Which of them should be greatest
The greatest in the kingdom of heaven
I. Who ARE NOT the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
1. The lofty in birth and the rich in possession have no claim, on such grounds, for this distinction.
2. Nor the loftiest in intellect.
3. Nor yet the man who--
(1) works the most;
(2) suffers the most;
(3) gives the most--in the service of God.
II. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
1. The humble man.
2. He who is the most docile.
3. He who is most unworldly.
4. He who is most loving in spirit.
5. He who cherishes a forgiving spirit. (T. W. Aveling.)
Unhappiness of striving to be great
“Some time since,” says Dr. Payson, in a letter to a young clergyman, “I took up a little work purporting to be the lives of sundry characters as related by themselves. Two of those characters agreed in remarking that they were never happy until they ceased striving to be great men.”
A child
How children are emblematic of conversion
Let us consider how little children furnish an apt emblem of conversion, or rather, of those who are being converted.
1. More particularly, and in reference to those qualifications in which the disciples now showed that they were very deficient, and yet of which we must all be possessed, if we are to be saved--little children are comparatively humble. Whatever seeds of evil may lurk in their minds, it is almost impossible that they should imagine themselves equal to those who are grown up. They are almost unavoidably sensible of their inferiority and dependence. And this is the state of mind towards God, to which we, as sinners, must be brought. Let us not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think; but let us think soberly. Let us not imagine that we are rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing; but let us feel and confess that we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
2. Intimately connected with this disposition of humility is a disposition of teachableness; and of this, too, children are, in a considerable degree, possessed. Aware that their parents and teachers surpass them in knowledge, they look to them that they may learn of them; and they are at first very much disposed to believe and receive, without gainsaying and without doubt, whatever they tell them. In this, too, we mark an essential feature in the character of true converts in relation to God.
3. Once more, here, children are comparatively free from worldliness and ambition. This world does not yet obviously appear to be their idol. They do not form plans or labour for the riches and the honours of public life. They readily associate with their inferiors, and do not aim at surpassing competitors for exalted stations. (J. Foote.)
True greatness
Apparently this was the first occasion on which the spirit of rivalry manifested itself among the disciples of our Lord. Followed close upon a scene which might well raise their hopes of personal distinction. Three of their number had just been witnesses of the Transfiguration; they had seen their Divine Master in that dazzling vesture of glory which betokened His coming accession. And it is conceivable that the special favour conferred upon the three who were admitted to that wonderful vision set all thinking. Then, too, it has been suggested that our Lord’s own promises to His disciples may have served to stir ambitious longings in their hearts.
1. Our Lord rebuked the first exhibition of the competitive spirit among His followers by taking a child and pointing to him as the true pattern of the essential grace of the gospel. The greatest is the humblest.
2. This ideal appeals to the best instincts of the human heart. (Canon Duckworth.)
Children and childhood
It is very good to me, in reading the Bible, to notice how much of the interest and hope of the world is made to depend upon the children that are unborn when the hope springs up. The hope of humanity rests in the children. When the Spartans replied to the king who demanded fifty of their children as hostages, “We would prefer to give you a hundred of our most distinguished men,” it was only an expression of the everlasting value of the child to any commonwealth and to every age. The great hope is always in the new birth. This the deepest reason for the unspeakable loyalty and reverence for children that so constantly filled the heart and life of Christ.
1. If it be true, then, that the hope of the world lies in the cradle, in what relation do we, who are now responsible for this new life, stand to it?
2. If we are wise and faithful to our trust there is in each child the making of a man or a woman who shall be a blessing and be blessed.
3. What is it, then, to receive a child in the name of Christ? This question would need no answer had there not been so many mistakes made about this simple, natural, and beautiful truth.
(1) Have faith in the Son of Man in the child. Guide and govern with best wisdom and love the life that is of the earth, earthy.
(2) Guard and reverence the Son of God in the child--the life that is from above. (R. Collyer.)
Christianity and childhood
Greek art gives us no children. Nay, it is equally true, though perhaps not so surprising, that up to the thirteenth century there were no Gothic children either. It was only when art was touched by Christianity, and when the Madonna and Child became the light of every honest heart and the joy of every pure soul, that pictures of children were possible. The tradition of the Beautiful Child lasted long. Then came a dark period in which children were ground to death by our millwheels, and the wealthy patrons of art could not conceive of the children of the poor except in vice and misery; and it is only now that you are beginning to restore the quiet earth to the steps of children. (Ruskin.)
Unobtrusiveness of the truly great
Travellers tell us that the forests of South America are full of the gem-like humming-bird, yet you may sometimes ride for hours without seeing one. They are most difficult to see when perched among the branches, and almost indistinguishable flying among the flowering trees; it is only every now and then that some accidental circumstance reveals the swarm of bejewelled creatures, and they flash upon the vision in white, red, green, blue, and purple. It is somewhat thus with society--the noblest, the most beautiful characters are not the obtrusive ones. Going through life carelessly, one might think all the people common enough; reading the newspapers, one might suppose the world to contain only bad men; but it may comfort us to remember the truly great and good shun observation and walk humbly with God. (W. L. Watkinson.)