The Greatest (Matthew 18)

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

The disciples’ question prompts Jesus to spend some time teaching them (and us) a lot about how we’re to live with each other in the kingdom.

Who’s the greatest? Might as well stop right there. To even enter the kingdom, you have to change and become like a child. That conjures up all kinds of qualities that Jesus may be looking for to enter the kingdom: their innocence, their pure hearts, their easy faith and love, and the list goes on. Jesus, though, calls out one quality specifically, and it alone.

The greatest in the kingdom, says Jesus, is the one who humbles himself like a child. In the same way Jesus “humbled himself“, throwing off his position to take on our nature for our sake, Jesus says the disciples need to humble themselves and become like a child, with no position and no power. The disciples are looking for the top position in the kingdom; Christ is looking for those that will give up any desire for position and power, pride or pretense.

He’s also looking for his followers to avoid sin, and doing anything that causes others to stumble. He starts this part of the conversation still talking about children – to receive one of them is the same as receiving him, but to cause one of them to sin – well, it would be better for that person to tie a large millstone around his neck and be drowned in the sea. Jesus broadens the teaching though. He echos his teaching from the Sermon on the Mount; remove anything that causes you to sin – it would be better for you to have eternal life without it than to perish in hell with it. Definitely don’t be the source of temptation and sin to the world around you.

No, God’s will is that no one should perish, and definitely not because of anything we’d do. Jesus uses an example of a shepherd who leaves 99 of his sheep to go and find one that is lost. His love drives him to see that not even one of his “little ones” should perish.

When there is sin in our relationships, Jesus tells what to do about it. Going to the person in private to deal with it – to reconcile if at all possible. If that’s unsuccessful taking one or two others along. If that fails, taking it before the church. If that fails, sadly, having nothing more to do with the person. God is a part of that decision, Jesus is among those that follow this model, and what the believers do will be binding.

Peter then asks how often he should forgive. Is he trying to find the limits on how often he’s supposed to go through all those steps of reconciliation Jesus described? Peter believes he’s being gracious, in offering to forgive seven times – the teachers of his day said just three. Jesus tells him that the answer, essentially, is to do it as many times as it takes. Not seven times, but seventy times seven if that’s what it takes.

He tells a story that both illustrates, and teaches further. In the parable, the king forgives a large debt from a servant,who in turn won’t forgive a tiny one for another servant. The result is the loss of his forgiveness, and being called to full account. As in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that our forgiveness depends on how we forgive others. We’re to forgive as freely as the King does. We’re to deliver the same mercy we’ve received from others – freely and totally. If not, we lose that forgiveness and mercy ourselves.

Who is the greatest? That’s not the motive or the desire in the kingdom. Instead, what marks great-ness in the kingdom is the childlike humility that gives up position and honor. It’s  the avoidance of sin and anything that might cause others to sin, caring about the loss of even one just as God does. It’s seeking reconciliation over and over even when the other person is the one at fault. Forgiving as freely and as often as the Father.

One last thought. There is a time for turning away from a brother who refuses to repent and reconcile. Jesus wraps his teaching on when to do that in a discussion that starts by emphasizing humility, avoiding anything that would offend others, and love for the lost, and finishes by emphasizing extreme forgiveness. It seems that any thought of dealing with an unrepentant sinner has to be completely wrapped up in humility, avoiding offense, love, and extreme forgiveness too.