Jesus was confronted by His own disciples wanting to know, which of them would be the Greatest or most important when they got to Heaven. In Matthew 18:1-10 we see how Jesus answers that question. In the culture of that day one of the most useless individuals was a child. They could not provide for themselves, they took up your time and effort to care for them, everything from food to clothing to shelter must be provided for them. These things made them one of the most useless individuals around.The only redeeming thing about them was that they would eventually grow up and help take care of things when we got to old to do so ourselves.
As usual, there was a crowd of people following Jesus, so it was from this crowd of strangers Jesus beckoned to a child to come to him. When the child came up Jesus put the child in the middle of them. Now, many preachers will say how we should take the example of the child and be inquisitive, and trusting, and leaving control of our lives up to God. But that was not the only reasons Jesus used this child as an example.
Jesus also wanted his disciples to see themselves as a child, completely worthless and unable to do anything for itself. If left to it’s own devices, it would not last long. It might survive for a time out of luck, but eventually it would be swallowed up by the world around it. He wanted them to realize that their entire existence was dependent on God’s good will for us, and that if God did not have a purpose for them they would be left to die. We must realize the same thing. God has a plan for each of us and it is only by His will and His Plan that we are even alive.
We are to humble ourselves, understand just how worthless and unable to save ourselves we are, and put ourselves under God’s complete control. Only then can we become great in The Lord’s Kingdom. When we get as low a self esteem as possible and think as little of ourselves as possible, get upset with the world and how it treats us, only then can we become the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
Not only are we to be as debased as this but we are to care for anyone we may meet who is as worthless to themselves as this and help them so that they may grow and become a disciple of God. We are not only supposed to help provide for them, but also to protect them from the world around them.
Jesus told them that it would be better for them if they found themselves with a large stone being tied around their necks and being cast into the sea than for them to allow one of these younger disciples, or children, to come to harm in any way. If they have a way to prevent the child from being harmed and do not take it, they are guilty by omission.
If we look at verse 8 of chapter 18 we see Jesus is saying the world itself is in danger because Adam and Eve have allowed sin to enter the perfect world that God had made. Jesus warns that troubles must come, offenses must happen to believers. Even more in danger is the person from whom these offenses, or troubles, come. God will make them to stop hurting His people. He promises to protect the children He is protecting.Only when the trouble you are experiencing is in His will can it continue to happen without reproof. God promises to protect His children and will do so. Jesus says in verse 9, for us to completely do away with something that is causing us to sin. It doesn’t matter what it is do away with it or have very little to do with it. Jesus uses the extreme example of plucking out your eye or cutting off your hand, not saying we should do so, but saying we should act the same way with whatever is causing us to sin. If it is a person, cut them off from you. If it is smoking get the cigarettes away from you. whatever it is have no more to do with it. If you can’t help but be around it then ask the Lord to give you the strength to face up to it and overcome.
Jesus warns us not to look down on anyone who is still learning as they are protected by God’s angels and these angels are great enough to look directly at the Lord, who is to great for any mortal man to look at. Even when Moses looked at the retreating back of the Lord, his face shone so bright that he had to wear a veil.
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