Entering The Kingdom
Matthew 18:1‑4
Take your Bible now and let's turn together to the eighteenth chapter of Matthew...Matthew, chapter 18. We embark upon a new chapter and a new adventure in the wonderful gospel of Matthew as we come to this great eighteenth chapter.
And as a setting for our message this morning, I want you to follow in your Bible as I read the first four verses, beginning in Matthew 18 at verse 1:
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto Him and set him in the midst of them and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
Now, as we look at that passage, we basically are struck by the fact that Jesus picks up a little child in verse 2. And that child becomes the object lesson. The people of God are called by many names in the Bible, many beautiful names, many expressive names, many that describe various and sundry elements of belonging to God. But the most common name by which we are ever called is that of children. Beyond anything else, we are the children of God, the children of the Lord, the children of promise, the children of the day, the children of light, beloved children, dear children. Over and over again hundreds of times in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the people of God are called children.
And we rejoice in that reality. I think, however, for the most part we...we tend to see that as a term which links us to God. And when we hear that we are children, we celebrate the idea that that means we belong to God who is our Father, and surely that is true. And we have every reason to rejoice in that.
But the richness of the concept of being a child of God is not limited to the fact that that means we belong to God and we are His children and we are in His family. Inherent in the concept of children is the fact that we are children and we are well described as children. It not only means we belong to God, but it means like children we are imperfect, like children we are weak, like children we are dependent, as children we are simple and submissive and unskilled and ignorant and sometimes stubborn and very vulnerable. So that we see in the concept of children, not only that which implies a relationship to God, but that which describes us as marked out as children, with all of the foibles and failings and weaknesses that children have. John tells us in 1 John 2:12 that we are children. And so he says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven."
So, as we look at the concept of the believer, we see him as a child. Now the whole of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew describes the child likeness of the believer, the child likeness of the believer. Somewhere in your Bible at the heading of Matthew 18, you need to write that down. This chapter is all about the child likeness of the believer. We're not the high and the mighty. We're not the noble. We're not the lofty. We're not the mature and the adult and the profound. We are children with all that that conveys, lowly children at best.
And I believe that this chapter ranks as one of the great discourse chapters of the Scripture. There are certain chapters, for example, even in the book of Matthew, that stand out as great chapters of thematic teaching. For example, the great discourse in chapters 5 to 7 we know as the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches elements related to His Kingdom. And then there is the tenth chapter of Matthew where there's a great discourse on discipleship. And then there is the thirteenth chapter with the great thematic teaching on the Kingdom of heaven. And then there's the twenty‑third chapter, the discourse on the Pharisees. And then there's 24 and 25, the great Olivet discourse on the events surrounding the return of Jesus Christ. And, I guess, lost somewhere in most people's thinking is this eighteenth chapter which is equally a great and profound discourse. And its title is "the child likeness of the believer." It's a marvelous passage.
It fits into a section that began in chapter 17, verse 14 and runs all the way to the end of chapter 20. And that whole section is a section where Jesus teaches the Twelve. He's getting them ready for His death. He's getting them ready for His departure. He's getting them ready for their ministry. And so He's teaching them very important truths. The emphasis of these months before His cross is not on the crowds, though there were times when He met the crowds, the emphasis is on His own, His disciples. This is their time. They are the object of His teaching.
And so, as we come to chapter 18, He is teaching them. And we find that indicated in verse 1, as the disciples collect around Him and He teaches them regarding their own child likeness.
Now the whole discussion of chapter 18 is triggered by verse 1, look at it for a moment. "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" Notice that the verse begins with a simple little phrase, "at the same time." Same time as what? Oh, the same time as the preceding event. What was the proceeding event? Do you remember in our study of Matthew 17:24 to 27 how that the tax collectors came to Peter after they had returned from many months of being gone from Capernaum. And when they saw Peter, they went up to him and said, "Does your Master plan to pay His tax?" And what they had in mind was the half‑shekel temple tax that was due from every Jewish male every year. And Peter said, "Of course He pays His taxes." And went to Jesus and said what about that? And the Lord said, "I plan on paying that and I have provide...I have provided for both you and me, all you have to do is go down to the sea and throw in a hook and pull out a fish and the tax money will be in his mouth."
And we looked at that story and we concluded from that that there is much teaching there from our Lord relative to the believer's responsibility in the world...the believer's responsibility in the world.
But on that same occasion, at that same time in that same place, chapter 18 is also taught. And this is not the believer's relationship in the world, but the believer's relationship in the family. And so, on the same day they get a tremendous insight into how they are to operate as citizens of the world and how they are to operate as children of God. It's at the same that that happens.
You remember what happened. The Lord said to Peter, "Now you go down there and you just throw your hook in and you pull out a fish and take the first fish you get. Open his mouth, you'll find our tax money there." Peter's gone fishing then between chapter 17 and 18. And as chapter 18 opens up, the other eleven disciples arrive. At that same time, when Peter's been dismissed to fish, came the disciples to Jesus. The rest of them have been walking on their journey. They've been walking around and they've been discussing some things and now they arrive. And so, the Lord teaches them this profound passage relative to their behavior as children in the family of God. It's in Capernaum, it's in the house in Capernaum...very likely, Peter's house, a familiar place.
Notice it says, "Then came the disciples unto Jesus." Now just to give you a little bit of a background, look with me at Mark 9 and let me show you what they were talking about on their trip to the house. Mark parallels the account with his insights under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And in verse 33 of Mark 9 he says, "And they came to Capernaum and being in the house," now they've arrived, "He asked them‑‑that is our Lord‑‑what was it that ye quarreled about among yourselves on the road?" What have you guys been arguing about?
You see, you couldn't hide anything from Him, could you? Even though He wasn't there, He knew exactly what the discussion was. He knew exactly what they'd been talking about. And He gives them an opportunity to admit it. "What have you been arguing about?"
Verse 34, "But they held their peace." Is there any wonder why? They were embarrassed. They were ashamed. They didn't want to admit what they were arguing about. "For on the way they had argued among themselves who would be the greatest." I mean, they were really into that. They fought. They were proud, self‑seeking and they wanted to be in the greatest places in the Kingdom. I mean, they were going to go for the whole shot. And so, when they're discovered‑‑you can go back now to Matthew 18‑‑when Jesus has unmasked them as to their debate and they really can't hide it anymore, and He asked them and they say nothing, finally they put it in the form of a question that isn't really an admission of anything, they just say, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" I mean, in effect they're saying You can just settle this whole thing, Lord, if You just tell us. Would You just tell us who it is?
Their arguing indicates where their hearts were. They really sought superiority. And they say "who is the greatest," actually meizon in the Greek, who is the greater? Of all the great in the Kingdom, who is the greater than the great? Who stands out? Who is greater than all the rest? And Luke indicates to us that they really wanted to know who had the highest ranking. Who is going to be the chief one?
Now this is absolutely amazing. I mean, it just...the Lord has to deal with this with all of us, this...this inability to see things though they've been stated over and over again. And they are stuck on the same issue. How many times has the Lord told them that the Kingdom is not yet going to come in its earthly fullness? I mean, all of the parables of Matthew 13 should have given them some insight. And the Lord has also confessed to them that He must suffer, that He must suffer at the hands of the scribes and the Pharisees, that He is going to die and He's given them all of that data and they still can't compute it. They're still saying, in effect, we know the Kingdom is coming and we know You're going to set it up and who is going to be the greatest in it? And they're looking at the Kingdom in its earthly definition. They were seeking self‑glory, prestige, prominence and Jesus had just been teaching them, chapter 16, verse 24, that if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me, let him lose his life if he wants to find it. And He's been talking about self‑denial and humility all along. And they still are self‑seeking, grasping, desiring prominence. They are bent on self‑ glory. They are bent on sitting in the chief seats.
And, by the way, this debate rages on. If you were to go over to the twentieth chapter of Matthew, which would take you a few months in advance of this time, you would find they're still debating about this and James and John, in the twentieth chapter around verse 20 to 28, send their mother to Jesus and they say through their mother, "Well, could my boys be the chief ones in the Kingdom?"
And in case you just want to lay all the blame on James and John, you might want to know that the Bible also tells us that all the rest of them were filled with envy and jealousy. They were all having the same problem. They just didn't all have a mother around who would do what James and John's mother did. So they were all in the same boat.
And you want to know something that's really sad? The night before Jesus' crucifixion, they were arguing about the same thing still. I mean, they just never bothered to get in on the fact that Jesus was going to die and demonstrate a little sympathy and a little care and a little comfort toward the one who would bear the sins of the world. They never came to that, to the very night before He died, they were still arguing about who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom. I mean, they were really stuck on that issue. Ambition, pride, selfishness, self‑glory were behind the discord, the dissension and the in‑fighting among the Twelve.
And may I tell you that's always the case. I don't care what kind of team it is. I don't care if it's a team in ministry or a team in business or a team in athletics, you get a team fighting on the inside for one or the other to be the greatest and you will have the seeds of destruction...it doesn't matter what it is. I've seen it happen in athletics. I've seen it happen in business. I've seen it happen over and over and over in the church of Jesus Christ. You get a bunch of people who are seeking the preeminence and you will destroy everything. And that's exactly what was potentiated here. Contention arising among the Twelve about who would be the greatest. And it goes on all these months and it never even ends until after the cross.
Now it may be that in part their question is prompted because of Peter. I mean, they knew who was the leader, Peter was the leader. They knew who was the spokesman, Peter. They knew who was the water walker, Peter. None of them ever did that. And they knew who was the most intimate with Jesus Christ, the one who was always there. They knew who was one of the viewers of the transfiguration. They knew who was the object of the tax‑money miracle. And it wasn't them. And it would have been easy for them to say, "Well, Peter is the leader and Peter is the spokesman and Peter is the water walker and Peter was at the transfiguration and he was the one who wanted to build the booths and Peter's the one who got his tax money out of the fish mouth and all of us have to pay our own bills." I mean, they could easily have concluded that Peter was the guy.
But that was somewhat mitigated. I mean, none of them was ever called "rock." But it was mitigated by the fact that none of them had ever been rebuked by the Lord to the extent that Peter was. To none of them had He ever said, "Get thee behind me...whom?...Satan." And maybe they thought there was a little hope for them now. Up to now, maybe Peter was going to be the greatest but now that he'd been shot down so devastatingly, maybe somebody else could rise to the top. And the two most likely guys would be James and John since they were in the inner circle and now that Peter was disqualified by the rebuke, it's little wonder that they thought they were the closest to the prominence and so they sent their mother in chapter 20. But right now at least the question's up.
Who is the greatest? Who's it going to be? The very question is stupid. And it shows where their hearts were, doesn't it? They were looking into the Kingdom to see if they could be great. They were little different‑‑are you ready?‑‑than Judas at this point. People ask the question, "Are they saved now?" I don't know. I mean, they believe to a certain point. I don't know how ever individual heart can be delineated. It's hard to know whether they were in the fullest sense redeemed. I lean to saying they were, but they had forgotten how that happened and they had progressed to a state of Pauline carnality, if you will. But the point here is they are arguing about something that is not to be argued about...who is the greatest.
I remember reading about two churches and they were trying to build a large church and so they decided if they competed against each other it would stimulate them. And they had this contest to see who could get the most people. And the pastor that lost got sick and threw up. I read about it in the paper. Now you read something like that and you get sick and throw up. The Kingdom is not built by people competing at that level. But there are people who seek the prominence, who seek the preeminence, who want to be lifted to the top, who want to be elevated. And that's the thing they're in for. They're seeking the glory and that's exactly what was happening here.
And so, Jesus needs to deal with their delusions of grandeur and He does so in a rather profound way. He launches into this entire chapter and talks about the child likeness of the believer. But to start with, look at verse 2, "He called a little child," and some people think it might have been Peter's children. We know he was married cause his wife's mother was sick. And if he was married, it's very likely he had kids. And it's also possible that he had a little toddler. We don't know, that's speculation. But, Jesus called a little child to Him, "set him in the midst."
And then Luke says He brought him to His side. And then Mark says, chapter 9, that He lifted him up and held him in His arms. The Lord is in the sitting position, that's a teaching position. All the disciples are gathered around. I'm quite sure Peter had come back by this time, I just believe the Lord wouldn't give a profound lesson like this without him there. I mean, he needed it.
And so, the Lord gathers into His arms this little toddler, this little infant. The word there "little child" means just that, infant. And you can imagine this little infant looking with wondering eyes into the face of the very one who had created him, being totally at rest, totally at peace in the arms of God of very gods in human flesh, lost in the wonder of the majesty and beauty of this blessed person, in such innocency, such weakness, such confidence, such trust, being a perfect illustration. And so Jesus sits there and in His arms embraces this little child.
And I can't help but be struck as I think about that by the many, many times that Jesus had little children in His presence. Very, very many times...we've already seen it in Matthew 14 and Matthew 15 and now Matthew 18, and they'll be back in 19:21, 23. Children love to be in His presence and He in theirs. And so, with this little infant in His arms, He begins to teach.
And there are five lessons in the chapter. We're going to take one today and then the next four in the next four weeks. Five lessons, all lessons about the child likeness of the believer.
Lesson number one is the people of the Kingdom must enter like children. Lesson number two, the people of the Kingdom must be treated like children. Lesson number three, the people of the Kingdom must be cared for like children. Lesson number four, the people of the Kingdom must be disciplined like children. And finally, the people of the Kingdom must be forgiven like children. The whole chapter's about children. How they enter the Kingdom, like children, verses 3 and 4. How they're to be treated like children, verses 5 to 9. How they're to be cared for like children, verses 10 to 14. How they're to be disciplined like children, verses 15 to 20. And how they're to be forgiven like children, verses 21 to 35. And so, we'll begin today with the first lesson, that people of the Kingdom enter like little children, verses 3 and 4.
Now listen very carefully because this is a very definitive text and a very definitive message. Jesus says in verse 3, "Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven." Now that is a profound and far‑reaching statement. If you're not like a little child, you'll never get in My Kingdom.
Now we better find out what it means to be like a little child, then, shouldn't we? I mean, that's a pretty profound statement. That's pretty closed and pretty narrow. There's only one condition in this verse for entering the Kingdom, becoming like a little child. Do you know what that means? You ought to know because that's the way you get in the Kingdom. It's a profound statement.
Let's work our way through this brief two‑verse passage. First of all, the Kingdom of heaven, we have to define it. What is it? Matthew uses the phrase 32 times. What is it? Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, they ask in verse 1? He says you have to be converted and become as a child to enter the Kingdom of heaven. In verse 4 He talks about the one who's greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Three times it mentions the Kingdom of heaven, what is the Kingdom of heaven? We've already seen it in Matthew, so we don't need to cover all the ground again. And it's going to be there even more in the future, so we'll come back to it again. Let me just say that it means this, the sphere of God's rule. That's all. It is a general term, the sphere of God's rule. And it is synonymous with the phrase "Kingdom of God." They are not different.
Some have tried to get us to believe in the past that they're two different phrases meaning two different things, they are not. They mean the same, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of heaven are the same and if you have any question about that, look at chapter 19, verse 23 and this should resolve that permanently. "Jesus said to the disciples, Verily I say unto you," Matthew 19:23, "that a rich man shall with difficulty enter into the Kingdom of heaven." Then verse 24 says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God." And we know in the parable He is referring to the same thing, calling it the Kingdom of heaven in verse 23 and the Kingdom of God in verse 24, it must be the same thing, and it is.
You say, "Why the different titles?" Very simple. The Kingdom of God emphasizes the ruler. The Kingdom of heaven emphasizes the character of His ruling. It is God who rules that Kingdom and He rules it with heavenly principles and heavenly power and heavenly majesty and heavenly blessing, as opposed to that which is earthly.
So, what Jesus is talking about is the Kingdom of heaven insofar as it means the rule and reign of God, the dominion of God, the sphere of God's influence and God's power and God's rule and God's blessing coming into the Kingdom of the Lord, coming into the sphere of God, coming in to eternal life, if you will, being saved, being redeemed, belonging to God, under His dominion. So, the concept of Kingdom of heaven simply means God's sphere of rule.
Now when you see the term "Kingdom of heaven," in the book of Matthew and you see it many, many times, as I said, there are many facets to that dominion of God, that sphere of God's rule, many facets. And when you see the phrase, you must carefully look at the context to help you to understand what facet of that Kingdom is in view.
For example, if you were to look at chapter 25 and verse 1, here you read, "Then shall the Kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins," and you remember the virgins who had the lamps, five had them ready and five didn't when the Lord returned. Now there you have the Kingdom of heaven relating to the return of Christ to set up His Kingdom. So it is the millennial aspect of the Kingdom of heaven in view in chapter 25. The future thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, that's in view with that use of Kingdom of heaven.
If you were to go back, for example, to the eleventh chapter of Matthew and the eleventh verse, it says, "Among them that are born of women, there's not a greater than John the Baptist and yet anyone who's in the Kingdom of heaven, even the least is greater than he." And there, I think, the Kingdom of heaven really sort of reaches forward and touches the eternal state. The Kingdom of heaven that is our eternal state and says that when we are in heaven with the Lord in eternity, we will all be&nb
Unleashing God's Truth One Verse at a Time