Criteria
Who is
the greatest? It’s a question that has
been asked by many different people for many different reasons. Who is the greatest baseball player of all
time? Who is the greatest president this
country has ever had? Who is the
greatest composer that this world has ever seen? And we ask that question because we like to
rank people; we like to know who is the best of the best. But what criteria are you going to use? Is the greatest baseball player going to be a
pitcher or a position player? It’s
difficult to compare the two. Is the greatest
president going to be determined by what he was able to accomplish or by the
outside situations that he was able to handle?
Is the greatest composer the one who is credited with the most
ground-breaking innovations in music or the one who is considered the epitome
of one particular style? The question:
“Who is the greatest” depends on the criteria people use to determine the
answer.
So who is
the greatest Christian in the pages of Scripture? That’s a tough question to answer, isn’t
it? We might be able to throw some names
out there at least, but I don’t know if we could come up with an agreed-upon
#1. Was it Abraham? Moses?
David? Paul? Ruth?
Esther? Rebekah? All of them could be considered in the
running because they all had commendable qualities. But how would you determine which one of
these Christians was “greater” than the other?
It’s almost a silly question, isn’t it?
Of
course, Jesus’ disciples asked that very question. And they were serious! The
disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?” We don’t know if they were
including people like Abraham and Moses and David in this question or if they
just wanted to rank themselves, but they actually wanted to know whom Jesus considered
the best of the best! Jesus didn’t shrug
off their question even though it was a little silly; instead he gave them the
one criterion he was looking for: He
called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless
you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles
himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
I doubt
this was the answer the disciples were looking for. They probably wanted a specific name; in
fact, each one of them probably wanted his own name to be called by Jesus. But to be fair, when we look at the
circumstances we can understand why they might have been arguing about
this. Because just before this story,
Jesus had taken only Peter, James, and John up onto a mountain and there he was
transformed in front of them to show them a little bit of his power. But none of the other disciples had been
allowed to go; they had to stay down at the foot of the mountain by
themselves. There could have been quite
a bit of jealousy swirling around after that incident. But only six days before that, Jesus had
verbally rebuked Peter and had even called him “Satan” for speaking against God’s
plans. Were some of the disciples now
thinking that it was time to move on to a new leader instead of this out-spoken
disciple whom Jesus had just scolded in front of them all? And so who was the greatest? Was it still Peter? Maybe James or John? Or Judas Iscariot who had already been
elected the treasurer of the group?
Maybe it was Andrew who introduced his brother Peter to Jesus or Philip
who brought Nathanael to his Lord. “Who
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Lord?
Come on, tell us! We really want
to know!”
“I tell you the truth, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles
himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” That must have crushed the disciples’
egos. “Unless you humble yourself like a
little child, you won’t even get into
the kingdom of heaven, let alone be the greatest!” The one criterion that Jesus gave them must
have made them feel tremendously guilty for even thinking the question. It makes me feel guilty.
Child-Like
Humility
I am
supposed to humble myself as if I were a child in order to enter the kingdom of
heaven? I’m supposed to lower myself to
a level that I haven’t been at for decades?
I’m supposed to give up my hard-earned status in life at those times it
would be a benefit to others? I’m
supposed to surrender my rights as an adult and my freedoms as a mature human
being at those times when doing those things would be for the good of somebody
else? What if someone takes advantage of
me? What if someone abuses my attempts
at humility? Do I still have to humble
myself like a little child in situations like that and for the sake of people
who won’t care? If that’s what it takes
to be the greatest, then I am far from it!
In fact, if we take God at his Word and believe that being a child is
the criterion for entering the kingdom of heaven, then I’m pretty sure that I’m
not going to get there.
Maybe you
will. Maybe you like humbling yourself as
if you were a little child. Maybe you have
no problem setting aside the respect you’ve earned over the years just to give
that respect to someone else. Maybe you are
willing to take orders like a little child does from someone you could be
giving orders to. Maybe you voluntarily
bend to the wills and wishes of other people as a child must bend to the wills
and wishes of adults. And if so - and
you do it all the time and you do it because you are only concerned about other
people and never concerned about yourself - then congratulations! You’ve met the criterion. You are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
because you have humbled yourself to be the lowest.
I hope
you caught my sarcasm there… I don’t
know anyone who wants to humble themselves like a little child. Even children don’t want to be treated like
children! Because we like to keep our
rights and use our freedoms; we like to voice our own opinions and do our own
thing and if someone doesn’t like it, tough!
But “I tell you the truth, unless
you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven.” Those are strong
words. Harsh words. “Be a child or you don’t get in.” And I’m sure the disciples realized it
too. The question was no longer: “Who is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus
had changed it into: “Who is even going to make it there?”
Christ-Like
Humility
If only
the disciples had asked Jesus a different question. And what I mean by that is the disciples
should have asked Jesus about what he was talking about right before they got
into the argument about who was the greatest.
If you look at this story in the book of Mark, immediately before the
disciples got into the discussion that we are dealing with right now, this is
what Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man
is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after
three days he will rise.” But they did
not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it (Mark
9:31-32). They should have
asked! They should have followed up on
Jesus’ comments and asked him to explain what he meant. Because if they had, Jesus would elaborated
on his betrayal, his death, and his resurrection. He would have given them insight into their
salvation and the price that he was going to have to pay. If they had asked that question then they
never would have asked “Who was the greatest” later on because they would have
realized someone already was greatest: Jesus himself. Because Jesus was the only one who could meet
the criterion he required.
Jesus
was the only one who was able to humble himself like a little child. Jesus was the only one willing to humble
himself like a little child. And he was
the only one who actually did it.
Consider the fact that Jesus always was and will always remain true
God. But he decided to humble himself,
not just like a little child but
actually as a little child in the womb of a girl named Mary! The God of this universe visibly confined
himself to the body of a little baby boy!
And remember how Jesus humbled himself throughout this life: the King of
everything did not even have a home to live in while he was on this earth; the
Creator of everything did not have a means of income to buy his own food; the
Ruler of everything did not have a single possession other than the clothes on
his body. And think of the kinds of
things that Jesus did while he was here: he allowed Satan to tempt him for 40
straight days in the middle of the desert as if the devil had some sort of
authority over him; Jesus asked John to baptize him as if he were the worst
sinner in this world; Jesus got down on his hands and knees and scrubbed the
dirt off of the feet of his disciples on the night before he would die. And later that night: as the
Knower-of-All-Things, Jesus allowed a betrayer to kiss him on the cheek; as the
Great High Priest, he allowed the local high priest to accuse him of blasphemy;
as the King of kings and Lord of lords he allowed a Roman ruler to decide his
fate; as the almighty powerful God he allowed soldiers to manhandle him and
make him bleed; as the Life-Giver he allowed death to overtake him.
Everything
that Jesus did to humble himself is really summed up beautifully in Philippians
2: “Christ Jesus, who, being in very
nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but
made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness. And being found in appearance
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a
cross!” Jesus humbled himself not
just to the level of a child, but beneath a child: a servant. And Jesus humbled himself to the point of
death not just for the sake of those around him, but for the salvation of
everyone who has ever lived. Jesus met
the criterion. Jesus was the one
followed the example of that little child he had stand before the disciples. And because he did, we are now his children.
We are Already Children
Isn’t
that an interesting twist in this story line?
We are not capable of humbling ourselves to the level of a child in
order to get into the kingdom of heaven.
But Jesus was and Jesus did. And
because of that we are now considered children anyway regardless of our
inability to humble ourselves that way.
It reminds me of that great Christmas-time passage in the book of
Galatians: “When the time had fully
come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under
law, that we might receive the full rights of sons… So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and
since you are a son, God has made you also an heir” (Gal. 4:4-5,7).
We have
proved that we cannot humble ourselves to the level of children, and so God
made us his children through the humility of Christ. And because we are his children - his
first-born sons - we will receive the inheritance. And that inheritance is heaven. “I
tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
We are children of God. And we
will one day enter the kingdom of heaven.
Not because we are so humble, but because Jesus humbled himself for
us.
And so
who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus is, certainly. But because he
is, so are you. You are the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. Because you are a
forgiven child of God, you have been washed in his blood, you have been given
the name Christian, you are an heir of eternal life. Through faith in him, Jesus considers you the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And who
could be any greater than that?
Amen.
“To him who is
able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory,
majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages,
now and forevermore! Amen.” - Jude 24-25
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