On this side of the cross, when we receive Christ as our Savior, we become God’s people and his Holy Spirit comes to dwell within each believer. This promise was not given only to the ancient Israelites living in Jerusalem. Isaiah gives us a beautiful illustration of our Father’s love for his children, recording God’s promise that in times of trouble “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:13).
Jesus said, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:5-6). Jesus teaches us that to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must recognize that we are as dependent on our heavenly Father as little children are dependent on their parents – and that God loves us with the unconditional, self-sacrificing agape love that far exceeds the capacity of any earthly mother or father.Īnd yet, we know that in this broken world, our sweet, innocent children suffer.
They are utterly dependent on the provision and good will of others. They do not have the power and the means to keep themselves fed, safe, and well. Children cannot decide where they live or where they go, and most of the time they cannot decide with whom they live and who cares for them. They do not have the power to make their own decisions, they cannot earn their daily bread or the money to pay for clothes or toys, housing, or education. Children are the least in the kingdoms of this world. Jesus loves the sweet innocence of children so much that he taught his disciples that anyone who wishes to be great in his kingdom must learn to humble him or herself like a little child, approaching our heavenly Father with absolute trust and depending on him to meet our every need. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:2-4). Matthew portrayed the event this way, “ At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great’” (Luke 9:46-48). But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. As Luke described, “An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
Jesus’ disciples were often in competition with each other, arguing about who among them would hold the highest position once Jesus came into his kingdom.