At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 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. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4
Jesus’ disciples continued to have carnal ideas about the Kingdom of God, so they asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of God. I wonder if they expected a certain response from Jesus. Did Peter think that Jesus would call Him the greatest since He recognized Him as the Messiah!? Or did John assume that he was the favorite so he must be the greatest!? Maybe Judas thought he was a good money manager for Jesus, so he would be admired as the greatest! Each of them may have hoped that Jesus would call them as the greatest and He would not mention the others’ names.
Our fallen nature is rooted in insecurity, and it has an insatiable desire to be the greatest. Deep down inside, there is that secret place where people want to be the greatest, but it is not something they want to talk about or admit! The old nature cannot handle being forgotten or insignificant. Therefore, it tries, through right or wrong means, to make itself look important, great, or significant.
The desire to be the greatest wreaks havoc in relationships. The scripture in James 3:16 tells us that selfish ambition produces confusion and all kinds of evil. This secret desire creates friction in families, confusion at workplace, and disunity in churches. It impacts our relationship with the Lord and with others. The truth is that as long as we are looking for something external to make us feel significant we are on a shaky ground and will remain insecure! There is always going to be someone who will look more capable, popular, and beautiful. This causes individuals to be on this never-ending cycle of competition in order to maintain their standing in whatever they deem important.
In today’s culture, we are more sophisticated than the disciples. We would not dare asking that question from anyone, but we advertise our achievements in one way or another to ensure that people perceive us as great in something. Sometimes we receive that pat on the back from the number of “likes” we receive on social media. The comments people leave is another avenue that we try to satisfy the insatiable desire to be the “greatest”!
The good news is that the disciples’ desire to be the greatest did not disqualify them from being His disciples, but Jesus did not answer their question right away. Instead, He focused on who would be able to see the Kingdom of God! The disciples had an earthly and shallow perspective of the Kingdom of God. They presumed that all of them were going to make it to heaven. They assumed they were all heaven bound, so there must be something more special about the one who is the greatest in heaven. As we know, their assumption was wrong and not all of them made it to heaven. Judas walked away from Jesus by betraying Him!
Do you have thoughts and desires of greatness? Do they cause competition or jealousy in your heart? If so, those desires are an opportunity for evil and confusion to take root in your relationships. They need to be surrendered at the feet of Jesus and walked away from.
So who is the greatest in the Kingdom!? I continue with this subject in the next devotional.
