The SKV

Matthew 18:1-10 The Toddler Boss

In that hour, the disciples came to Jesus saying, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And he called to himself a child, he in their midst and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child like this in my name, receives me. But whoever traps one of these little ones who believe in me, it is good to him that a donkey's millstone be hung around his neck and would be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of traps! For traps necessarily come, yet woe to the man through whom the trap comes. But if your hand or your foot traps you, cut it off and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than having two hands or two feet be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye traps you, pull it out and throw it from you. It is better for you single-eyed to enter into life than having two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell. See that you do not disrespect one of these little ones. For I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.

At that time, Jesus’ students approached him and asked, “Who gets to be the boss in God’s coming kingdom?” He called over an infant and put him right in the middle of them. He said, “Pay attention now. Unless you become completely transformed and become like a child, you won’t even get through the front door of God’s kingdom. The one who will be boss is the one who will be socially on the level of this toddler. And if you welcome and show hospitality to a child like this, then you are welcoming me. But whoever traps one of the insignificant ones who believe in me, it would be better for him to strap himself to the bottom of the Queen Mary and sink it than what he would suffer as punishment. The world is a terrible place because of traps that make you sin! Yes, it is true, traps are inevitable—but how awful to be the agent of the trap! So if something deeply important to you—as important as one of your limbs!—causes you to stray away from God, get rid of it! It is better for you to be without one of your limbs, but alive, than to be whole but in hell. And if whatever you see causes you to stray away from God, get rid of it! It is better to be half blind but alive than to see everything but end up in hell. And be very careful that you do not disrespect one of my insignificant disciples—for they have a line directly to the throne of God!

posted by Steve Kimes @ 9:47 AM