Daily Devotions
Matthew
Secret Dreams of Personal Greatness
Text: Matthew 18:1-14
How little the disciples of Jesus understood themselves. They had been rebuked for having a weak faith. They had not mastered their theological lessons well. They had trouble in the ministry. Yet, each disciple harboured secret dreams of personal greatness (Cf.Mark 9:33-37).
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying,
‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'”
MATTHEW 18:1
There was some tension among the disciples concerning this moot issue. There seemed only one way to deal with the problem. Jesus had to settle this matter for them. Who was the greatest among them?
A DRASTIC CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE NEEDED
How Jesus must have sighed within His heart as He listened to His disciples, each having his own personal agenda, each harbouring his own secret ambition.
“Then Jesus called a little child to Him,
set him in the midst of them, and said,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted
and become as little children, you will by no means
enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever receives one little child like this in My Name
receives Me.'”
MATTHEW 18:2-5
“Unless you are converted and become as little children…”
Did the disciples understand just how like non-believers they sounded as they discussed the subject of greatness? Did true and good disciples think in this manner? Where did they pick up this idea from?
The disciples were on dangerous ground. Jesus had to deal with this problem forthrightly! The disciples must make an immediate turn around (“converted”)! They must change their perspective immediately, or their very salvation was suspect! Their support of personal greatness was not consistent with their being children of the kingdom of heaven!
“Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest…”
There were children among the people who milled around, listening to Jesus. They may not have understood all that Jesus taught, but in their own little ways, they must have loved Jesus and the stories He told.
Little children were oblivious to issues like “greatness”. If Jesus were to bid one of the children to come to Him, that child would be very happy! He would not be thinking of how great he was! He would just be delighted that Jesus noted him and called him to draw closer. A child’s innocence was to be the benchmark of defining adult “humility”.
“Whoever receives one little child like this in My Name receives Me…”
Wherein lies greatness? What marks of greatness did the disciples possess at that point of time? Was their faith so outstanding that Jesus commended them? There was hardly anything in the disciples, at that point of time to cause them to dream about personal greatness, and yet all of them became hot under the collar as they debated the subject of “greatness”.
How “great” was the work of receiving a little child? Why didn’t Jesus discuss greatness in terms of skills of preaching or teaching? Why didn’t He talk in terms of achievements like the number of people healed etc?
Receiving a child in the Name of Jesus would cause a person to be great in the kingdom of heaven? What could Jesus mean by that? Sometimes the answers Jesus gave were most perplexing! The disciples knew that Jesus was causing them to think through things! His answers were always designed to cause them to meditate, to do soul-searching reflections! He never merely gave straightforward answers!
ISSUES TO PONDER OVER DEEPLY
1. The deep-seated problem of Self
As the disciples of Jesus brought up the subject of “greatness” they revealed a glaring problem. The old “self” had not been dealt with deeply enough. Selfish ambition was still in their hearts! They had not changed all that much. They needed to change further!
2. The “little-faith” problem remained unresolved
Notwithstanding the flashes of spiritual insights that some of the disciples had, by and large their level of faith still left much to be desired. When the sin problem of self looms large, outstanding faith will be absent!
3. The perception of ministry in danger of being corrupted
What was ministry all about? Was it not about “people”? What mattered most in ministry? Was it not about meeting people’s needs and pointing them to God? Where did self come in? The perception of ministry was in danger of being corrupted.
4. The Example of Jesus in life and ministry
Had not the disciples the most basic lesson? How did Jesus serve? How did He view the multitudes? Did they not see His depth of compassion? They must correct themselves. They must fathom what Jesus was seeking to teach them! There must be true humility in their very souls or whatever they attempted would amount to nothing!