{"id":3137,"date":"2014-02-04T21:20:06","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T03:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3137"},"modified":"2025-06-30T06:39:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:39:29","slug":"matthew-181-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3137","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 18:1-6"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, \u201cWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

2\u00a0Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

3\u00a0and said,\u00a0\u201cAssuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

4\u00a0Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

5\u00a0Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

6\u00a0\u201cWhoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

This account also appears in Mark 9:33-50<\/span><\/a> and Luke 9:46-50.<\/h3>\n

This talk may have taken place in Peter’s house, and the child may have been a member of Peter’s family, but we aren’t told and so it isn’t important.<\/h3>\n

Who then is greatest (v.1) \u2014 This question reflects the apostles’ confusion after the Lord’s revelation of His approaching death. The kingdom He taught didn’t mesh with their understanding and expectations of what a kingdom should look like \u2014 and their lofty roles in it.<\/h3>\n

converted (v.3) = turn \u2014 from their expectations of exalted positions in the kingdom to humility and faith (Matthew 11:11<\/span><\/a>)<\/h3>\n

become as little children (v.3) \u2014 humble, responsive to Christ’s call to come, obedient, trusting, utterly dependent<\/h3>\n

receive (v.5) = by way of giving hospitality<\/h3>\n

Their service (v.5) to the King should be service to the humble and meek, not concern for lofty positions.<\/h3>\n

sin (v.6) = lit. “cause to stumble”<\/h3>\n

millstone (v.6) = a great stone that had to be turned by a beast of burden<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, \u201cWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?\u201d 2\u00a0Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3\u00a0and said,\u00a0\u201cAssuredly, I say to you, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matthew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3137"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9289,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions\/9289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}