Who's The Greatest

Matthew 18

1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus,

saying, "Who then is greatest in the Kingdom

of Heaven?"

2 Jesus called a little child to himself,

and set him in the midst of them,

3 and said, "Most assuredly I tell you,

unless you turn, and become as little

children, you will in no way enter into the

Kingdom of Heaven.

4 Whoever therefore will humble himself as

this little child, the same is the greatest

in the Kingdom of Heaven.

5 Whoever will receive one such little child

in my name receives me,

6 but whoever will cause one of these little

ones who believe in me to stumble, it would

be better for him that a huge millstone

should be hung around his neck, and that he

should be sunk in the depths of the sea.


The disciples seemed to always have an
interest in self promotion. This question
in different forms was asked more than once.
In a way, it's odd. The disciples were not
prominent citizens of their day. They were
a bunch of average guys. Who better to
preach to all the other average guys. But,
like anyone else, they thought that they
might be able to leverage their association
with Jesus into something more substantial,
like a little power and influence. So, they
ask Jesus how to become great.


Jesus gave them their answer. It was not
what they expected, I suppose. He said that
they needed to become as indifferent to
status as a child. Children don't spend
much time concerned with greatness. At an
early age, they have no awareness that
others are different from.


When I read this passage, I get the idea
that Jesus is saying that the humility he
admires is the way that children are quick
to help others, without any hesitation that
they might have an advantage to gain from
their involvement. They don't have a first
impulse to get their own way. They have to
learn those bad habits. If you have
children, you see how quickly they learn.


One aspect of children is that they are
quick to ask parents for anything they want
or need. As a parent, that can become a
source of irritation. It's normal for a
child to feel that dependency. They are not
afraid to ask for something. And they don't
have a natural sense of limitation. To them
anything is possible.


That's where the troubling part comes in.
Jesus provides a warning here. He says
that for faith to be great, it has to be
as innocent as a little child. Then he adds
that to exploit that tendency in children is
a terrible offense in his view. As I look
around, I have to consider the way that our
society views children. I'll never be able
to forget the morning I was looking around
the museum and there was a tour guide with
a group of children. He was instructing
them in the doctrine of biological
evolution. The textbook variety. I was not
left with a warm fuzzy feeling. I'm left to
wonder if that is the sort of thing Jesus
warned about.


Zec 2:11 Many nations shall join themselves

to Yhwh in that day, and shall be my people;

and I will dwell in the midst of you, and

you shall know that Yhwh of Hosts has sent

me to you.

12 Yhwh shall inherit Judah as his portion

in the holy land, and shall yet choose

Jerusalem.


Yesterday, I was reading this passage from
Zechariah, to my boys. If I can't manage
to teach them anything else in life, I will
make every effort to give them an accurate
concept of christianity, warts and all. As
I saw growing up, they will have to make
their own choice about whom they will serve.


This is not a totally straightforward
passage, but is generally accepted to be a
prophetic word about the millennial period.


In context, Zechariah was one of the Jews
that were exiled to Babylon. The book
provides very specific time and place to
this effort to go rebuild Jerusalem,
specifically the temple.


Given the context that Jerusalem and the
temple had been destroyed, along with the
nation of Israel, years ago, it is
significant that there was a Divine decree
that 'many nations shall join themselves to
Yhwh...' From the perspective of the exiles
it had to seem a long shot that there would
ever be any revival of their country and
their temple, the symbol of G-d's covenant.


What're the odds here? Of the ancient
deities of Babylon, who remains? Yet, the
words Zechariah recorded, have been proven
true, at several levels. The idea that
'Many nations shall join themselves...' in
context, has to seem totally implausible.
Yet, here we find today that Christianity,
shares a common scripture with Judaism. In
essence, we have been joined to Yhwh. Jesus
had not yet been born, Jerusalem and the
temple were in ruins, Judaism was all but
another dead religion, and Zechariah, as did
others, had the revelation that this was not
the end of the story. Time has proven the
prophetic case. This is not something to
dismiss with a wave of the hand. Beyond
whether or nor you choose to believe it, the
story is unique. The outcome, unlikely.


At another level, it's not the end of the
story. There is in this passage from
Zechariah, the millennial aspect and the
eternal aspect. From Walvoord 'G-d's
ultimate purpose was to build Jerusalem in
the millennial kingdom where it will be a
large city without walls as described here.'
The idea is that there will be a population
of inhabitants so large that they will
spread beyond the boundaries of the city.
Believers in Yhwh will include more than the
nation of Israel. That has come to pass.
Yet, we are still waiting for the millennial
and the eternal city of the New Jerusalem,
the capitol city chosen by G-d for his
throne in the final age. It's just as hard
to imagine the shape of the future from what
we see around us today, as it was at the
time of Zechariah. Nevertheless, there is
'a more sure word of prophecy'.II Pet. 1:19.


The view from the Jesus Bus is that there is
more to come. Whatever circumstances appear
to be, there is the promise of an eternal
place of peace for the believer. There is
no promise that there will be no potholes
in the road ahead, but the destination is
going to be far beyond anything that we can
imagine in the here and now. The trip plan
for now, is to try to be 'the greatest' in
the sense that Jesus described greatness.
Fasten your seatbelts, hang on and try to
enjoy the ride.