Matthew 18:5

II. YOUR HUMILITY IS MEASURED BY YOUR OPENNESS AND SENSITIVITY TO THE SO-CALLED INFERIORS IN THE KINGDOM: THERE ARE NO UNIMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOM!

(Matthew 18:5; Mark 9:36 b, Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48-50)

A. RECEIVING THE LEAST IMPORTANT MEANS RECEIVING THE KING (18:5)

At this point Jesus took the little child into His arms for the second phase of His visual lesson: To get to me, you must get to the child too-love me, love my little one! Jesus-' thought naturally flows from becoming what a child is, to welcoming what in older people the child's weakness stands for, because there is but little distance between conflicts over greatness and contemptuous harshness toward one's inferiors. Cruelty and aggression are congenital defects of selfish ambition. Where there is this aspiration, this will to power, wanton trampling on others cannot help but follow as a matter of course. Therefore, the Lord must furnish a motive adequate to stop the mad climbing to the top of the pile that pushes everyone else out of the way. Jesus knows how tempting it is in our highly competitive world to admire the self-confident, aggressive, ruthless people who, in the worldly sense, succeed in life.

Matthew 18:5 Whoever shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Whoever means that the inimitable privilege of being host to the King is open to anyone who takes seriously the condition Jesus lays down. The condition is receiving one such little child in my name.

1.

Receiving the child and receiving Jesus must be the same kind of reception, for the word is identical for the one as for the other: déxetai (= take, receive, accept, treat as a guest, grant access to someone, show oneself open to, receive favorably, welcome, embrace; cf. Arndt-Gingrich, 176; Thayer, 130; Rocci, 430). To treat Jesus and/or the child as a guest properly means to be sensitive to what he considers his needs. It is to dispense with stereotyped categories and notions about what he has to be or like, and to take him seriously as a person, to listen to him as if no one else mattered. To be able to do this sincerely requires putting oneself on his level and seeing things through his eyes.

2.

One such little child means that Jesus intends to be understood literally, at least primarily, because there was one such little child right there in His arms. (Mark 9:36) Barclay (Matthew, II, 196) helps us to see Christ in the child:

To teach unruly, disobedient, restless little children can be a wearing job. To satisfy the physical needs of a child, to wash his clothes and bind his cuts and soothe his bruises and cook his meals may often seem a very unromantic task; the cooker and the sink and the workbasket have not much glamour; but there is no one in all this world who helps Jesus Christ more than the mother in the home. All such will find a glory in the grey, if in the child they sometimes glimpse none other than Jesus Himself.

Ironically, these very disciples shortly after this lesson started hustling little children away from Jesus, not improbably frowning upon them as insignificant and unimportant to Him, just getting in the way of the more important aspects of His ministry! But the child is a practical beginning point for the disciples-' practice,

a.

Because a little child lacks experience and, because of his weakness and dependence, can more easily be appreciated despite his mistakes. We tend to show tender compassion to the naturally weaker.

Jesus could say this to disciples trained in revealed religion, because it is by no means a matter of course for humans to treat children as little human beings and worthy of respect. Brutality to children, whether in child sacrifice or social contempt, is in stark contrast to the practice of peoples governed by God's revelations of the importance of others, especially the weak.

b.

It is at this point that Jesus implies the kind of character one must have in order to arrive at the ideal He symbolizes in the stature of a child. Since to the little child every one else is literally physically, morally and spiritually greater than he, the disciple must develop in himself those characteristics which will enable him to appreciate the greatness and importance to God that is there in every human being. This is the genuine humility of the old gentleman who tipped his hat to young boys, and when asked about this unusual gesture, he responded, It is not to the boys as such that I tip my hat, but to that gentleman that each of them will become. What a majestic concept of the preciousness and potential greatness of everyone else, Jesus would have us hold!

c.

Then, having learned to consider a little child important in his own right and treat him with the same cordiality and respect one would show the Lord Himself, one can see more clearly how to apply the same principles when dealing with grown-ups whose similar weaknesses and imperfections would formerly have bored or disgusted him, What ramifications is this principle going to have in husband-wife relationships, especially where the wife is no longer the beautiful, sweet young thing he married, or her weaknesses no longer seem to offer him scope to protect her, but rather merely bore him? See Jesus-' approach to this practical problem. (Matthew 19:1-12) In the process of transferring our knowledge gained in working with children to working with older people, we learn that we are all ignorant merely on different subjects. We all lack certain experiences, we are all dependent and need help, that we are all just older children struggling toward maturity. Contrarily, the person who has arrived is damned to stagnation, self-righteousness and the ulcer he developed fighting to get to and stay at the top.

d.

Luke (Luke 9:48) confirms this conclusion: For he who is least among you all is the one who is great. This paradoxical statement may mean:

(1)

He who willingly makes himself the least and servant of all is by that act truly the greatest. This harmonizes with Mark 9:35.

(2)

He who by nature is the least among you is the most important. Because of his greater needs, his natural weakness, his moral or spiritual fragility, he is the most in need of the attention of the strong. (Romans 15:1; Galatians 6:1) This harmonizes with Matthew 18:10-14.

3.

In my name limits the reception of the King (receiveth me) to those who, because Jesus tells them to, open their heart and life to little children. Jesus is not automatically blessing all orphanages and adoptive parents merely because they take in children to raise and educate. Non-Christians who do this in the name of philanthropy or human parent love will receive a human parent's reward or a philanthropist's satisfaction, but no more, since they did not do it on the basis of Jesus-' authority and instruction. (epì tò onómatí mou, see Arndt-Gingrich, 575; Rocci, 1339; Thayer, 447) Not fondness for children is the question, but welcoming and caring for them because they represent Christ. (See on Matthew 10:40-42; Matthew 7:22; Matthew 12:21; Matthew 18:20; Matthew 21:9; Matthew 23:39; Matthew 24:5; Matthew 28:19; Mark 9:38 f)

4.

Receives me. No one is qualified to receive Jesus as the Guest of his life and serve Him in whatever capacity at whatever level of status in the Kingdom (Matthew 18:1) who has not learned to consider people important and treat even the least with respect. Even if Jesus had never affirmed His intense concern for and personal identification with weak, straying sheep (Matthew 18:10-14), we could understand how dear they are to Him, because, here, He identifies Himself with them in a manner so close that whatever is done for or against them is done for or against the Lord Himself. (Matthew 25:40; Matthew 25:45; Acts 26:9-15) In fact, the moment was coming for these disciples when neither they nor anyone else could serve Jesus, except by the useful service they rendered to the sick, hungry, naked and imprisonedthe little ones.

There is another sense in which the servant of children receives me. Every generous self-forgetful act opens his life to understand his Lord more fully, to assimilate His spirit more completely and to live in closer communion with Him. This is why this kind of ministry is the path to genuine greatness in God's Kingdom, which is contingent upon how much of His character has been developed in our life.

With this simple declaration Jesus drives us all back to the wonderful children's land of make-believe! He says simply: Try to imagine now every person whom you are tempted to consider as your inferior. Now, let's play like that person were I, your King. Now, offer him the consideration and respect you would have shown me. What an act of faith this would require, what imaginativeness, what creativeness! Most of us will have to drop all of our stereotyped categories and nice little labeled boxes into which we have stuffed others. But since to all superficial observers we are serving not the King of the universe, but just our little neighbors, no one can praise us but He, because only He knows better! And in our child's play, we have arrived at a greatness to which the selfish of the world are all blind. We are the only ones who can see it now, because we dare to make believe, Is it any wonder Jesus takes this approach? By so doing, He intends to develop our likeness to our Creator by making us seek creative ways to serve. But to be creative we need a vivid imagination like that of a child who sees everything and everyone with fresh eyes. If it seems irreverent to conceive of Jesus-' development of a fertile imagination which reorganizes everyone's mental filing cabinets, reclassifying everyone else as a personal embodiment of Jesus Christ, then reconsider His use of creative fancy in the Golden Rule of which our text is but an illustration. (See notes on Matthew 7:12.)

Had not Jesus Himself already seen possibilities in His followers that even they dared not dream were there? Had He not received them in humility despite their outward rudeness? Had He not known, for example, that there was an Apostle under the rough exterior of that fisherman, Peter? Could He not see through the marble exterior of a hard-nosed publican and make out the facial features of a Christian teacher who could organize the very Gospel we are reading together? And did He not call these rough-hewn stones and lovingly sculpture them by His own company, patient instruction and endless repetition, until He found them ready for the final polish by the Holy Spirit? And the rest of the mixed bag of followers around Jesus seemed unreliable material out of which to make anything, much less the Kingdom of God! But He welcomed them, He served them, He built them, He made them great! Is there any doubt that, because of this, HE is the greatest in God's Kingdom? And it is to this, His ministry and method that He calls us.
What a shock it must have been to these Apostles who, in their day-dreaming, had seen themselves as pompous officials, now hear themselves reduced to baby-sitters for children and other feeble, fumbling folk! But, as events proved, they were to learn that the social contract of the Kingdom of God requires that the strong, the mature Christians and the weak in the faith, the overscrupulous Christians, must accept each other's existence and take a specific stance of mutual concern for each other. The weak must not condemn the strong, nor the strong despise the weak, but receive one another as Christ has welcomed them to the glory of God. (Romans 14:1 to Romans 15:7) Even before Jesus terminated His discourse, the implication for the Apostles is immediately obvious: rather than despise other disciples as potential rivals jockeying for position, they must see them as marked by Jesus Christ for potential greatness and usefulness to God. And, as He will say in Matthew 18:6; Matthew 18:10, they dare not trample that greatness nor hinder its development by their own blind rush to realize their own unworthy ambitions!

As did the Apostles, so every Christian congregation must learn that not only the weak need the strong, but the strong cannot do without the weak. The weak offer us so many excellent opportunities to learn the spirit of Christ by our helping them, strengthening them, lifting them, encouraging them. The strong are capable, efficient, self-confident, polished, needing nothing but the experience that can only come by plunging into the service of the little ones. Is it possible for anyone to be more important to the growth of the strong, than the weak and insignificant who lay the privilege of serving them within the grasp of the strong? Who on earth could be greater than those who, because of this fact, are the veritable ambassadorial representatives of Jesus Christ Himself?

Right here begins the ministry of mutual edification as each disciple seeks to develop that unique likeness of Jesus Christ latent in each of his brethren. (Romans 12:5; Romans 15:14; Ephesians 4:16; Hebrews 3:12-13; Hebrews 10:24-25) Because true greatness lies in serving others to help them be what, by God's grace, they may become, our Lord has practically turned every one of His disciples into amateur artists to use the painter's palette and brushes or the sculptor's tools to bring out by creative artistry all of the best and the beautiful and the God-like in his fellows. Now this concept of the to-be-completed master-piece will develop in us that tolerance that honors each human being as a unique representation of God's and one's own handiwork in varying stages of development!

James (Matthew 2:1-13) has painted the best satire on the kind of partiality Jesus is attacking here. Whereas men customarily welcome certain persons of importance on the basis of their wealth, talents or power, or because they belong to the same clubs (cf. Matthew 5:46 f), Christian disciples are to be equally concerned about the usually unimportant, commonly unnoticed members of the Christian community, as well as the children, because THESE are the true VICARS OF CHRIST on earth. How ironic that in the only context where Jesus was asked to announce His projected hierarchy, He bypassed Peter and all the rest and enthroned the child! Later, when He announces the special authority and honor of ordinary believers (Matthew 18:17-19), He establishes the common local congregation as His visible, earthly expression, and men will despise this too in favor of something more impressive, like an episcopal college or synod, and dethrone the ones whom Jesus promised to bless with His presence and concern.

And yet the graciousness of Jesus-' promise seems almost unbelievable, for what an honor would we esteem it to be permitted to welcome Christ into our home for even an hour! Is there anything more splendid than the true greatness of ministering vicariously to the King by our reception of and ministry to His choicest representatives?

B. THE UNAFFILIATED WORKER OF MIRACLES: A LESSON ON EXCLUSIVENESS AND BIGOTRY VERSUS TOLERANCE

(Mark 9:38-41; Luke 9:49-50)

WHY INCLUDE THIS SECTION IN MATTHEW?

The question of the unaffiliated worker of miracles is a lucid illustration of what it means to receive a little one in the name of Christ (Matthew 18:5) and to cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble. (Matthew 18:6) John and the others had blocked the path of this isolated disciple on his way to serve God. They choked off his enthusiasm for Jesus-' discipleship. Stunned, he could have wondered, If these are special disciples of Jesus and they treat me like this, I wonder whether the scribes and Pharisees would have given me any worse treatment! So the disciples would have been responsible for a disappointment so deadening that he might never have recovered. Also, we include this section here because it so adequately illustrates the difference between the real inferiority of littleness and the greatness of magnanimity. The great ones have no fear that God could fail even when His work is done by imperfect and otherwise irregular means; the small-souled nervously challenge and check everything and everyone, blocking everything they cannot totally approve, no matter how glorifying to Christ it might be. (Study Numbers 11:24-30 and Philippians 1:15-18.)

Mark 9:38 John said to him, Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name; and we forbade him, because he was not following us. Luke (Luke 9:49) says: ... because he does not follow with us. The Apostles may have encountered him during their own evangelistic tour months before, but only bring it up now. (Matthew 10:1 to Matthew 11:1) What was the connection in John's mind that spurred him to interrupt the flow of Jesus-' thought by this question?

1.

Jesus had spoken earlier of humility as the absolutely essential condition for entrance into the Kingdom (Matthew 18:3-4). Had they acted with arrogance in interfering with the miraculous ministry of the other?

2.

Jesus had just spoken of the greatness and blessing of receiving the lowliest child, whatever his weakness, imperfection or need. This stirred John's memory and pricked his conscience, leaving him half wondering, half fearing whether their actions were justifiable. So sure before, he is now plagued with misgivings, because, rather than receiving him and encouraging him in the good work he was accomplishing in Jesus-' name, they had ordered him to stop altogether. Could it be that this very disciple they had intercepted was not an opponent to be stifled, but one such little child after all, to be warmly reassured and taken to their hearts? Perhaps he had deserved more sympathetic treatment.

3.

Plummer (Luke, 259) sees John as possibly seeking to qualify Jesus-' previous, apparently universalistic statement: Whoever accepts a child embraces God.

His words are those of one who defends his conduct, or at least excuses it and might be paraphrased, But the principle just laid down must have limits, and would not apply to the case which I mention.. One who remains outside our body is not really a follower of Thee, and therefore ought not to receive a welcome.

The only justification John can muster in defense of their procedure is because he was not following (with) us. They were probably actuated by a mixture of motives:

1.

They were jealous of their official prerogatives.

a.

THEY had been established as Apostles, not he. (Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 6:12-16) What right had others not of the Apostolic company to furnish divine credentials for a ministry which, as far as they knew, had not been authorized by the Lord?

They remind us of the zeal for Moses-' prerogatives shown by Joshua, when Eldad and Medad received God's Spirit and prophesied in the camp, although they were not personally present among the group of seventy elders who officially received the Spirit and prophesied at the Tabernacle. The response of the great-hearted Moses is remarkably similar to that of his Lord here. (See Numbers 11:16-30.)

b.

They probably deceived themselves by mingling their own interests with those of Christ, so that their concern for the honor of His name was only a veil for their personal pride.

c.

The less important fact that the isolated miracle-worker did not follow them, completely blinded them to the far more important fact that he honored their Lord.

d.

They were sincerely jealous for the good name of their Master in whose service they labored and whose authority gave their ministry power. They may have argued, How can anyone be sincerely devoted to Jesus and actually enjoy being isolated from His disciples?

e.

Bruce (Training, 224) thinks that

In so far as the disciples acted under the influence of jealousy, their conduct towards the exorcist was morally of a piece with their recent dispute who should be the greatest. The same spirit of pride revealed itself on the two occasions under different phases. The silencing of the exorcist was a display or arrogance analogous to that of those who advance for their church the claim to be exclusively the church of Christ. In the one case the twelve said in effect to the man whom they found casting out devils: We are the sole commissioned, authorized agents of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the other they said to each other: We are all members of the kingdom and servants of the King; but I deserve to have a higher place than thou, even to be a prelate sitting on a throne.

2.

They ignored the live possibility that Jesus had authorized the man without informing them. The very fact that he was succeeding in Jesus-' name should have been presumptive evidence of a commission from Jesus. Was the man's power from God or from Beelzebul? (Study Matthew 12:22-36; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Philippians 2:12 f.) Where was their moral sense? Were they ready to declare that power to work a miracle came from any other source than God? If not, is not he who has the God-given ability to cast out demons in the name of Christ, therefore, a true supporter of Christ? In absence of proof to the contrary, his God-given miracle-working power should be thought evidence that he was not among the enemies of Jesus, and could not be an antagonist of the Apostles.

3.

His only fault was his lack of affiliation with the officially authorized true believers, and THEY claimed a monopoly on the Messiah! It never seemed to occur to them to invite him to join them in following their common Master, or give him the right hand of fellowship. They apparently did not inquire about his allegiance to Jesus or his character. Their superficiality was satisfied by the fact that he was outside their charmed circle, as if all inside it, even Judas Iscariot, could do no wrong, and anyone having the misfortune to be caught outside it were a lesser breed of follower, if not downright damned. They are motivated by sectarian pride.

The importance for our understanding of Matthew 18 lies in the fact that John and his associates, in cruelly silencing the man, had acted in perfect sincerity. As Bruce (Training, 224) taught,

In so far as the intolerance of the twelve was due to honest scrupulosity, it is deserving of more respectful consideration. That the scrupulosity of the twelve was of the honest kind, -we believe for this reason, that they were willing to be instructed. They told their Master what they had done, that they might learn from Him whether it was right or wrong. This is not the way of men whose plea of conscience is a pretext.

But it is for this reason the more dangerous, because the very devotion of mind and the tender, intense attachment to Jesus and the scrupulous conscientiousness in their actions when void of the humility and mercifulness Jesus inculcates here, made them bigoted and intolerant. Their suppressing this nonconformist was of a piece psychologically with their persecuting spirit that was ready to call fire from heaven to consume the Lord's enemies. (Cf. Luke 9:51-56)

C. JESUS-' ANSWERS

1.

Mark 9:39 Do not forbid him.

a.

This means that Jesus is Lord and giver of commissions and He can empower whomever He will. They are not at the helm; He is Chief of Operations and if He desires to empower a thousand such miracle-workers not belonging to the apostolic group, without ever informing them, what was that to them? (Cf. John 21:21 f)

b.

This command is an implied rebuke of their past attitude and an order for the future. The over-protective spirit toward Jesus shown by John and others in the case of the isolated disciple is identical to that which provoked Jesus to rebuke them later in the case of the little children: Forbid them not! (Matthew 19:14 = the verb is the same: mè kolúete autón, autà) Hindering the weak, unknown, unimportant disciples in any way when they are feebly struggling to please Jesus is dangerous business! The Lord forbids this kind of forbidding. They must forbid, if at all, only those who maliciously slander Christ, To every other, even if he has not arrived at a perfect understanding of truth, they are to offer kind leadership and patient understanding, However imperfectly each has begun to stammer Jesus-' name, he is to be loved and instructed for that flicker of discipleship he confesses.

2.

No one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.

a.

Since the man was succeeding, whereas the nine Apostles had just miserably failed because of their little faith and prayerlessness (Matthew 17:17; Matthew 17:19 f; Mark 9:29), it should have been obvious that he really believed in the efficacy of the name of Jesus and was, by their own admission, making use of it for good. (Cf. Matthew 12:22-28) Such great faith is proof against quick apostacy. Further, a man who would abandon the religio-magic enchantments of the Jewish exorcists and stand up for Jesus of Nazareth in the teeth of a Jewish society growing more disenchanted with Him could not be too far from the Kingdom.

b.

While later apostacy is always possible even for miracle-workers (Matthew 7:22 f), it would probably not occur contemporaneously with their miracles, otherwise God would seem to be furnishing divine credentials to confirm their apostacy. (However, see Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and How to Avoid Becoming a Pharisee after Matthew 15:1-20.) Jesus-' main thrust here is that a person is not likely to be a traitor and a devoted follower simultaneously.

For this reason it is unlikely that the question discussed in this section has anything to do with the problem of objective criteria for distinguishing true from false prophets. Jesus-' counsel of tolerance has nothing to do with prophets who are not expressly or implicitly disciples of Jesus, hence members of the Church. (Cf. Gonzalez-Ruiz, Marco, 171)

This warns the disciples to pause before judging, hastily and on so little evidence, that any man could be chargeable with unfaithfulness to God. Until valid reasons for changing their minds appeared, He would have them consider the fruit of the others-' lives as proof of the sincerity of their faith and belonging to Him. (Cf. Matthew 7:15-20)

c.

The tragedy of it all was that, if we may decide on what little grounds we have, the Twelve had silenced a sincere, honest man, whose heart had been impressed by the ministry of Jesus and His disciples, and who desired to imitate their zeal in doing good! (Bruce, Training, 224)

3.

Mark 9:40 For he who is not against us is for us.

a.

Whoever is not actively opposed to you, permits you to work! Everyone who is not hindering you is giving you every opportunity you need to do my work. They may not be an immediate, positive assistance to you, but if they give you no trouble, rejoice and do my work! But the man, however imperfect may have been his discipleship, was not neutral. Jesus argues that unless a person is openly hostile, he should be considered an ally. In a time when intensified opposition makes discipleship difficult, any assistance should be welcomed by disciples who would need every friend they could find. Learn who your friends are!

b.

The barely noticeable difference between Mark's against us. for us and Luke's against YOU. for YOU is to be explained by thinking that Luke is emphasizing the Apostles-' ministry, whereas Mark quotes Jesus as speaking of us in a general way, probably referring specifically to the Apostles, because they (He and the Twelve) labored in the same cause.

c.

There is no contradiction between this saying and that recorded in Matthew 12:30 (Whoever is not for me is against me.), because Jesus is not discussing here the problem of feigned neutrality or aggressive refusal of His ministry, but the question of methodology among those obviously committed to Him. Matthew 12:30 refers to inward unity with Christ; Mark 9:40 and Luke 9:50 discuss external conformity to a group of His people. Inward unity with Christ may exist independently of outward conformity with other groups. It is this inward unity that unites real Christians, whatever their affiliations and external distinctions. The difference in the texts is the question of methodology versus allegiance: in the one case it was a question of not being with Christ; in the other a question of being not against the disciples in their work. (See note on Matthew 12:30.)

d.

Edersheim (Life, II, 118) has it: Not that it is unimportant to follow with the disciples, but that it is not ours to forbid any work done, however imperfectly, in His Name, and that only one question is really vitalwhether or not a man is decidedly with Christ.

4.

Mark 9:41 Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward. Whoever helps you in the smallest way will be rewarded. Appreciation for Jesus-' disciples even in the common, mundane things of life, convenient to whatever circumstances they are in, is appreciated by the Lord who accepts this as helpfulness shown directly to Him. (See note on Matthew 10:42; Matthew 18:5; cf. Hebrews 6:10) Whoever, while certainly including the humblest, poorest in His Kingdom who show their love for Jesus by doing good even with the feeblest assistance, is not limited by our Lord. Our sectarian reaction is to limit Jesus-' promise to bonafide members in good standing of the church of Christ, but Jesus rejoices in righteousness and generosity wherever He finds it. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 13:6) Acts of love done by any man who helps Christians, because they are Christians, though often curtly turned out of the Kingdom by the orthodox, will not be forgotten by the Lord. His reward is not stated, but since our attitude toward him is to be tempered by Jesus-' magnanimity and openness to him and interest in him, we will long to bring such a generous contact all the way to the Lord whose name he honored in us.

It is worthy of note that here it is the disciples themselves who are on the receiving end of the generosity of others. Jesus is not at this point instructing them to share generously with the little ones. Rather, they themselves belong to that group, and, ironically, they will need the sympathetic assistance from these very outsiders whose ministry they had so arrogantly decided to impede!

Merely because Matthew omitted the incident of the isolated miracle worker, many assume that Jesus-' answers to John's question given in Mark and Luke ended with those texts. However, the disciples present would have heard the complete discourse without break. This means that the successive material might well have been considered by the Twelve as further amplification on the general question of John. If so, then, in addition to the above, Jesus-' answers continue:

5.

Do not despise little ones who believe in Jesus (Matthew 18:6-14)

6.

If your brother is wrong, go to him and seek his salvation (Matthew 18:15-17)

7.

The power of fellowship and unity must not be underestimated. (Matthew 18:18-20)

A man who loves good for its own sake and God for His, will joyfully welcome and approve all the good that is accomplished by others and rejoice that the Kingdom of Christ is advanced. Although this entire context demands that we do everything in our power to edify the weak, instruct the ignorant and be patient with everyone's failings and infirmities, our Master lets us rejoice in every good thing done in His name, no matter how imperfectly or irregularly it might be done. (Cf. Philippians 1:15-18!) Regardless of our fears that some will not be resolute in their goodness and efforts for Jesus, we may permit them to continue, when they seem to be at all useful and desirous to please Him. God Himself authorizes these workers and it is He who performs the good they do. (Study Matthew 12:22-36; see also Philippians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Corinthians 15:10.) The first century Jewish readers of the Gospels desperately needed the instruction of this incident and the Lord's reaction to it. They would certainly have seen practical applications of its teachings as they reacted to the liberating, limit-bursting universal Christianity of Paul.

It is right that we should identify ourselves emotionally WITH the Lord's work in some area to get work done. It is wrong when we identify ourselves AS the Lord's work, i.e. the exclusive expression of it in that place. True greatness does not depend upon following us and our brotherhood, but upon faithful service to Jesus, and, whether we like it or not, those two things CAN BE exclusive! A man MUST know Christ, but he does not have to know or follow along with us to be Jesus-' servant. We must keep in mind that others may read the Bible and obey the Word without following our traditions. (We even have the tradition of saying that we have no traditions!) With these Apostles, we assume too readily that affiliation equals fellowship, but this is the loyal church fallacy (=We are the one true, authorized church of Christ!) Too often we do not care how badly mistaught a man may be, or how dead his zeal, or how polluted his morals, just so he is in our company, hence has a ticket out of hell. But men do not have to be approved by us to be our brethren! We are to invite men to Christ: it is He that they must obey to be pleasing to God and in the Kingdom. Has anyone a monopoly on Christ and Christian service? We must beware of jumping to conclusions about a man's spiritual condition based on merely superficial shibboleths and titles, without being concerned about his zealous allegiance to God and the Bible. We have the duty to recognize and willingly encourage all who truly love Christ and avail themselves of His help in combatting evil within and around them.
So, while Jesus did not teach a universalistic indifferentism toward those who do not belong specifically and openly to the Church which would eliminate any need for evangelism or correction, yet He did emphasize the openness which the Christian community must show those who show an attitude of benevolent sympathy toward it. And in showing Himself a model of excellence in His gentle treatment of John's wrongness and sectarianism, He shows us how to be of service to all men, especially the denominationalists. Our business is to minister to the needs of people and extend the reign of GOD (not the rule of our sect) in men's hearts.

See Matthew 18:22-35 for Fact Questions.