READ: Matthew 18 (Focus vs. 1-4)
MEMORY VERSE
“Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3
BACKGROUND
Near our home is a famous garden where we often take walks with a young boy our family cares for. His favorite area is the Children’s Garden, which has a small door large enough for him to run through but small enough to force me to crouch.
He laughs as I drop to my knees and wiggle through the small opening to chase him.
The small garden gate reminds me of Jesus’ object lesson in Matthew 18, where He calls a little child to His side to explain the type of person who will enter the kingdom of heaven (v. 2).
It was a bold example, for in Christ’s day to be a child was to be inconsequential and overlooked. Unlike today, their opinions and desires didn’t matter. Jesus uses this description to highlight our human tendency to be noticed and seek power and influence.
Of course, Jesus wasn’t asking His disciples to become children again but rather pointing to the traits that mark those who serve him. The biggest marker is humility—the person who “takes the lowly position” (v. 4) and serves others.
The small garden door is a reminder that humility doesn’t come naturally to us. Believers in Jesus, however, are to be this way. We’re to follow our Savior, who modeled this way of living by making “himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).
Matt Lucas
INSIGHT
Companion passages in Mark 9:33-37 and Luke 9:46-48 shed light on today’s Bible reading from Matthew 18:1-4. Jesus and His disciples had been traveling to Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.
When they arrived, Christ asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” (Mark 9:33). His question was merely rhetorical. He knew full well what they’d been discussing.
Mark tells us that “they had argued about who was the greatest” (v. 34). In so doing, the disciples showed how badly they misunderstood what Jesus’ kingdom was about.
Hence, they asked an unhelpful question: “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1). It was then that Christ “called a little child to him” (v. 2).
Children wielded neither the power nor the influence the disciples valued and sought. Jesus’ mission inverts our natural understanding of what’s important. He calls and helps believers in Him to be humble, like little children (vv. 3-5).
APPLICATION
In what areas of your life do you thrust yourself to the forefront and seek to be noticed? How can you learn to live more like Jesus?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“…humility doesn’t come naturally to us. Believers in Jesus, however, are to follow our Savior, who modeled this (humble) way of living by making “himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant”
PR’s TAKE
“The three most important virtues are humility, humility and humility.” St. Bernard of Chairvaux*
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” C. S. Lewis
“We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully” Mother Theresa
PRAYER
“Dear Father, please forgive me for my pride and self-interest. Help me to be a little child who runs to You.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“HUMBLE KING” Brenton Brown
Oh, kneel me down again
Here at Your feet
Show me how much You love
Humility
Oh, Spirit be the star
That leads me to
The humble heart of love
I see in You
‘Cause You are the God of the broken
The friend of the weak
You wash the feet of the weary
Embrace the ones in need
And I want to be like You Jesus
To have this heart in me
You are the God of the humble
You are the humble King
Oh, kneel me down again
Here at Your feet
Show me how much you love
Humility
Oh, Spirit be the star
That leads me to
The humble heart of love
I see in You
And I want to be like You Jesus
To have this heart in me
You are the God of the humble
You are a humble King
You are the God of the broken
The friend of the weak
You wash the feet of the weary
Embrace the ones in need
And I want to be like You Jesus…
