Matthew 18:1-14 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.18.1-Matt.18.14 Who Is the Greatest? 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Temptations to Sin 7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. The Parable of the Lost Sheep 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. As we discussed earlier, Jesus is now on the march towards Jerusalem with His heart and mind fixed on the coming cross. He knows he doesn't have much more time with His disciples to tell them everything else they need to know before He dies, is buried, raises to life again three days later, and then ascends into heaven 40 days after that. We have already heard some of these lessons, but good lessons bear repeating especially when the disciples haven't gotten the message yet. He's trying to tell them that He's about to die to save the world from their sins and all they can think about is who is going to sit at His right hand when He comes as king. Power, prestige, and position are things that that the world strives after and Solomon warned us that these struggles were vain and empty in the book of Ecclesiastics--like trying to catch the wind.
Jesus turned the question on its head (as He liked to do) by calling a child unto Himself--the same children that the disciples had been trying to keep away because they thought of them as a nuisance and that Jesus didn't have time for them. He told them that unless they became like that child--completely dependent on someone else to meet their needs and knowing nothing, but asking everything and believing that the Father could do anything and everything that He promised because He was the most powerful and strongest and most dependable person they knew--that they could not enter the kingdom of heaven. Children (at least at that time) knew their place and it was to not be seen or heard. and as mentioned before they were not well-received by most adults in public. But Jesus told the disciples that they should not turn the children away and should strive to become like them and whoever welcomes one of them welcomes Jesus Himself, but whoever causes one of those children to go the wrong way and teaches them to sin or teaches them to strive after anyone or anything other than God, it would be better for that to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea so that He should die. This is hyperbole, but many Christians take this as Jesus saying that there is a more severe punishment in hell for anyone who harms and exploits children. Children's minds are very malleable as they are still forming their worldview. They ask lots of questions and they take a lot of things by faith. But what about the adult that tells them not to believe in God because He's just another silly fairy tale like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy? Or what about the person takes a child's innocence away by showing him or her pornography and by opening his or her eyes to sexual things too early in order to use them in a perverse way? Or what about the adult who teaches that you can be anything you want to be, including having any identity you want at any time you want...male, female, animal, or even mythological creatures? What about the adult that tells the child that life is not valuable and that there is no problem killing innocent babies who were unwanted or unplanned or that some people are more or less valuable because of the color of their skin or the some people are worthy of death simply because they are different than you and deserve nothing but hatred? What about adults who teach children to find their comfort, solace, and security in the materialistic things of this world and to strive after this world's treasures? These are just a few ways in which we have taught children to sin as "sin" is anything that we teach them to do or not do that falls short of God's perfect plan for them. God puts a great value on children even though the world may only see them as a resource to be exploited to propagate their sin and their worldview and ensure that the cycle continues and they continue to stay in power. Jesus then deals with the issue of sin and how important it is to God. Jesus starts off by saying that He knows that everyone is tempted, but great trouble comes with temptation and we should not wish temptation on anyone. Then Jesus says makes some statements that have been taken a little too literally but we need to think about them for a minute and get to the heart of the mater. Jesus talks about someone's hand or eye causing them to sin and that person needing to be willing to cut off his hand or gauge out his eye. I don't know about you , but my hand never moved on its own to commit sin involuntarily--it never "caused" me to sin. My will did that all on its own and my hand just obeyed the instructions it was given. My eyes have seen things that they didn't want to see and my ears have heard things they didn't want to hear, but my mind still has to make a choice to dwell on and fantasize about those thoughts. Even if a man cut off his hands he could still be a thief in His heart because at the heart of theft is covetousness--wanting something that belongs to someone else, believing you will be happy and content if you could have that thing, and that you and not God are responsible for providing it for yourself, even if that means taking it from someone else. We already saw this lesson in the Sermon on the Mount, especially with the next point. It is not even the eye that causes you to sin when a man sees a beautiful woman. He can't walk around with his eyes closed or gauge his eyes out, and the truth of the matter is that it's his mind's eye that matters here. It's what he dreams about and fantasizes about because those dreams and fantasies become his lusts that tempt him into sin. Having no eyes does not stop a man or woman from sinning in their imagination...whether that be imagining getting revenge on someone or having an affair with someone you are not married too--whether that affair is physical or emotional. So you see, this can't mean what it appears to mean on the surface. No, the easiest way to interpret this that seems consistent with the rest of Scripture is that anything in your life that gives you opportunity to sin and encourages you to do so, even if you believe it's as valuable as an eye or a hand, is to be cut off and thrown away from your life if you are taking your relationship with God seriously. This may be a friendship, a job, a route that you take home from work, access to the internet or cable TV, or anything else. You probably know what these things are in your life and the world would make fun of you for taking such a Draconian approach--like if you don't have dinner alone with a woman who is not your wife, for example.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
January 2025
Categories
All
|