Seasons of
Elijah-Cross-Moses
Fourth Sunday of THE Cross: Matthew 18:1-9
INTRODUCTION
The values, the world and Jesus presented are
different. Jesus’ disciples were thinking in the world’s line until the
Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost. In response to their
question on “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus’s
reply was that they must humble themselves like a child. Jesus told that
receiving a childlike is equivalent to receiving him. He warned those
misguiding the childlike to commit sin would face severe punishment. He
also asked to stop whatever prompts to sin, to assure eternal life.
BIBLE TEXT
The Greatest in the
Kingdom
(Matthew 18:1) At that
time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven?” (2) Then Jesus called a little child, set him in
front of the disciples, (3) and said, “I assure you that unless you
change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of
heaven. (4) Whoever makes himself lowly like this child is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven, (5) and whoever receives such a child in my
name receives me.
Temptations to Sin
(6) If anyone
should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and
fall into sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the depths
of the sea with a large millstone around his neck. (7) Woe to the world
because of so many things that cause people to fall! Such obstacles are
bound to come, but woe to the one who causes others to fall! (8) If your
hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is
better for you to enter life without a hand or a foot than to be thrown
into eternal fire with your two hands and two feet. (9) And if your eye
causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you
to enter life with one eye than to be thrown into the hell of fire with
your two eyes.
INTERPRETATION
The Greatest in the Kingdom
(Matthew 18:1) At that time the
disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?”
At that time
1. Peter’s confession on the Jesus’ divine
origin followed by Jesus giving him prominence in his church (Matthew
16:13-20).
All these involved the themes of the
prediction of Jesus’ suffering, the establishment of God’s Kingdom, and
prominence to some apostles. These led to the disciples’ query to Jesus
on who would be prominent among them in his Kingdom.
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?”
1. Zebedee’s sons, along with their mother,
had asked Jesus for their privilege to sit on his both sides when he
would establish the Kingdom. That made others indignant of the two
(Matthew 20:24).
2. When Simon told Jesus, “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) at Caesarea
Philippi, Jesus renamed him Peter and told him: “You are Peter and on
this rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death
overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you unbind on earth
shall be unbound in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19). Thus, Jesus appointed
Peter as prime minister of his Kingdom.
3. Simon was the only disciple Jesus renamed making him his own. That was a special privilege for Peter.
4. Jesus showed the preference to three
of his apostles: Simon Peter, James, and John. Only they could see the
transfiguration on the mountain. The others could not heal a
demon-possessed boy (Matthew 17:14-21).
5. Jesus asked Peter to get a miraculous
catch of fish to pay the Temple tax for Jesus and Peter. He avoided
others from that privilege.
Competition for prominence was going on among
the disciples. They were thinking of a new heavenly kingdom that Jesus
would establish in Jerusalem. However, they got confused when they
repeatedly heard from Jesus that he must “go to Jerusalem, and suffer
many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the
teachers of the Law and be killed, and be raised on the third day.”
(Matthew 16:21). So, the disciples wanted to hear more about the
victorious stage than to discuss on the suffering that might happen
prior to it.
(2) Then Jesus called a little child,
set him in front of the disciples.
According to Mark 9:33, Jesus was preaching
inside a house when Jesus taught this lesson. Since this was in
Capernaum, it must be at the house of Peter. It was natural that
children come along with parents when they visit Jesus. The child could
be of Peter or a child that came with parents from outside. There is an
Eastern tradition that this boy was the later martyr St. Ignatius of
Antioch, also known as Theophorous (God Bearer). Mark describes the
affection Jesus showed to the child by “putting his arms around it”
(Mark 9:36).
Jesus used demonstrations and examples from
ordinary life as a memorable aid to teach spiritual lessons. So, the use
of a child as an example for spiritual childhood was a teaching
technique Jesus used.
(3) And said, “Amen, I say to you that
unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the
kingdom of heaven.”
Amen, I say to you.
Unless you change
and become like little children
The adult Christians must keep up these
qualities of children in their relationship with God, who is a parent to
them. When Jesus said to the disciples that they must transform and
become like children, he meant that they must change their lives of
sinfulness to lives of innocence and obedience according to the parental
guidance of God.
Jesus did not select his apostles from the
Jewish elite group because they were not like God’s children. He told
about them to the crowds and his disciples: “The teachers of the Law
and the Pharisees occupy the seat of Moses. Listen and do all they say,
but do not imitate what they do.” (Matthew 23:1-3). Since they were
unwilling to follow Jesus’ teachings, he selected those who had the
heart and mind of children.
Jesus fulfilled what God had promised through
Prophet Ezekiel: “Then I shall pour pure water over you and you shall be
made clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all
your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within
you. I shall remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a
heart of flesh. I shall put my spirit within you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
The kingdom of heaven
You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
(4) Whoever makes himself lowly like
this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever makes himself lowly
Like this child
The greatest in the kingdom of heaven
(5) And whoever receives such a child
in my name receives me.
Whoever receives
1. At the last judgement Jesus would say:
“For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me to
drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house. I was naked
and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and
you came to see me.” (Matthew 25:35-36). So, mere welcoming and sympathy
is not enough for the heavenly reward. We should express our piety in
charitable actions.
2. Jesus himself made use of his time and
resources to help the people with physical, mental, and spiritual
disabilities. He did miracles for them including healing the sick,
casting out demons, forgiving sins, feeding the hungry, and raising the
dead. When we make use of our resources to help such people on behalf of
Jesus, he would work wonders through us.
3. When teaching about discipleship Jesus
said: “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me
welcomes the One who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet
will receive the reward of a prophet; whoever welcomes a just man
because he is just will receive the reward of a just man. And I promise
you if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little
ones, because he is a disciple of mine, will not go unrewarded.”
(Matthew 10:40-42). During his public ministry, Jesus and his apostles
were fully engaged in evangelization. Some lady disciples financially
supported them as given in Luke 8:2-3: “Some women who had been healed
of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed
of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna and
many others who provided for Jesus and his disciples out of their own
funds.”
Such a child
Though Jesus was holding a child as a model,
he specified that service to a childlike person is also valuable for God
and promised a higher position in heaven. Who are the childlike?
1. They can be adults who deserve help from
others for their necessities, like the hungry, the thirsty, a stranger,
the naked, the ill, or a prisoner (Matthew 25:35-36) regardless of how
they came to that stage.
2. People born or turned out in a later stage
with physical or mental disabilities can be childlike. For example:
elderly, blind, deaf and mute, lame, mentally ill, physically or
mentally disabled, addicted, distressed with a crisis in life,
depressed, or in grief at the death of a dear person.
3. The childlike can also be a disciple of
Jesus who gave up everything for the church and involved in the
missionary work of Jesus.
In my name
Receives me
Temptations to Sin
(6) If anyone should cause one of these
little ones who believe in me to stumble and fall into sin, it would be
better for him to be thrown into the depths of the sea with a large
millstone around his neck.
One of these little ones who believe in
me
To stumble and fall into sin
The primary sin in the Bible is to break away
from God by losing faith. In his explanation of the parable of the
sower, Jesus presented the potential adversaries who would destroy the
word of God from the faithful. They are the evil one, tribulation,
persecution, worldly anxiety, and the lure of riches (Matthew 13:18-23).
There are many who fell from faith because of these hurdles, and there
are many others who resisted these and became holy. Bad examples through
scandalous living like King Herod Antipas, misguiding people with wrong
teachings like the religious leaders during Jesus’ public ministry,
people offering money to commit a sin like chief priests who made Judas
Iscariot to sin, and those who led the poor women to adultery rather
than helping them, are examples of misguiding the little ones to sin in
the Bible.
It would be better for him
With a large millstone around his neck
People used millstone to grind grain during
the Biblical times. It included a stationary base stone and a runner
stone that humans or animals would turn on the top. Humans use small
millstone as given in Luke 17:35 where “two women grinding meal
together.” The great millstone stands for large runner stone moved by an
ass. If the executioner hung such a great millstone around the neck of a
person and drowns in the depths of the sea, that person would die, and
his body would not be available for burial rites.
To be thrown into the depths of the sea
(7) Woe to the world because of so many
things that cause people to fall! Such stumbling
blocks are bound to come, but woe to the one who causes others to
fall!
Woe to the world
So many things
that cause people to fall
Such stumbling blocks are bound to
come.
Woe to the one who causes others to
fall!
(8) If your hand or foot causes you to
sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life
without a hand or a foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with your
two hands and two feet. (9) And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it
out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye
than to be thrown into the hell of fire with your two eyes.
If your hand or foot causes you to sin,
cut it off.
And if your eye
causes you to sin, tear it out.
Cut it off and throw it away.
To enter life
Thrown into eternal fire / Thrown into
fiery Gehenna
Gehenna
is a deep and narrow valley at the south of Jerusalem that was
famous for idolatrous worship of Molech where people sacrificed children
(2 Chronicles 28:3). God had forbidden pagan worship and child sacrifice
for Jews. However, some, like King Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:1-3),
sacrificed their children as a burnt offering to the false god (Jeremiah
19:4). So the Jews considered this as a cursed valley. King Josiah later
stopped the sacrifices here (2 Kings 23:10).
Later, Gehenna became a place of waste
disposal. People burned all kinds of wastes, including the dead bodies
of animals and criminals here. Because of the dumped garbage of the
city, it was also a place of worms. Since the fire kept burning there
all the time, this place became a symbol of the everlasting destruction
of sinners in the life after death.
Hyperbole
MESSAGE
1. The disciples learned from Jesus that they
must humble themselves like children to become the higher in heaven.
Later they achieved it. Let us also humble ourselves as children of God
and follow the model of the apostles who dedicated their lives for Jesus
and his church.
2. Children are innocent, humble, content
with petty things, not anxious about the future, when helpless or in
doubt they turn to their parents believing that the parents are
omniscient and omnipotent. They trust their parents, exchange love with
them, obey their parents, and do not keep enmity for long. Children are
open for new ideologies, and they are not position seeking. Let us also
be like children in front of God with these characteristics.
3. Jesus expects his representatives to be
childlike. Jesus said, “whoever receives one child such as this in my
name receives me.” Let us respect children and the childlike who need
our help and find Jesus in them.
4. Jesus warned severe punishment for those
who cause the believers to sin. Let us avoid being scandalous to others.
5. Jesus said, things that beget sin will
happen in the world; but woe to the one through whom they come! Judas
Iscariot ignored all such warnings and betrayed Jesus. Let us be careful
not to become betrayers of Jesus and his representatives in the church.
6. Jesus asked us in an exaggerated language
to cut off whatever leads us to sin to avoid eternal punishment. Though
we cannot cut off our bodily organs, we can avoid other elements like
alcoholism, drug abuse, immoral behaviors, gossip, and enmity.