After the glory of the Transfiguration when Jesus was honored by Moses and Elijah and confirmed by God as his Son, Jesus and the disciples came down the mountain on a high. Perhaps Jesus will operate at a different level now, dealing with kings and governors? No, instead he was asked to take time to heal an epileptic boy, a nobody. Nothing in this delay will assist Jesus with his main business; but perhaps this is Jesus’ main business; to find the lost and heal them. That event is a prelude to a chapter about who gets VIP treatment and who can be ignored.
18: 1-5. At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
“At that time,” what time? When we begin to study a passage, we always need to ask where we are in the narrative. Sometimes the answer has to do with location, sometimes it concerns the day or time of day, and sometimes it has to do with our place in a series of events. Looking just before is usually helpful. Jesus has just healed a child.
Two phrases came just before that will help us. “As they were gathering in Galilee…,” and “When they reached Capernaum….” Apparently, Jesus and the disciples took some time preparing for the journey to Jerusalem. In that city, a dimly suspected tragedy will happen, with betrayal, violence, and death. Jesus has warned the disciples several times, but so far they have not fully understood what he was saying. Jesus has also taught frequently about the Kingdom of God, but there is more to say.
That more teaching is needed is revealed in the question itself. Behind this question, in the other gospels, there lurks an argument that the disciples have been having about which one of them will be the greatest when Jesus takes his seat on the throne. Here Matthew has them ask, in a less insinuating way, who will be the greatest.
Jesus often addresses a question in an indirect way, that is, with another question, a parable, or an illustration. The reason for the diversion this time is because the rubrics have not been determined. When I teach a class, I make assignments, and along with the assignment I must establish rubrics, that is, on what grounds will the project be judged. The students need to know what a good assignment will look like, and what I will be looking for when I grade them. In this case, what does ‘greatest’ mean? Jesus begins there.
Jesus chooses a child as a way to reorient their thinking. Let me say that this is unusual to hold up a child as an example. Prophets, sages, and philosophers of the era rarely used a child in their proverbs, prophecies, and logical discourses. Children are mentioned in biblical Proverbs mainly as persons who need to listen to wisdom because they do not have it (Proverbs 4:1). Proverbs also says that children are to be disciplined severely because they are given to waywardness not wisdom (Proverbs 13: 4).
A brief digression. Some of the Greek elite tended to think of children, young boys in particular, as sex objects. Plato wrote an essay called Phraedrus about Socrates debating the subject of love, though the subtext is about rhetoric, that is, how to properly fashion an argument. Plato has Socrates and a younger philosopher named Lysias discuss whether it is better to have a sexual relationship with someone who is not in love with you than one who is. The assumed subject in the discussion is always ‘a boy’, the word paidion in Greek, the same as the word in this verse, from a root word that gives us the English words ‘pediatric’ and ‘pedagogy’, not to mention ‘pedophile’. The point I am making here is that few men in the Ancient Near East would have treated a child with respect as Jesus did.
Jesus did not choose a child because children are wise. Rather, Jesus chose a child because a child still has a lot to learn. When I went off to seminary later in life, European students expressed shock that I, already with a Ph.D. for 20 years, would submit to sitting again in a classroom like a regular student; but I knew that I had a lot to learn. I still do. That is just the sort of perspective that Jesus is suggesting that the disciples must develop. They have a lot to learn. Jesus challenges us: So, what are you going to do about it?
18: 6-7. “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin (stumble) it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! (stumbling blocks) Such things are bound to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
Jesus then extends the metaphor of the child to include new believers who join the Jesus movement; they are young, whatever their age, and they have a lot to learn. Jesus has already said that the proper posture is to ‘welcome’ the child as you would welcome Jesus himself. His concern is with group leaders who are supposed to be shepherds who protect, feed, and guide the sheep. Instead, some might cause a new believer to lose their way on the path to maturity in Christ. The verb here is skandalizo in which you can see the root of the English word ‘scandalize’. Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble or falter is in great trouble.
If someone is tempted to behave in a way that would be a ‘scandal’ if it became public, and we have had way too many of those, it would be better if an oinkos were tied around that person’s neck and they were drowned in the deep sea. Jesus is talking about a millstone, but not a small one turned by human hands. This is a great or upper millstone that is so thick that it is rolled on edge, is about a foot wide, and is pulled along by a donkey. So, Jesus is serious here. If a scandal like this happens in church circles, don’t let it be you.
18: 8-9. “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin (stumble), cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin (stumble), tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell (Gehenna) of fire.
Rather than lightening up, Jesus doubles down on his warning. What might the foot, hand, and eye mean? Perhaps Jesus is concerned about where your foot takes you, what path you choose to walk. Perhaps Jesus is concerned about your desires, what you try to grasp for your own. Perhaps Jesus is concerned about roving eyes that constantly search for some sinful delight, and I am not talking about chocolate! Jesus has been on earth for 30+ years by this time, and he knows us well.
Of course, it is hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point) to suggest cutting off hands and feet. The big mistake that people make is to not see that the heart and mind control what hands and feet do. Remember that Jesus took the Pharisees to task for mistaking physical acts (tithing, alms-giving, fasting, attendance at worship) as the sum total of what God expects from us. Jesus said that these people honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from God (Matthew 15:8 quoting Isaiah 29:13).
The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). It is not lips or hands that need to be cut off, rather it is a mind that needs to be reformed, that is, a person’s will that needs to be submitted to God and transformed by renewal. David said: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (Psalm 51: 10). This should come as a surprise to no one.
18: 10-14. “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. (18.11, For the Son of Man came to save the lost.) What do you think? If a shepherd 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? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your (my) Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Note: Verse 11 is a true saying of Jesus, but the earliest manuscripts do not have it in this place in Matthew.
Jesus is really serious about new believers and will not leave the theme. How might we despise one of these little ones? By not recognizing their worth. Often we try to make this point by saying that ministering to the least of these is the same as ministering to Jesus, and that is true. However, here Jesus offers another reason. These ‘little ones’, by whom we think he means new believers as well as children, have a corresponding angel who is constantly in communication with God. Perhaps this is where we get the notion of a guardian angel, although note that these described by Jesus are not here on earth with the children but constantly in the presence of God. Nothing will escape the awareness of God.
This story is a little different from most ‘lost sheep’ stories in the Bible. Usually the whole flock is lost and, as such, represent the people of Israel who have gone astray. This time, the bulk of the flock is safe, and only one is lost. While it is unlikely that a shepherd who is alone would leave the flock on a hillside to go find the one that is lost, the unusual plot twist makes the point: “It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost” (Witherington 2006, 348-350). Jesus leaves us with the question: So, what are you going to do about it?