Matthew 18 - The Little Ones

Our responsibility to each other

 “About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called for a child to come over and stand near him. Then he said: ‘I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And when you welcome one of these children because of me, you welcome me. It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the deepest part of the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks!

The world is in for trouble because of the way it causes people to sin. There will always be something to cause people to sin, but anyone who does this will be in for trouble. If your hand or foot causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! You would be better off to go into life paralyzed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out. If your eye causes you to sin, poke it out and get rid of it. You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell. Don't be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you their angels are always with my Father in heaven.’” (Matthew 18:1-10 CEV)

Traditionally this biblical passage, which acts as a preamble to the ‘Lost’ parables, seems to have been viewed as two separate elements – one addressing the disciples’ desire to know who is greatest amongst them, and the other talking about a very personal reaction to sin.

Working through an organised review of the parables I came to Matthew 18 and realised that there is a very strong likelihood that I have been taught, and understood, this passage in entirely the wrong way.

Becoming ‘small’

The disciples are debating which of them should be the leader. It is natural for men the world over to do this – seemingly something to do with our innate characteristics. They come to Jesus to ask for his input, but they get something entirely unexpected. In response, Jesus calls a young child over. The Greek used here (Matt 18:4) for child is ‘paidion’, which literally translates as young child, or little one, and tells them that in the upside-down kingdom of heaven, it is being small and of little account which gains you access.

In the upside-down kingdom of heaven, it is being small and of little account which gains you access.

He then goes on to say, pretty shockingly for an ‘honour-based culture’, that you need to humble yourself and “become like a child”. My understanding of this is that we need to become little and of little account, to make ourselves small. This would be very shocking in a world where the big Roman empire controlled everything. Jesus goes on to say that by making yourself small, or of little account, then you are actually achieving greatness in the kingdom (although I am not sure if greatness is a concept believers should hold onto).

In a way at this point, Jesus is previewing the crucifixion where he makes himself small and of little account in the face of the mighty Roman Empire. He goes on to say that it is in the welcoming of those who are small and of little account, that we welcome Jesus – a concept that is revisited in Matthew 25’s sheep & goats judgement. Then, having laid down that marker, Jesus suddenly takes it a whole lot deeper, and in a way that our modern bible interpreters seem to have completely obscured.

Scandalised

The text here records Jesus using the Greek word ‘skandalizo’ – scandal or stumbling – over and over again. Inserting the transliterated Greek into the text it literally reads,

“It will be entirely terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers [this time the Greek word used is ‘mikron’] to be ‘scandalised’ (caused to stumble). People who do this would be better off being thrown into the deepest part of the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks. The world is in trouble because of the way it ‘scandalises’ people (causes them to stumble). If your hand or foot causes you to ‘scandalise’ (makes one of these little ones  stumble), chop it off or throw it away! You would be better off to go into life paralysed or lame than to have two hands or feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out. If your eye causes you to ‘scandalise’ (make one of these little ones’ stumble), poke it out and get rid of it! You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell. Don't be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you their angels are always with my Father in heaven.”

Community responsibility

For all my Christian life I have seen this scripture as a slightly odd way of treating personal sin that sat entirely at odds with the ethos of forgiveness. I have been uncomfortable with it for a couple of reasons. First, it feels like an endorsement of our modern, ego-driven ‘I’ gospel and fails to take into any kind of account the community focus of the bible.

Secondly, who in their right mind would be unable to control themselves at the cost of disfigurement? However, seen in the light of causing fellow believers or little ones, to sin, and with the linking of ‘scandalise’ running right through it I suddenly realise that this is a call to being a responsible community. If you are scandalising your community, particularly a Christian community, and making it stumble then you are running into serious trouble.

This is a call to covenant community responsibility and encouragement that is entirely at odds to our 21st century personalised Christianity.

This is a call to covenant community responsibility and encouragement that is entirely at odds to our 21st century personalised Christianity. We have a responsibility to one another, to the little ones, ‘mikron’, in our community and society, to protect them from stumbling. When I read this text in this manner, I simultaneously feel grief at how I may have been guilty of this at some stage, and a great surge of witness in that in leading little ones rightly I can be a tangibly good witness. It is not too much to say that, in a way, reading this passage in this light has transformed my faith and hopefully my faith walk.

This parable tells me that ‘great’ has no place within God’s community or economy; in fact it tells me that any activity or process that introduces the concept of greatness and littleness is in direct opposition to kingdom values, which is why Jesus turned it entirely on its head.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28)

Within the Kingdom, we value one another and are to do nothing to diminish or reduce one another, we protect each other’s vulnerabilities, and we build up God’s covenant community in fellowship.