Little Children (Matthew 18:5-14)
Smallness Equals Greatness
The disciples have reached a pinnacle of sorts. Now they hear Jesus talking about dying, and they wonder who will be the next top dog. Last time we began to study Matthew 18 with a focus on the first four verses.
Matthew 18:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
These verses tell us that the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus' response is bizarre. He takes a child and puts the child in the middle of them. Then he tells his disciples that "unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus makes a point that they have lost their way. They aren't currently seeking the kingdom of God. They are seeking their own kingdom, and God doesn't want anything to do with it. His kingdom is for the poor in spirit, the meek, and the lowly. His kingdom is for those who don't believe that they are worthy of it.
To be the greatest, they must become the smallest. They must humble themselves and see themselves as inexperienced and incapable of great things. Only then will God use them for great things.
Warning For All (18:5-9)
Matthew 18:5--6 (ESV) --- 5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
In the next section, he starts by saying that those who receive "one such child in my name receives me." What does this mean? Is he telling his disciples to receive children? No, not in this case. All who humble themselves and receive the message of Jesus are little ones. Jesus wants his disciples to see themselves as humble children. Then he says all who receive the humble, receive Jesus. He wants to see the second greatest command being followed, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Throughout the rest of this text we see what will happen when this command is not followed. These words are full of judgment and warning.
Don't Trip a Humble Disciple (18:7)
He says that those who corrupt the humble, causing them to sin will be worthy of capital punishment. It would be better for them to hang a millstone around their neck and drowned in the sea. A millstone would be a huge stone shaped like a wheel pulled by a donkey round and round to crush the grain. Jesus is making the point that God will bring judgment against those who cause his humble children to sin.
Can you imagine something more infuriating? I remember being a kid and watching other kids corrupt a small child. They were getting a little four year old to do all kinds of evil things that a four year old should never be exposed to. Having a four year old now, I would be mortified. God does not take the corruption of his humble disciples lightly. He will not tolerate it. He demands retribution.
Matthew 18:7 (ESV) --- 7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
Listen to the strong judgment language in this section. Notice first that Jesus says temptations are necessary. That kind of stands out to me. Why are they necessary? Wouldn't it be great if we could avoid temptations altogether? But he says they are necessary. We must face temptations.
Interestingly, he prays, "Lead us not into temptation" in the model prayer. But here, he says they are necessary. Temptations are a necessary part of this life. If we had no temptation, we would have no opportunity to overcome temptations to God's glory and become stronger. But notice that he says, "Woe to the world for temptations to sin!" Jesus is not going to let the tempters go unpunished. He knows that this world is enticing us constantly to betray the Lord and pursue the temporary pleasures it offers. Woe to it because judgment is coming.
Also, "Woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!" Does this scare us? Have you ever enticed someone to sin? Have you ever corrupted someone or told them to do something that they knew to be wrong? There are many ways we can tempt someone.
1. We can do it directly by encouraging them to gossip, speak evil of others, speak unkind words to others, entice sexual immorality, or distract from spiritual duties.
2. We can also tempt people indirectly by inciting them. We can push our spouse's buttons so that they lash out in anger. We can provoke our children to wrath. Many times we do this with a vengeance in mind. They made me upset, so I'm going to make them upset. But we might do it in an unassuming way.
3. The third way we can tempt people is by failing to lead them to righteousness. If we aren't living out the example that we are supposed to live out, we are giving God's people a reason to disobey. We must consider how our unholiness affects others. What kind of example do we set in our homes? It all starts in the home. Are we living with the discipline and holiness of Christ? As men, do we lead with sacrificial love and patience? Our unwillingness to lead like Christ makes it difficult for our wives and children to submit and follow like Christ. As wives, do we submit to the leadership of our husbands? Stubbornness and selfish pursuits can provoke husbands to anger or anxiety. It can hinder them from leading effectively. As parents, do we exemplify the nurture and admonition of God? Do we discipline and train our children with love and mercy? Do we read God's word to them and pray with them?
People around us need to see righteousness exemplified. We need to pull the plank out of our eyes so we can help others pull splinters out of their eyes. We don't want to act like we are righteous when our lives are a complete wreck. We want to be what God has called us to be, a righteous and holy nation of priests. Our mission is to demonstrate holiness and genuinely love people. Righteousness encourages and builds up those around us. Our assemblies get a bad rap. It's not a holy huddle, but it is an opportunity to encourage holiness and provoke one another to love and good works. Spiritual events are crucial for our spiritual development.
Don't Keep Getting Tripped (18:8-9)
Notice that after Jesus says, "Woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!" He tells them to cut off whatever causes them to sin. He starts talking about amputating hands and feet. This is a dramatic statement but isn't it referencing cutting parts of the world or people out of our lives who entice us to sin. Verse 7 points to the world and people being the cause of our sins.
How many of us are being tempted by friends who aren't Christians? How many of us are being tempted by pleasures in this world that take the place of God? When we read the story of Lot living in Sodom and Gomorrah, do we feel what he feels? We read in 2 Peter 2:7-10 how Lot was tormenting his soul by living in that evil place. We need to let go of the comfortable life we live and make friends of God's children. We need to remove the temptations to sin before we fall to them and get thrown into the eternal fire! Do we see how serious this is? Cut out your eye and throw it away means this is serious!!!
Don’t Despise Them (18:10-14)
Matthew 18:10--14 (ESV) --- 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
After warning them about tempting the humble to sin, Jesus brings up a fascinating idea. He says not to "despise one of these little ones." Again, he is not talking about children. He is talking about those who are his humble followers. Why would he bring up despising them? Who would despise a humble and lowly follower? Those who have become proud tend to be critical of the erring. Throughout Matthew's book, we have seen the Pharisees and Sadducees upset about Jesus bringing in tax collectors and sinners. Why were they so upset about that? Because they despised those sinners. We see that those who think more highly of themselves despise those who haven't risen to their stature. Don't we all hate when people refuse to do the righteous things that we are doing?
Jesus talks about the humble children going astray like sheep. Those who humbly enter the kingdom will be enticed to sin, and they may fall. How do we feel about them? Do we roll our eyes and feel like they will never become what they are supposed to be?
Notice that God seeks the one who went astray. God doesn't want anyone to fall to temptation, but when they do, he seeks them. He doesn't go out and destroy that sheep for going astray. He doesn't bring them back and make them feel like dirt because of their failure. He seeks them out and rejoices over their return!
What Do We Learn?
As we study this, we see that God loves those who are outcasts and poor in spirit. But we tend to think more of our righteousness once we get closer to God. We tend to wonder how close we are to being the greatest. Jesus says, "At that point, you aren't in the kingdom anymore." We have stumbled and fallen to temptation. We are lost, and we need reconciliation. But how many, when they get to that point of great self-righteousness, despise the humble and lowly? Instead of seeking them out and trying to bring the humble who go astray back to God, how many want to destroy the weak and lowly. Maybe we become like the Pharisee who says, "Thank you Lord for keeping me from becoming like this tax collector." God justifies the tax collector and condemns the Pharisee.
I can't tell you how many times I have seen fringe members disappear without anyone batting an eye. They are too much work to keep up with. They never really repented as we have. We have other things to focus on; we can't waste our time with people who will never change. But maybe they are the poor in spirit who need stirring up to love and good works. If we despise them or crush their spirit, we are just as lost as them. This text's warning shows us that God is very much against us when we despise the humble. Even while we do all kinds of righteous things before God, it profits us nothing if we have no love (1 Cor 13:1-3).
Application
I think the last year has resulted in many temptations to sin. For some of us, the temptation was to be like the world and leave holiness behind. Some were tempted to cause others to sin. Others of us were tempted to judge those who might have gone astray instead of seeking them out. I've probably fallen to all three. I have called and texted a few of you to encourage you, but not all of you. Some might have fallen through the cracks.
Let's talk about attendance. I know that our online services could tempt us to stay home when no danger is present. If you tune in online, please know that we love you. We all look forward to the day when we can join together again. I have tuned in a time or two, and I know it's just not the same. I'm sure that time away from brethren has amplified the pull of the world for you and us. We need your righteous example here. Please fight against temptations and remain faithful in your devotion to God. Please come back as soon as you can, as soon as it is safe for you to do so. If your health or situation makes it impossible to be here, we understand, and we miss you.
If any have gone astray, you have a Father who loves you and cares for you. We love you as well. We look forward to seeing you again when this is over. God has a reason behind commanding our assemblies. He knows the difficulty we would face as we deal with temptation alone. Some here are going through extreme trials. We need one another. We need a spiritual family to lean on. If ever there was a time when we need more encouragement and building up, it is now. Build people up and encourage them. Let the word cut them as they study it. Stay humble and remember the plank in your eye. Jesus is teaching us to love and care for the humble who need encouragement. We should value every child of God as a child of God. If you despise my children, you despise me. How do you think God feels?
Conclusion
All of us have been tempted and fallen into sin on some level. But Jesus tells us the correct attitude to have. If we are going to enter his kingdom, we have to think less of ourselves. We have to think of others as more important than ourselves. If someone is meek and lowly, has left the fold and wandered away from the flock, they are in grave danger. The world and bad influences could have deceived them into pursuing life away from God. We may think, "Oh well, another one bites the dust." But God is heartbroken. Notice that God cares deeply about their loss. If we decide to crush them, Jesus warns us that their angels see God's face in heaven. That should frighten us. We don't want to push people away. We want to draw people in. We want to heal their wounds and rejoice with the Lord over the return of the one who went astray. We are running a hospital, not a country club.
Let's make it our practice to think less of ourselves and more of others.