Harry Potter, Moana, Little Orphan Annie, The Karate Kid, Lucy Pevensie, Mowgli, Simba. What do these characters all have in common?

They are children who begin their stories discounted by the world. Cast aside. Sleeping under the stairs. Bullied at school. Raised by wild animals in the jungle.

Yet every one of them overcomes their adversity to go on to greatness.

These types of youthful rags to riches stories are very common in human culture. Even in the ancient world.

I think of the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great, who supposedly started out as an abandoned infant on a mountainside. Or biblical stories like Moses, born into Jewish slavery in Egypt, but destined to grow up and lead his people to freedom.

There’s something very human about this storyline of a downtrodden child with a destiny. We’ve been telling it since the dawn of time.

However, there is one significant difference in the way we think about these stories today then the way they did in the ancient world.

To put it simply, ancient people thought of these stories as outstanding exceptions; we think of them as the rule.

What I mean is, in our modern minds, we know from the outset these children don’t belong in obscurity. “You’re a wizard, Harry.” “Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”

To us, these kids have implicit value. They are special. And by extension so are we. That’s what Mr. Rogers taught us. Pixar has made a fortune off that idea. Our culture revolves around the fact that kids matter.

Now, we all undoubtedly agree with that sentiment. I think it’s true. But, for the next 30 minutes, I want you to throw that idea out the window.

Here’s why. Because ancient people - like the disciples, like the biblical authors - did not see children that way. Ancient children were nobodies on the world stage.

Rags to riches was the exception, not the rule. And that idea is crucial to understanding our passage for today.

Please turn with me to Matthew 18, Page _______ and we’ll take a look. While you’re turning there, let me pray for us.

SERIES RECAP

Today we’re continuing in our series, “Follow Me,” exploring the gospel of Matthew. We’ve been looking at some major moments in his gospel - like the experiences of Peter - which help us understand what it looks like to model our lives on that of Christ.

Today’s passage might seem a little bit unimportant, when compared to the Sermon on the Mount or Jesus walking on water or the transfiguration… It’s kind of a tiny little passage that’s easy to skim right by.

However, this little object lesson by Jesus points to a major theme in the gospel of Matthew that I think is too important to miss. So we’re going to go there and see who Jesus believes are the greatest people in his kingdom.

THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM

A quick bit of context. The transfiguration has just happened. Jesus and the disciples are back in Galilee. Jesus is almost ready to begin the journey south to Jerusalem, and to the cross.

Matthew 18:1-5

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me…”

Matthew 18:10-14

“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.”

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”

Ok, so the disciples are asking Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

This, as we see through the rest of Matthew (and the other gospels for that matter), is not just idle curiosity. This is a major concern for the disciples.

We see them arguing about who among them is the top dog. They struggle to understand Jesus’ countercultural teachings about success and wealth. There’s even a moment where the mother of James and John asks Jesus to promise her that her two sons to be his top commanders when he’s the king.

You get a very clear sense that esteem and status and power were things the disciples were hungry for. And it makes sense. In a world like theirs, where human life was short and brutal, everybody wanted their name carved into stone. Everyone wanted to matter because most people didn’t.

We see this sentiment even in the words Matthew chooses here. “Who is the greatest…” It’s the Greek word,

μέγας megas - great, large, important, powerful

It’s where we get our prefix “mega-.”

It’s like the disciples are asking, “Hey, Jesus. In your kingdom, which one of us do you think is the most important? Who deserves the biggest statue? Who matters the most?”

To answer that, Jesus brings over a child and says in v.4, “Anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Now, again. In our modern minds, that child in front of Jesus already has implicit value. We believe every child is special, right? We think, “Aw, that’s sweet. We’re supposed to be innocent and creative and simple in our faith, like an adorable child.”

And I’m sure some of that is true to a degree, but remember: that is not how the ancients saw children. This wasn’t a cute object lesson. Jesus just dropped a bomb here.

Because think about it: in their world, children didn’t have implicit value. They were practically nobodies. For one thing, they couldn’t contribute to society. They were totally dependent. They couldn’t even think for themselves.

“Psychologically a child hardly differs for the time being from an animal.” -Aristotle

Add to this that childhood mortality back then was extremely high. Some estimates are that half of all ancient children born didn’t make it to adulthood. The Roman orator Cicero quoted a popular opinion when he said,

“If a child dies young, one should console himself easily. If he dies in the cradle, one doesn’t even pay attention.” -Cicero

Yikes! That is not a Pixar worldview.

Now, to be clear, in 1st century Jewish culture, children were seen as blessings from God, but even there this was far more about what they might become some day. They had the potential to support the farm, to carry on the family name… but there was no guarantee.

For the most part, even in Galilee, children as children had no status. They were helpless, dependent mouths to feed. They were nobodies.

“You’re not a wizard, Harry. You just live under the stairs.”

LITTLE ONES

I think this mentality is captured well by the word Jesus uses to describe children throughout the passage. He calls them

μικρός mikros - little, small, low in dignity

It’s where we get our prefix “micro-.”

And this is where Jesus’ teaching here becomes truly radical and mind bending. “You want to know who is megas - great - in my kingdom? It’s the micros - the small.” Look again at verse 10.

Matthew 18:10

Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

Now, we do not have time to open the can of worms that is guardian angels. But suffice it to say, in Jesus’ day it was commonly thought that every person had an angel - a messenger from God - who represented them in the spiritual realm.

We’re not going to get into that. The point is that Jesus is saying it’s the angels of these children - the heavenly representatives of these cultural nobodies - who are the ones closest to God.

Literally, the angels of these mikros - little ones - are the ones who “continuously see the face of my Father.”

Put simply, according to Jesus the greatest people in the kingdom of God - the ones with the blessing of the Divine - are not kings or generals or wealthy nobles - the greatest are not the ones with their names carved in stone.

No. The greatest - the megas - in God’s kingdom are helpless like children who are a coin’s flip away from not making it to adulthood. This object lesson isn’t cute. It’s radical.

I find it so interesting that Matthew places the parable of the lost sheep right here. Leaving the 99 to go find the one.

In the world’s culture, we value the 99. We value success. We don’t risk greatness for the sake of nobodies. What’s one sheep when you’ve got an entire flock?

But that is exactly the opposite of how God sees those the world has left behind. Verse 14:

Matthew 18:14

In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

THE LAST ARE FIRST

And this is where this little object lesson by Jesus becomes a part of a much bigger worldview. Remember, Matthew is writing a kingdom manifesto here. He’s explaining the way of Jesus to Christians living in a world that obsesses over power and greatness.

Matthew wants his readers to understand what he learned directly from the mouth of Jesus: that, compared to the values of our world, the kingdom of God is completely upside down.

This is a fundamental theme in his Gospel. Again and again, Jesus makes his priorities clear.

Matthew 19:28-30 (NRSV)

Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory… many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

To start his Sermon on the Mount he says

Matthew 5:3-5

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

God blesses those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

God blesses those who are humble,

for they will inherit the whole earth…

When the mother of James and John asks for her sons to be given plum positions in Jesus’ cabinet, here’s how he responds to his followers:

Matthew 20:25-28

You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew’s gospel hits this point again and again and again. That it is those the world has rejected whom God cherishes the most. Or, to use the terminology of our passage for today:

The smallest in the eyes of the world are the greatest in the eyes of God.

God’s kingdom is upside down.

HUMBLE YOURSELF

Hopefully by now you’re seeing how this teaching of Jesus was truly mind-boggling in its ancient context.

If you already value children, it doesn’t hit as hard. But in a world where children were nobodies, this is some shocking stuff.

And honestly, when we understand what Jesus is really saying here, I think it still boggles the mind.

So, what can we take away from this passage in our own walk with Jesus? How do we apply this?

Well, I think a great place to start is verse 4.

Matthew 18:4

Anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I see this as an invitation from Jesus directly to you and me. Do we want to matter in the kingdom of God? Then we must reject the value systems of our broken world and be willing to humble ourselves.

But yet again our modern assumptions get in the way. Because we think of humility as a virtue. A good thing.

The ancients didn’t. To be humbled was the worst possible outcomes of your life. It meant being defeated in battle, or robbed, or enslaved, or killed. That’s humility.

I think a better translation of the Greek word here is “to humiliate.” It’s the same word Paul uses in Philippians 2, referring to Jesus:

Philippians 2:5, 7-8

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had… When he appeared in human form, [Christ] humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

The God of the universe was willingly murdered as a common criminal. And we are meant to have that same attitude.

Nobody aspires to humiliation. And yet, that is exactly what Jesus is asking us to consider. “Anyone who becomes as humiliated as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Put simply,

If we want to matter in the kingdom of God, we must reject the allure of greatness and embrace the humility of Christ.

We must give up the quest to carve our names into stone and instead, willingly join the ranks of the forgotten. That’s how we make a name for ourselves in the kingdom of God. As Jesus says a few chapters later,

Matthew 23:11-12

Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

If that doesn’t give you something to chew on this week, nothing will. Because it raises all kinds of very practical questions. For example,

-Who are the heroes I look up to? Who do I model my life on? Do I idolize powerful and famous and successful people? Boastful people? “Winners” who always dominate their enemies?

Or do I look up to people who willingly give their lives away for the sake of the forgotten?

Another question:

-What is the goal of my career? Am I in it to win it? To make a name for myself? To be fabulously wealthy? Or am I harnessing the blessing of my position - of my income - to bring healing to the lives of the broken?

We all have to pay the bills. That’s why we have jobs. But the question is, “What am I really working for?”

A final question to consider:

-How often do I notice the “little ones” of my world? The mikros. Not just forgotten children, but the poor, the marginalized, the outcast, the cringey, the awkward, the isolated, the sick, the immigrant, the elderly, the hungry, the disabled, the homeless…

How often do I notice those that the world says are nobodies? And how often does my behavior towards them reveal a kingdom that is upside down?

Matthew 18:12

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?

If we think it’s only Jesus who leaves the 99 for the “little ones” of our world, we’re sorely mistaken.

Because Jesus has invited us to follow him. It’s time to join the search party.

—

If we want to matter in the kingdom of God, we must reject the allure of greatness and embrace the humility of Christ.

This is not an easy posture to take. It goes against every human instinct, ancient and modern. And yet this radical posture of self-giving love - of humility - is exactly how our broken world can start to heal.

By a community like ours, following the example of Jesus. Living out the values of the upside-down kingdom of God and showing our friends and neighbors that there is another way to live.

Jesus has extended a call to every one of us. “Follow me.” The question is, how seriously do you take that invitation?