Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom for Children Part 2
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 18:1–4 NASB 1995)
Last week, we looked at Jesus’ comments that denounced the people in Capernaum because, in spite of the miracles and the Gospel message, they did not repent. (Matt. 11:20-24). Their pride and intellectual resistance prevented them from accepting His message. He thanked His Father for concealing the Gospel message from the “wise and intelligent”, while revealing it to “infants” (Greek nēpios, a simple or immature child) that simply and humbly accepted the hope of the Gospel (Matt. 11:25-26).
Today, we look at a related passage that describes the answer that Jesus gave to the disciples when they asked about the “greatest” in God’s kingdom. (No doubt, their question was related to other disputes among the disciples who were clamoring for a ranking in the Kingdom! See Luke 22:24). Jesus answered by calling a child (on this occasion he used the Greek, paidion, child–perhaps because the child was older than an infant) and telling the disciples that unless they are converted (or, changed) to become like a child, they are unable to enter God’s kingdom. Then Jesus made the clarifying statement:
Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 4)
The key to becoming like a child (or infant as we saw in the earlier passage) is to change from an intellectual and hardened pride to a humility of the heart. Jesus spoke of this need for childlike humility at other times recorded by Matthew:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3)
- The kingdom of heaven belongs to, or consists of people who are humble, like children (Matt. 19:14)
The “wise and intelligent” people of Capernaum rejected Jesus because of pride, not intellect. Jesus was not anti-intellect; in fact, he appealed to the intellect of reason, providing citations and explanations from the Old Testament prophets, the logical reasons for His claims, and the miraculous evidence of His claim to be God’s Son.
Jesus’ message was a message for the heart, but pride had hardened the ability of many to receive the message of repentance from sin. The remedy for those in Capernaum and for each of us is–to change, and in broken spirit with surrendered pride, acknowledge our sinful nature and receive Christ as a child.
Jesus calls those who will become humble, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) This is God’s wisdom for His children.