Matthew 18:1 - Meaning and Application

As there never was a greater example of humility, so there never was a greater teacher of it than Christ. He took every opportunity to command it and commend it to his disciples and followers.

The occasion for this teaching was an unworthy dispute among the disciples about rank. They came to him, saying among themselves, because they were ashamed to ask him openly (Mark 9:34), “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” They did not mean, “Who is greatest in character?” If that had been their question, it would have been a good one, because then they could have learned which graces and duties to seek most. Instead, they meant who would have the highest title and position. They had heard much about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the Messiah and his church in this world, but they still had only a faint idea of it. They were still dreaming of an earthly kingdom, with outward splendor and power.

Christ had recently foretold his sufferings and the glory that would follow, including his rising again, and they thought his kingdom would begin then. So they believed it was time to secure their places in it. In such matters, people often think it is wise to speak up early. Similar debates came up after other sayings of Christ about the same subject (Matthew 20:19-20; Luke 22:22, 24). He spoke many words about his sufferings, but only one about his glory. Yet they fixed on the glory and ignored the suffering. Instead of asking how they might gain strength and grace to suffer with him, they asked who would be highest in ruling with him. Many people love hearing and talking about privileges and glory, while they avoid the thoughts of labor and trouble. They look so much at the crown that they forget the yoke and the cross.

That was the spirit behind the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” They assumed, first, that all who have a place in that kingdom are great, because it is a kingdom of priests. Truly great people are truly good people, and they will be shown to be so in the end, when Christ owns them as his own, even if they are poor and unnoticed in this world. They also assumed there are levels in this greatness. All saints are honored, but not all are honored equally. One star differs from another in glory. Not all of David’s officers were mighty men, and not all of his mighty men were among the first three.

They also assumed that one of them must be chosen for the highest office. To whom would King Jesus show special honor, if not to those who had left everything for him and now shared in his suffering and hardship? They even competed over who should have it, each thinking he had some claim. Peter was usually the chief speaker, and he had already received the keys, so he may have expected to be lord chancellor or lord chamberlain of the household. Judas had the money bag, so he may have hoped to be lord treasurer, even though he came last among them. Simon and Jude were close relatives of Christ, so they may have hoped to rank above the other officers of state, like princes of the blood. John was the beloved disciple, the favorite of the Prince, and may have hoped to be first. Andrew had been called first, so why should he not be first in honor? We are very quick to entertain foolish ideas about things that will never happen.

Christ’s answer is a clear rebuke to the question, “Who shall be greatest?” We have every reason to believe that if Christ had intended Peter and his successors at Rome to be heads of the church and his chief representatives on earth, he would have said so here, especially with such a good opening. Instead, his answer rejects and condemns the whole idea. Christ would not place such authority or supremacy anywhere in his church. Anyone who claims it is taking what does not belong to them. Rather than settling any of the disciples in that rank, he warns them all not to seek it.

Christ teaches them to be humble, first by a sign (Matthew 18:2). He called a little child to him and set the child in the middle of them. Christ often taught by signs, or by visible pictures, just as the prophets had done before him. Humility is such a hard lesson that we need every possible way to learn it. When we look at a little child, we should remember how Christ used that child here. Visible things should be used to teach spiritual lessons. He set the child among them, not so they could play with the child, but so they could learn from the child. Grown men and important men should not despise children or think it beneath them to notice them. They may speak to children and teach them, or they may look at children and learn from them. Christ himself, when he was a child, was among the teachers in the temple (Luke 2:46).

He then taught by a sermon based on that sign, showing them and us the need for humility (Matthew 18:3). His words are solemn and demand both attention and agreement: “Truly I say to you, I, the faithful witness, say this: unless you are converted and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Here we should notice what he requires. First, they must be converted, that is, they must change their mind and spirit. They must think differently about themselves and about the kingdom of heaven before they are fit for a place in it. The pride, ambition, and desire for honor and power that showed itself in them must be repented of, put to death, and corrected. They must come back to their right minds. Besides the first conversion of a soul from sin to grace, there are also later turnings from particular sins and backslidings, and these are just as necessary to salvation. Every step away from the right path by sin must be followed by a step back through repentance. When Peter repented of denying his Master, he was converted.

Second, they must become like little children. Converting grace makes us like children, though not childish in the wrong sense. It does not make us foolish, unstable, or playful in a careless way. Rather, as children, we should desire the pure milk of the word (1 Peter 2:2). As children, we should not worry anxiously, but leave our needs to our heavenly Father (Matthew 6:31). As children, we should be harmless, without malice, and easy to guide (1 Corinthians 14:20; Galatians 4:2). But what is mainly meant here is humility.

Little children do not carry themselves as important people. They do not cling to points of honor. The child of a rich man will play with the child of a poor man. A child in rags, if it has its mother’s milk, is content and does not envy the child in silk. Little children do not aim at high positions or plan how to lift themselves up in the world. They do not concern themselves with things too great for them. We should behave in the same way and quiet our hearts in a lowly spirit, as Psalm 131:1-2 teaches. As children are small in body and short in stature, so we too must be small and low in spirit, and in our thoughts about ourselves.

This is a spirit that leads to other good habits. Childhood is the learning stage of life.

He puts strong weight on this point: without it, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Christ’s disciples need to be warned seriously, so they will fear ending up short of God’s promised rest (Hebrews 4:1). When they asked their question in Matthew 18:1, they seemed sure of heaven, but Christ shakes them out of that confidence and makes them watch themselves closely. They wanted to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and he tells them that unless they change to a better spirit, they will never get there.

Many who set themselves up as important in the church turn out to be not only small, but nothing at all, with no share in the matter. Christ’s purpose here is to show how dangerous pride and ambition are. No matter what profession people make, if they keep holding on to this sin, they will be shut out from God’s dwelling and his holy hill. Pride cast the angels who sinned out of heaven, and it will keep us out too if we do not turn from it. Those who are lifted up with pride fall into the same judgment as the devil, so to keep that from happening, we must become like little children. To do that, we must be born again, put on the new self, and become like the holy child Jesus, as he is called even after his ascension (Acts 4:27).

He also shows the honor and advancement that come with humility (Matthew 18:4), giving a direct but surprising answer to their question. The person who humbles himself like a little child may fear that this will make him seem unimportant, like timid people who lose their chance at advancement. Yet that same person is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The humblest Christians are the best Christians, most like Christ, and highest in his favor. They are best fitted to receive God’s grace and to serve him in this world and enjoy him in the next. They are great, because God takes special notice of people like this in heaven and on earth. In the church, those who are most humble and self-denying should be the most respected and honored, because although they seek honor least, they deserve it most.

Christ also takes special care of humble people. He stands up for their cause, protects them, takes an interest in their concerns, and will make sure they are not wronged without being set right. Those who humble themselves in this way may fear, first, that nobody will receive them. But he says, “Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:5). Any kindness shown to such a person is taken by Christ as kindness done to himself. Whoever welcomes a meek and humble Christian, encourages him, keeps him from losing heart because of his modesty, receives him into friendship, love, and care, and seeks his good for Christ’s sake, because he bears Christ’s image and serves Christ, is accepted and rewarded as if he had honored Christ himself. Even if only one such little child is received in Christ’s name, it is accepted. Christ’s tender care for his church reaches each individual member, even the least one, not just the whole family but every child in it. The smaller they are in themselves, the more goodwill there is toward Christ in showing them kindness. The less it is for their own sake, the more it is for his sake, and he counts it that way. If Christ were here among us in person, we would think we could never do enough to welcome him. But the poor, especially the poor in spirit, are always with us, and they are the ones who receive him (Matthew 25:35-40).

Second, humble people may fear that everyone will mistreat them. The worst people often delight in trampling on the humble. But Christ answers this too (Matthew 18:6), warning all people, at their own greatest peril, not to harm one of his little ones. This warning puts a wall of fire around them. Whoever touches them, touches the apple of God’s eye. The offense he has in view is harming one of these little ones who believe in Christ. Their faith in Christ, though they are little ones, joins them to him and gives him a personal interest in their cause. Since they share in the blessing of his suffering, he also shares in the wrong done to them. Even the little believers have the same privileges as the great ones, because they have all received the same precious faith. Some offend these little ones by leading them into sin (1 Corinthians 8:10, 1 Corinthians 8:11), by grieving and troubling their righteous souls, by discouraging them, or by using their gentleness to take advantage of them in their bodies, families, possessions, or reputation. So the best people in this world often receive the worst treatment.

The punishment for this sin is shown by the statement that it would be better for such a person to be drowned in the deepest part of the sea. The sin is so terrible, and the ruin so great, that it would be better to suffer the worst punishment that human courts can give, since that can only kill the body. Hell is worse than the depths of the sea, because it is a bottomless pit and a burning lake. The sea can only kill, but hell torments. Jonah found comfort in the depths of the sea (Jonah 2:2, Jonah 2:4, Jonah 2:9), but no one has ever found the least comfort in hell, and no one ever will. The sure and final sentence of the great Judge sinks sooner and holds faster than a millstone tied around the neck. It fixes a great gulf that can never be crossed (Luke 16:26). Even offending Christ’s little ones by neglect counts as a reason for that dreadful sentence, “Go away, cursed,” which will at last be the judgment of proud persecutors.