1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,
3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
In the Mark and Luke versions of this same story it is said that there was a quarrel among the disciples, they argued over who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. To clear up this doubt, Jesus takes a child to illustrate them and tells them that anyone who humbles himself as a child will be the greatest.
And said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”
Luke 9:48
I am very interested in the last part of verse 48 of Luke 9: For he who is least among you all will be great. Anyone in his human mind would think that to achieve a good position in the kingdom of God must reach a certain level here on earth, humanly speaking. But Jesus teaches us the opposite. Jesus tells us that to be great there, we must be small here. Moreover, He teaches us that if we are not so, we will not even enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18: 3). Anyone who humbles himself as a child will be greater in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18: 4).
Many believers believe themselves the great thing because they have reached a certain stature before men and they forget Matthew 23:12 that says that he who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Beloved brother reading this article, never forget that the smaller we are, the bigger we will be there. Let us not allow anything to feed our ego and do not believe ourselves the great thing. Let us remain humble serving all our brethren in the love of the Lord.
