Day 221, Year 1

Be Humble Before the Lord

“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 18:2-4 NASB)

In today’s passage, the disciples asked the Lord Jesus Christ about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1). Jesus then called a child to stand among them and said that whoever is as humble as that child is the greatest in His kingdom. “Humble” in today’s verse, tapeinoo in Greek, means “to make low, bring low, to abase, to assign a lower rank than others who are honored, humble living, of one’s soul bring down one’s pride, or to have a modest opinion of one’s self.” At that time, the disciples were discussing who was the greatest or the leader. Jesus surprised them with the above reply. For the greatest in His kingdom is not any one of them, but a humble child from outside.

That child needed to obey Jesus’ invitation so as to come among the disciples. He might need to leave his mother or friends and find the courage to stand among a group of adults, becoming their focus of attention. It is uncertain to say whether the child was humiliated or how he should humble himself in this process. However, Jesus pointed out that unless we become little children obeying Him, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The child standing among the disciples clearly obeyed Jesus’ command without hesitation, demonstrating the humility that He wants. Only such persons can enter His kingdom. For the disciples, to stop arguing about who was the greatest and convert to become humble, to leave behind familiar people and things, to even overcome the challenges around them, and to simply listen to Jesus—that is what it means to be humble and then be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

To summarize the previous passages on entering through the narrow door and the kingdom of heaven, we need to transform ourselves into children who listen to the Lord Jesus in all things. Indeed, every believer is a child before Him. Moreover, if we do not humble ourselves when we dine with the Lord, we are likely to resist His words. Thus, self-exalted people need to humble themselves first before Him. This kind of self-humility, accepting Jesus’ invitation to be known by Him, and the affirmation that God is the source of our lives, are all necessary conditions for entering through the narrow door of His kingdom.

Reflection questions:

1) Are you humble enough to become a child before the Lord Jesus and to listen to His words wholeheartedly?

2) What price would you pay to obey Jesus’ words? Are you willing to make that sacrifice? Why?