“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
There were several reasons why this question might have been top of mind for the disciples. There were the ways in which Peter had been signaled out in particular, being given the keys of the Kingdom, and having his temple tax paid by Jesus himself. There were the ways in which, to a lesser extent, James and John were also singled out with Peter, such as the Transfiguration. But what added urgency to all of these was the approach to Jerusalem. On the one hand there was the expectation that the Messiah was reestablish the Davidic kingdom. On the other there were the predictions Jesus made of his impending suffering and death. If there was to be a kingdom the disciples didn't want to miss out on positions of power and prestige. If there was to be suffering and death they perhaps hoped that if they themselves were given positions of greatness then they would not have to go through it.
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
The disciples were thinking of greatness as the world understood it, as something obvious, and evident. Positions of greatness according to that paradigm would therefore consist of both renown and privilege, both fame and power. But Jesus reversed that conception entirely. For him greatness was symbolized by the insignificant status of a child, not famous, not powerful, but hidden, and not valued by the society of the time.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
The disciples would need to repent of their worldly aspirations in order to enter the Kingdom. If they did not do so they would "not enter" the Kingdom just as sin made ancient Israel unfit to enter the promised land. The disciples would therefore not only need to stop seeking greatness according to the worldly way of thinking, they would need to be willing to accept for themselves a condition which was the very opposition of that sort of greatness. But how could they do this? How could they shake themselves free from caring if the world cared about them?
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
The key to embracing the greatness the way it is understood in the Kingdom is to realize that, although the world does not value such little children, Jesus does, and immensely so, enough that he regards kindness done to such ones as done to him.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
Whereas the world can only see value in things that can be quantified, weighing the value of the ninety-nine and finding it greater than that of the one, Jesus sees the immense value of the single sheep. Even if that one goes astray he loves it no less for this fault. Indeed, if anything, the love which he shows the sheep that goes astray is greater than that shown to the flock that remains in safety.
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
To free ourselves from our need for validation by the world we must learn to care more about the care and concern of Jesus and his Father for the little ones and the lost sheep. They see those who are humble, invisible, and whom the world regards as nothing, as those who are truly great. Such little ones are free to receive the love of the Father and the care of the Good Shepherd. They owe nothing to the world and are therefore free from being manipulated by it. Yes, they may stray. But if they do they are small enough to be led back to the flock, not so obstinate as to insist on finding their own way.
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
When we recognize the great care that the Father has for the lowest and the least our conceptions of greatness can begin to change and we can allow ourselves to become little ones. As a consequence we experience the freedom of no longer being the ones chiefly in charge of our lives and our destiny. We experience the peace of knowing the Father's love for us, care so great he has given his angels charge over us. If our pride pushes back against such apparent insignificance, let us heed the word of the Lord to Ezekiel, "be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you". Let us be children fed by the Father on his word. There may be an aspect of bitterness as it becomes medicine against our pride. Even so we will ultimately find the reality the psalmist knew and sing with him, "How sweet to my taste is your promise!"
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