Matthew 18:4

B. RELATIVE STANDING IN THE KINGDOM DEPENDS ON HUMILITY. (18:4)

Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The humblest is the greatest; the most important is he who admits his deep spiritual need, real inferiority and subordination.

Whoever humbles himself must do so in relationship to others. Self-humiliation, as God intends it, cannot take place in a vacuum, i.e. by solitary ascetics. All true humility expresses itself by putting one's own ambitions in the background in order to serve others. This is but the repetition of the teaching of the Beatitudes: the great are not the powerful, the rich, the self-seeking the self-important who, because they are too proud to serve, demand for themselves service from others.

As this little child is often assumed to mean: Whoever shall humble himself as this little child is humble. It is more probable that Jesus means: Whoever shall lower himself to the level on which this child stands in relation to everyone else, is greatest. That is, whoever freely and willingly places himself on the level of natural subordination occupied by the child in reference to everyone else is the greatest in the kingdom. Why should this be true?

1.

Because he who makes himself the willing servant of others, helping them to live a joyous, holy life useful to God and their fellows, is, in effect, honoring that gentleman or lady in them which, by his efforts, they can be helped to become. What a startling realization: which is greater? an earthly king or the kingmaker? If the kingmaker can unmake a king as well as make him, then the kingmaker is the greater. If, therefore, a disciple busies himself serving others, laboring unselfishly to help them realize their highest, noblest goals in God's service, helping them, in short, to reign, HE IS A KINGMAKER and the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. This, of course, does not mean that he is superior to God the heavenly King who really does not need any of our service to make it possible for Him to rule over the universe. However, since Jesus the Messianic King has chosen to use our service to extend His government on this earth among its people, then by His grace and through our service we make Him our King and bring others under His sway.

To state this concept another way, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven: the person who tramples down others to fight his way through the higher echelons to sit with folded hands at the top of the human pyramid and press down from the top, or he who is supporting the weight of the entire pyramid on his shoulders, pushes up from the bottom, lifting everyone above him ever higher toward God who rules at the undisputed peak?

2.

Because it is only in and because of this genuine self-abnegation, true humility and service to others that one will develop the kind of character qualities Jesus desires in all of His servants. Gibson (PHC, XXII, 430) pictures what it meant to the Twelve:

They did not indeed, get over their selfishness all at once; but how grandly were they cured of it when their training was finished! If there is one thing more characteristic of the Apostles in their after life than any other, it is their self-forgetfulnesstheir self-effacement, we may say. Where does Matthew ever say a word about the sayings or doings of Matthew? Even John, who was nearest of all to the heart of the Saviour, and with Him in all His most trying hours, can write a whole Gospel without mentioning his own name; and when he has occasion to speak of John the Baptist does it as if there were no other John in existence. So was it with them all.

Some have noticed that no worse distortion of our Lord's principle could be imagined than for someone to put himself deliberately in last place or go through the motions of serving others as a means of climbing the ladder of social success to the top. Lenski (Matthew, 683) cites Pope Gregory the Great (who) called himself servus servorum (servant of servants). He did it in order to be the greatest, did it in a mechanical fashion, by a shrewd kind of calculation, putting on humbleness in order to secure greatness. This description, however, raises the legitimate question whether one can really get to true greatness this way. One of two things would happen first: either one's selfish ambition would soon tire of this game, rip off its mask and hurry to make up lost time in the unabashed scramble to the top of the pile, showing itself for the pride it really is, or else the person would be transformed in the attempt, Since our motives undermine or validate all our actions, cannot those who sought greatness for selfish reasons, change course when faced with the realization that true greatness is only possible to the pure in heart? Can they learn obedience by the things they suffer by emptying themselves, taking the attitude of a servant and becoming obedient even to death (Hebrews 5:7-9; Philippians 2:7-9), even with the specific goal of arriving at the crown (Hebrews 12:1-3; Galatians 6:9 f)? Conversion is possible, but it will not take place until false humility is crucified. Bruce (Training, 195) teaches that

The higher we rise in the kingdom the more we shall be like Jesus in this humbling of Himself, Childlikeness such as He exhibited is an invariable characteristic of spiritual advancement, even as its absence is the mark of moral littleness. The little man, even when well-intentioned, is ever consequential (= self-important) and scheming: ever thinking of himself, his honour, dignity, reputation, even when professedly doing good. He always studies to glorify God in a way that shall at the time glorify himself. Frequently above the love of gain, he is never above the feeling of self-importance. The great ones in the kingdom, on the other hand, throw themselves with such unreservedness into the work to which they are called, that they have neither time nor inclination to inquire what place they shall obtain in this world or the next. if only He be glorified.

Humility expresses itself in the following characteristic ways:

a.

An unwillingness to assert oneself at the expense of others, or absence of ambitious pride and self-aggrandizement.

b.

A willingness to forget injuries suffered, no room in one's soul for bitterness, unwillingness to judge harshly.

c.

No shame to admit ignorance, totally unassuming modesty regarding one's own opinions, no falsely assumed intellectual self-sufficiency, an acute awareness of one's own limitations and conditioning.

d.

The presence of a vivid, free imagination, because one does not assume he already knows it all, hence not stubbornly dedicated to limited cliches and stereotypes.

e.

No confidence in one's own merits as a basis for distinctions in rank.

f.

No insistence on one's own rights, no proud demands, unpretentiousness.

g.

Willingness to yield to the Lord's leadership.

h.

Contentment, no sense of loss when others are honored and the recognition that everything one has is given to him, (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Humility realizes that to God and others goes most, if not all, of the credit for one's attainments in life. In short, to evaluate ourselves as God does is humility. It cannot be degrading to face this reality. Far from being want of proper self-esteem, it is the only proper view of ourselves precisely as we are. It is a willingness to be evaluated as we really are, whether by God or others. This recognition of our absolute dependence on God and others that admits that our security and future are in the hands of others deflates any desire to compare our talents and accomplishments with those of our peers to their disadvantage. (1 Corinthians 4:6-7)

3.

Because only an attitude of teachable humility, that admits one's own deep need, can be blessed by the Lord. Remember the examples of deep humility that impressed Jesus:

a.

The self-confessed unworthiness of the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-13)

b.

The Canaanite woman who accepted herself as a doggy under the table (Matthew 15:21-28)

c.

The sinful woman who washed His feet (Luke 7:36-50)

d.

The reaction of Zacchaeus to His visit (Luke 19:1-10)

e.

The anointing by Mary of Bethany (Mark 14:3-9)

The kind of humility Jesus insists on is but a proper consciousness of our creaturely condition and a proper fear of God. To ignore this is to make oneself a little tin god, and only as we regain our healthy respect for the true God can we fathom the folly of social-climbing and the wisdom of that self-denial that bows its head to kneel beneath the load of everyone else's burdens to lift.

Greatest suggests great and greater. In fact, since each disciple possesses these character qualities in varying degrees, they would be relatively great according to their relative humility and usefulness to others. So, Jesus leaves intact the concept of relative difference in rank in the Kingdom, a fact that leaves room for consecrated competition and godly ambition and holy aggressiveness. Then, having shown that the name of the game and its highest goal is to be the humblest, most useful servant, He turns our redirected ambition loose to determine to be that servant. It is an entirely different ball game, but there is room for holy aggressiveness and competitive spirit. (See Romans 12:10; Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor!) Jesus did not return their question unanswered, noting, You ask a meaningless question (Matthew 18:1), because, in the Kingdom, the distinctions of great, greater and greatest do not exist. Our Lord is no communist who would level everyone to a gray equality that ignores personal differences and stifles initiative. Rather, infinite growth toward maturity is possible in the Kingdom, and its relative realization will unavoidably produce degrees and distinctions in maturity. But while such levels of status do exist in the Kingdom of God just as in earthly kingdoms, the all-important difference between them lies in the basis upon which these promotions are based, On earth, the prizes go to the self-seeking; in God's Kingdom the truly great are the self-forgetful. This is why Bruce (Training, 195) recognizes that

In this sense, the greatest one in the kingdom, the King Himself, was the humblest of men. Of humility in the form of self-depreciation or self-humiliation on account of sin Jesus could know nothing, for there was no defect or fault in His character. But of the humility which consists in self-forgetfulness He was the perfect pattern. We cannot say that He thought little of Himself, but we may say that He thought not of Himself at all: He thought only of the Father's glory and of man's good.

See Matthew 18:22-35 for Fact Questions.