him. In order to enforce the words that Mark reports, he uses a striking object lesson. This method was a prominent feature of Oriental teaching. Thus it was that Christ washed the disciples' feet (John 13) and Agabus bound his hands and feet with Paul's girdle (Acts 21:11).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v2 Mat 18:2-5; Mar 9:36-37; Luk 9:48. Mark: “Jesus, calling…
THE INFANT THE PARAGON
Mat 18:2-5; Mar 9:36-37; Luk 9:48. Mark: “Jesus, calling to Him a little child, placed it in their midst, and said, Truly, I say unto you, Except ye may be converted, and become as little children, you may not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Therefore whosoever may humble himself as this little child, the same is the greater in the kingdom of the heavens; and whosoever may receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me.” Mark: “Taking a little child, He placed it in their midst, and taking it up in His arms, He said to them.” . . . There is no mistake as to the conclusion that these are literal, natural infants, small enough for Jesus to lift up in His arms, exhibiting them illustratively. This is beautifully illustrative of the glorious, universal redemption in Christ, reaching every human being, even in the prenatal state, so soon as soul and body, united, constitute personality. Now as these infants, by the redemption of Christ, had been born in the kingdom, and could only get out by sinning out, which they could not do till they reached responsibility, it was demonstrative proof that they are all members of the heavenly kingdom; whereas, in the case of adults, the matter is at least problematical, so that we can not know for any one but ourselves the status before God. So here we have an irrefutable illustration of the consolatory fact that all infants are members of God’s kingdom, and here held up as paragons, because there can be no defalcation in their case, as they can only get out by actual sin, of which they are incapable till they reach responsibility. Hence, in their case, there can be no doubt, which can not be said of any adult, because no one but God knows the heart. It is a patent fact that infancy is the very period of an humble, loving disposition; humility and love constituting the preeminent graces of the kingdom. We may pertinently here observe that these infants are not sanctified, but possessed of depravity, manifested in evil tempers cropping out from the cradle; but, as Jesus says, they are normal citizens of the kingdom, standing where a genuine conversion brings every adult, and needing sanctification, like every justified Christian, such as those apostles, who there permitted ministerial ambition to show its cloven foot to their just reprehension.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v2 The demonstration:
The demonstration:
v. 2. And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them,
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v. 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.
v. 4. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
v. 5. And whoso shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me.
Christ determined to make His answer very plain, His demonstration very palpable. Calling to Him a little child, perhaps one of the household. He took him in His arms and embraced him, Mar 9:36, reassured him by these signs of loving regard, and then let him stand in the very midst of the disciples. The little child furnishes the subject for a very impressive lesson with a very solemn introduction. Most emphatically He declares that they must be converted, turn around and head in the opposite direction. They had indeed accepted and confessed Jesus, but the thoughts which they just now voiced showed that they were still far from possessing that condition of mind and heart which is indispensable in a servant of Christ. Their faith could never last at that rate. As children they must become, in simplicity of faith, in unqualified acceptance of Bible-truths, in trusting humility. In the proper relation of a child toward his parents, all self-consciousness, all. forwardness, all arrogance is absent. Instead, there is a simple, unswerving belief in the truthfulness, in the ability, and in the care of the parents. This same condition of mind and heart is necessary in disciples of Christ if they wish to enter into the kingdom of heaven. There must be no considering of honor and glory before men, no false ambition, no scheming for power, all this being contrary to the spirit of Jesus Christ. Do not think, as Luther says, about becoming great, but about becoming small. The elevation will come in due time, if you but practice humiliation first. To become humble as a little child, that is true greatness in the kingdom of heaven, not only to feign humility by symbolic acts and dresses, whose very unusualness makes them doubly conspicuous, for the latter may be the very essence of pride. "As though He would say: I see that your carnal mind is not affected by mere words; therefore I present this child to you, in order that ye may afterward and always think of it. Behold, here is a child! Now tell Me whether it is prepared for a worldly or temporal kingdom, of which you undoubtedly dream. That would be a poor kingdom, yea, none at all, which would be ruled by this child. But now, as much as this child is prepared to rule a worldly kingdom, so foolish it is to think that My kingdom is of this world. For the kingdom which I begin is of such a nature that all worldly-wise understand much less of it than this child may understand of a worldly kingdom. Therefore the idea and the thought of a worldly kingdom must be laid aside entirely if ye want to speak of My kingdom. For My kingdom will be of such nature that ye must become children in it, that permit themselves to be ruled, but do not rule in their own person, just as this child in the worldly kingdom does not rule, but is ruled. " Jesus now turns the argument slightly, in order to emphasize the importance of properly appreciating the souls of children. Whosoever, every one that accepts, receives like a true father, with all the evidences of such regard, even a single little child of this kind in the name and for the sake of Jesus, receives the Lord Himself, in and with the child. Everyone that, for love of Christ, shows such Christ-like kindness to poor, forsaken children, has the promise that he, in doing so, receives Christ Himself, and with Christ His Father in heaven, Mar 9:37.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues teaching the disciples that they need to be humble like a child if they want to be important in God's kingdom. (See: Simile)
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is the greatest
"is the most important" or "will be the most important"
in the kingdom of heaven
The phrase "kingdom of heaven" refers to God's rule as king. This phrase is used only in the book of Matthew. If possible, keep "heaven" in your translation. AT: "in God's kingdom" or "when our God in heaven establishes his rule on earth" (See: Metonymy)
in my name
Here "my name" refers to the entire person. AT: "because of me" or "because he is my disciple" (See: Metonymy)
Whoever ... in my name receives me
Jesus means that it is the same as welcoming him. AT: "When someone ... in my name, it is like he is welcoming me" or "When someone ... in my name, it is as if he were welcoming me"
a great millstone should be hung about his neck, and that he should be sunk into the depths of the sea
This can be stated in active form. AT: "if someone put a great millstone around his neck and threw him into the deep sea" (See: Active or Passive)
millstone
This is a large, heavy, circular stone used for grinding wheat grain into flour. AT: "a heavy stone"
translationWords
humble
kingdom of God
receive
believe
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 18:3 Like little children means to be humble (18:4).…
18:3 Like little children means to be humble (18:4). The disciples had been intent on status and ambition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.