The Greatest in the Kingdom
http://graceandspace.org
Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
1[One time,] the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a child over, placed it in their midst, 3and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
10“See
that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that
their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
12What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one
of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and
go in search of the stray? 13And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. 14In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
Reflection:
Do not despise one of these little ones. Jesus
pays a lot of attention to the little ones, unlike us who love to pay
greater attention to the VIP’s of this world. First, he takes a little
child and puts him in the middle. Then Jesus makes the child a model for
his disciples: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.” The policy of God is: “The one who humbles
himself will be exalted” (Lk 18:14).
Then
Jesus tells us not to despise any “of these little ones.” These are the
simple faithful. They are not to be treated as second-class citizens of
the kingdom. They are, in fact, VIP’s whose bodyguards are the angels
belonging to the heavenly court and living in intimacy with God.
Let us learn to be respectful of every child and every one of the simple faithful, and indeed of all the nobodies of this world.
Jesus loves all the little ones.
So should we, if we are to be like Jesus.
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