An excerpt from Chapter 18.
Greatness Looks Different Here
The disciples had a question. It sounds innocent enough. “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
But behind the question lurked something all of us understand. Who matters most? Who’s the most important? Who’s closest to God? Who’s winning?
Jesus’ answer would have surprised everyone standing there.
In God’s kingdom, greatness isn’t measured by influence, achievement, recognition, or status. It’s measured by humility.
Throughout this chapter Jesus turns our natural way of thinking upside down. The least become the greatest. The last become first. The wandering one is worth pursuing. Forgiveness is extended far beyond what seems reasonable. Every lesson points in the same direction.
The kingdom of heaven doesn’t operate like the kingdoms of this world.
Jesus Loves the Little Children
Years ago, during one of my trips to Namibia, I visited a preschool unlike any I had ever seen.
It met inside a tiny home constructed from scrap metal and pieces of cardboard in the middle of one of the country’s largest informal settlements. Many of the children were HIV/AIDS orphans. Others had been identified by the government simply as “vulnerable children”—little ones who statistically faced enormous obstacles just reaching adulthood.
The woman who started the school wasn’t highly educated. She simply loved these children and believed God had called her to do something. So she opened her home.
Nearly sixty preschoolers gathered each day in a room no larger than about twelve by twenty feet. Their classroom supplies came largely from the local dump. Used tea bags became paintbrushes. Discarded materials became teaching aids. I remember standing there that morning wondering how unbearably hot that little room must become later in the day beneath the African sun.
Then the children began to sing. One song after another. Finally, they came to one I knew well.
“Jesus loves the little children…”
As I looked across those smiling faces, many of them dirty from the dusty roads outside, I felt tears welling in my eyes.
“Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight…”
These were children much of the world had forgotten. But not Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever heard those words the same way since.
Matthew opens chapter 18 with a child standing in the middle of a crowd.
The disciples had been debating among themselves. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Rather than answering with the name of a respected rabbi, a successful religious leader, or even one of the disciples, Jesus called a very young child to stand beside Him.
The language Matthew uses suggests a small child—completely dependent upon others.
Think about what little children contribute. They don’t impress us with accomplishments. They don’t earn their place in the family. They come empty-handed. Everything they receive is a gift. They need someone to feed them, protect them, teach them, and care for them.
They’re wonderfully dependent. That’s exactly Jesus’ point.
The disciples were asking who had the most to offer God’s kingdom. Jesus pointed to someone who had nothing to offer except need. He says,
“Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Salvation has never been about bringing our accomplishments to God. It begins when we finally realize we have nothing to bring except ourselves.
The greatest people in God’s kingdom are not those most impressed with themselves. They’re those most aware of how deeply they need God’s grace.
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