At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
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 child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills ad go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
When the disciples asked Jesus who the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is, they were probably expecting Jesus to say it would be a king or a great man who best followed the commands Jesus was leaving them. You could imagine the shock when Jesus called up, not just a child, but a "little child" and said that anyone who humbles himself like a child will be the greatest. Back then and even now, we adults look at children and we see immature little people who need to be taken care of and told what to do. Once we hit a certain point we stop comparing ourselves to children and we grow up. I believe this to be when we are able to take responsibility and gain personal freedom. We start feeling in control. We become the adult. We become prideful. Jesus saw through this and called the disciples, and now us, out on it. We've let our belief that we have control take over, when we are suppose to believe in the reality that we have none. We do not have control over even the hairs on our heads. But we've turned God's giving us free range of the things of this world misconstrue that. And the more we believe in the other things of this world, the less we believe in God and the more we come to doubt Him. So we are called to be like children in two ways: 1st we need to humble ourselves and remember that we're small and need God's help to live and do anything. We need to trust in Him and let go of the world. 2nd we need to have the faith of a child. A child will believe almost anything without doubting it for a second when an adult tells them. We need to strive for that same doubtless faith in Jesus.
The next part is Jesus saying that whoever welcomes a little child in His name welcomes Him. Now Jesus just got through saying that we need to be more like humble children because to God that's who we are. So in other words, all people are God's children. So anyone who welcomes any other welcomes Jesus. We must look at the other people in this world and remember them as God's daughters and sons and Love on them and we would with Jesus. We need to think about what we would do for Jesus, and then treat everyone like that. I fail at that too much. And that is why I thank Jesus for having Grace that I would not even give to myself.
Jesus does not finish there though. He goes on to say that if anyone causes any little one to sin, is better off having a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea to drown. To cause someone else to sin is a greater wrong than sinning yourself, because you not only have your own blood on your hands now, but the blood of another. The news keeps playing stories about murder suicides done by families and students at homes and schools. Every time I see one of those stories I feel myself cursing the one who did it. But now I realize how little difference there is. For I know that I have led someone else to sin before. And I may as well have been a person holding a gun in a crowded store. We need to watch our words and actions around others. If they know we are a Christian, then we need to be the mirror image of Christ. If they see us doing something, they will see it as something anyone could do. This does happen. If people know you are a Christian, you have greater influence than you think. That title alone is a responsibility. So pray with me to start acting like it by listening to God and doing what He wants us to do.
Jesus continues by saying woe to the world and the people that cause others to sin. These things are suppose to happen, for that is what is prophesied in God's Word for the future. But even still, woe to those who they are done through. This is why Jesus continues by saying that if your hand or foot or eye causes you to sin, you must cut it off and throw it away. Not only can it lead us to sin, but since we are examples, it can lead others to sin. So we must cut off from ourselves what causes us to sin. In our world today, this could be anything. For those who have problems with lust it could be the internet, for those who drink or do drugs it could be those. It could be TV, or your clothes, anything. If you know it causes you to sin, it would be better to be rid of it than to "live" another day with it. Keeping these things in our lives only leads us away from God and leads others away. And that's not how it is suppose to be.
Jesus goes on to say that no one should look down on anyone. For all are seen by God and His servants. We must not judge or see ourselves as better than anyone else. Remember when you were so young that if you met any other child you would walk up and say, "Hi! Wanna be friends?" Just like we were as children so long ago, we need to be now: Accepting and Loving and Honest. Because if we're not, others could feel turned away. And to so many, we represent the character of Jesus Christ. Does that fit in with Scripture, no. But the people who haven't read it don't know that. They've been living according to the world. Unless we accept them and tell them that we all mess up and are nothing compared to Jesus, they will just see us and think that because we turn them down so does God. We have that much responsibility. That is why I pray for God to takeover my words and actions every time I wake up and leave my room. Because I want others to see Him, not me. I want to follow Jesus with everything that can be used for Him and throw away anything that can't. But of course, I get in the way. I fall away, and others do to. But Jesus knew that. So he told the parable of the sheep. Scroll back up and read it again.
He comes looking for us and for everyone else. When we call out to Him and He finds us hurt and ruined by the world, He picks us up and carries us back in His arms. When He comes back to the herd He rejoices that the one that was lost has been found. He is not willing to let any of us stay lost. He gives us each every chance to come back. It seems so easy to think otherwise when we see the world and how many people are not Christian. But, do we see the hearts or thoughts of those in this world? Do we know just how much recognizable influence God puts in other people's lives day in and day out? No we do not. So who are we to make a judgement about the way God works and what He does for others? We are naive, immature children, that's who. And so we must do what we can to stay as sheep in the herd that can rejoice with Jesus anytime another sheep is found.
There was a lot to unpack, and there is even more. I pray that anyone who reads this post goes back to the Scripture and unpacks more of it on their own. But all in all from this I have learned that we must have faith, humility, acceptance, and purity of a child. We must cut off what causes us to sin and can cause others to sin. And we must follow Jesus like sheep. Because, like I once wrote in another post, if we are not sheep who follow Jesus, we are wolves who lead others away.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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