It was a simple question that the disciples asked Jesus. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? This devotion begins looking at the question they asked.
Nuggets
- I wonder what the disciples were really asking Jesus.
- Wanting to be great is part of the human makeup, isn’t it?
- It is easy to look down at the disciples because they didn’t get it – most of the time, we don’t either.
- At a minimum, we struggle greatly with the concept; at a maximum, God’s ways are higher than ours, and we just can’t understand.
- God wants us to focus more on the spiritual than the physical.
Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?
How Are We to be Children of God?
This devotion may be pushing the boundaries of the Family category a little bit. It has to do more with maturity than status in the family.
That is, until we look at it as we are to be children in God’s family. We know we call God our Father. We know we are children of God.
Glossary
But is that more than just a title? Does it have some expectations associated with it?
The answers to those questions are also pushing the limits of this devotion. So, it is going to get split into two.
Let's Put It into Context
Family is, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, “the basic household unit which provides a person’s central relationships, nurture, and support.”
Resource
The Question
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’” (Mt. 18: 1 CSB)
I wonder what the disciples were really asking Jesus. They had asked, “… ‘So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’” (Mt. 18: 1 CSB).
Were they asking whether men where greater than angels? Were they going through the list of Hall of Famers and asking was Moses greater than Noah or Job?
Was it just their ambition that made them ask the question? It reads like it is the whole group, not just one of them or even a handful approaching Jesus.
Was this just their desire to gain a position? Were they expecting a “you are” answer?
Wanting to be great is part of the human makeup, isn’t it? If we didn’t desire to be great, Jesus wouldn’t have had to say, “… So the last will be first, and the first last” (Mt. 20: 16 ESV).
Because, face it. We are usually very competitive.
Asked in the correct way, we could make an argument that there was nothing wrong with the “… ‘So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’” (Mt. 18: 1 CSB) question. If we are asking it so we can grow closer to God, that is exactly what God wants. If we are trying to find out what we should work on next on our sanctification road, more power to us.
However, if we are letting Satan plant seeds of pride and prejudice, we are in trouble. Satan can work his way in this way and plant sin in our lives before we know it.
Farindon and Bonar didn’t think the disciples were asking the question in the right way. Farindon wrote, “The disciples were mistaken in the terms of their question, for neither is greatness that which they supposed, nor the kingdom of heaven of that nature as to admit of that greatness which their fancy had set up.”
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When we think about it, Farindon is correct. At least some of the disciples — okay, probably most — were looking for the military Messiah.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
If they were asking based on a military assumption, that isn’t what Jesus was. They were heading down the wrong path.
We know the disciples really didn’t get what the kingdom of God was. They didn’t get that it is eternal. They didn’t get that it is within us in our hearts.
Glossary
It is easy to look down at the disciples because they didn’t get it. We have to remember – most of the time, we don’t either.
At a minimum, we struggle greatly with the concept of God’s Kingdom. At a maximum, God’s ways are higher than ours, and we just can’t understand (Isa. 55: 8-9).
I think what Jesus was addressing here was ambition. No, I don’t think He was telling us we shouldn’t try to improve ourselves. We know we are to grow in grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3: 18).
Ambition tries to tell us we will be a better person if we are higher up on the food chain. If we strive to achieve a better paying job or a nicer house, we will be better off in God’s eyes.
Wrong.
Bonar added that the disciples could have been just being selfish. They could have been asking the question, hoping the answer was them.
Resource
I love the title to one of Farindon’s sermons. It is Greatness Adds Nothing to Virtue. A virtue is a moral standard of excellence.
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To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Virtue speaks more to character. God wants us to work on our character, not our bank account.
Jesus was always focused on the spiritual. I think, however, veiled in what-is-the-spiritual-going-to-be-like question was the how-close-is-it-to-here? aspect.
God wants us to focus more on the spiritual than the physical. The disciples were asking the question wrong.
So, think about the answer they were expecting. They probably – really – were not going for a list of characteristics that they needed to exhibit.
Maybe they were going for examples. “Name the person whose life we can emulate, so we can get it right the first time.”
But usually that translates into “we want to be able to say we were as good as Moses.” Back to that competition.
Yeah, Jesus did the unexpected. It is probably a pretty safe bet that the disciples did not expect Jesus’ answer.
Children. Be like a child.
Jesus was good at that, wasn’t He? He was good at saying the unexpected.
Also, Jesus was good at telling His audience, “You don’t have it right.” The Pharisees thought they had it right by doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts — but they didn’t have it right, either.
Instead, Jesus called some little kid over and said, “This. Be like this.”
But not just be, though — become. Make yourself like a child.
Ooo, baby. Change. He expected them — and expects us — to transform.
But that is for the next devotion.
Making the Connections
Jay noted that we should “not like them in ignorance, not in fickleness, not in waywardness.” We should be willing to be taught and changed.
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Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
The kingdom of God can be confusing to those of us who are trying to equate it to what we know. We need to look at what we believe to be ready to answer those questions.
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
We like our independence. We like being in control.
We need to give it over to God. All of it.
We can’t fall into the same trap that the disciples did. They were thinking the world’s definition of greatest. We have to think — are we the best that God wants us to be.
We have to get over this worldview notion that we can earn our way into Heaven. We can’t. It is all based on what Jesus did for us and have we accepted Him as our Savior.
Yes, it is human nature to want to be great. We have to remember that God has us exactly where He wants us. We are exactly how He wants us to be.
Being what God wants us to be is what we are working towards.
Father. It is so hard for us to give up this world. We need to do just that. We need to look at things Your way. We need to work to be the children You want us to be. Thank You for forgiving us when we repent. Amen.
What do you think?
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