Matthew part 31

Humbling Ourselves as Children

The remainder of chapter 17 and chapter 18 record a series of teachings related to the theme of children. In these passages, Jesus will give some very specific teachings regarding how kingdom people operate in this world in relation to humility and offense.

We will begin in 17:24, but I want to go ahead and offer you the key verse for this section which is 18:3-4. Here, Jesus tells us that in order for us to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must humble ourselves like a child. We will dissect this statement a bit more in a minute, but for now, I want to establish the main point of this passage.

Growing in the kingdom of heaven requires the type of humility we expect of children.

I say “expect” of children, because children in the first century were probably not too different from children today. The surface may look different, but adults have complained about the next generation since the dawn of time. Consider these following quotes:

“We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self-control."

- Inscription on a 6,000-year-old Egyptian tomb.

Plato in the 4th century said, "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"

And last, in AD 1274, Peter the Hermit is quoted with, "The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint ... As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

What these quotes help illustrate is the same phenomenon we see today. Adults expect children to behave with a certain measure of humility and teachability, but we often see them act differently.

These passages that we will read today and next week remind us Christians are expected to act with a certain level of humility. In fact, it is impossible to enter the kingdom without humility. And yet, what God expects of His children is often not what is seen.

Humility in the Face of Tradition | Matthew 17:24-27

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

Matthew 17:24-27

The “two-drachma tax” was instituted way back in Numbers as a means to care for the tabernacle (eventually temple). It had fallen into obscurity after some time, but Herod’s building projects of the temple brought it back. Some viewed it as Rome’s tax on the people to uphold their authority, while others viewed it as tradition necessary for the temple. In either case, it was customary for any male over the age of 20 to pay the tax.

Simon Peter defends Jesus’ reputation to the collectors by stating Jesus does pay the tax. When Peter comes into the house with Jesus, Jesus makes sure to keep Peter honest, but not before posing a question. Who has to pay the king a tax? Are royal sons exempt from paying taxes?

Peter, of course, answers king only take taxes from others, not sons. Jesus reminds Peter he is exempt from paying because the Son of God does have to pay taxes for God’s Temple. But, even though Jesus had every right to not pay, he instructed Peter to go fishing in order to find the money necessary to pay for the tax.

Jesus demonstrated humility by offering to pay the tax despite his identity as the Son of God.

Paul describes Christ’s humility this way:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus was getting ready to pay the price for our sin with his very life. Paying a temple tax was nothing.

Before we move on to chapter 18, I’d like to take a bit of a detour—especially in light of the theme of children. Peter pulls a shekel out of the mouth of the fish. A shekel would be enough to pay the tax for two people—probably Peter and Jesus. This begs the question, “What about the other disciples?” It would be odd for God to providentially provide one shekel and not enough to cover everyone else. This fact has prompted many commentators to believe the majority of the disciples might have not been old enough to be included in the temple tax. Given the math and how the disciples dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus in the first place, it may be the case Jesus built his ministry with a youth group.

Now, the ages of the disciples doesn’t necessarily change what Jesus did, but it certainly helps put our own expectations of youth into perspective. Sometimes churches expect the youth to stay quiet while the adults run things, or worse the adults don’t expect anything of youth because they believe the youth are too young to accomplish anything. But, if the math holds up, then:

Given the ages of at least some of the disciples, the church should encourage and train the youth to join in the ministry of the church.

The True Mark of Humility | Matthew 18:1-6

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 18:1-6

Now, we have already discussed the dynamics of adults and children that hasn’t really changed in thousands of years, but let’s return to the first century and how children were treated to see if we can understand better what Jesus is saying.

First, a child had zero rights under Roman law, and only a small amount under Jewish law. Child abuse was considered proper discipline. Excessive abuse that would leave bruises was fairly common, and though neighbors might frown upon it, and teachers scoff against it, the fact remains the law did not protect the child. The child was not even considered a full fledged person until the father gave the child a name, and that may take years. Infant death rates were considerably high, and a father may wait to give the child a name to be sure it was going to live. Likewise, if the child turned out to be a girl, and the father wanted a son, they were in their right to order the child be abandoned in the woods.

Second, a child could not partake of the honor-shame culture of the day—at least not in the receiving honor part. It would be utterly shameful for an adult to pay honor to a child. The child could expect to be taught and trained in the family trade, but praise would be hard-earned. And outside a family inheritance, wealth would have to be built for himself.

There is much more down this rabbit-hole of history, but the point I am making is simply this.

“Humbling ourselves like a child” means giving up our perceived rights to heaven.

In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have to realize we have no right to the kingdom. We cannot enter based on our good behavior, because we have all sinned. We cannot enter based on our identities as God’s children, because we gave up that right when we pursued our own kingdom rather than God’s. The only merit we have is the merit we receive from Christ. The only connection we have to the family of God is the one we inherit when we surrender to Christ.

Jesus then turns towards the children in their midst and warns that no one teach the little ones to sin. In fact, Jesus makes one of the harshest statements in the Bible. If someone plans on teaching the children to sin, it would be better that they tie a huge stone around their neck and jump in the sea.

Some church people get a little uneasy when this verse is discussed, but that’s ok. We should get a little uncomfortable. Jesus is removing all the excuses we give when it comes to generational sin. We can’t say, “Well that’s just the way it is” or “They should do as I say, not as I do.” If we are doing things that teach those younger than us to sin, Jesus says it would be better to just go drown ourselves.

Now, let’s say you realize you have been teaching younger ones sinful habits. And let’s say you aren’t willing to go jump in a lake with a giant rock around your neck. Well, I can’t say I blame you. But, instead of despairing about your situation, perhaps it is time to take your sin, and how you are teaching sin, more seriously. You see, there are more than just the two options. You could a) go drown yourself…which doesn’t sound very fun. You could b) continue in sin and garner more discipline from God…which also doesn’t sound very fun. Or, you could c) just stop sinning.

That last option may seem impossible, but remember, Jesus never told us to stop sinning based on our own effort. What he actually said was for us to go to him, and let him transform us. Then, we will find ourselves sinning less. But we can’t go to him as a prideful adult demanding our rights or our identity. We have to go to him as a child who understands the gravity of their actions and who knows they deserve punishment. If we do that, Jesus will treat us as a loving father who may discipline us, but it will be for our training and benefit so that we can do better.

“Humbling ourselves” requires being honest about our past, teachable for the future, and willing to be better examples for the next generation.

It is a tall order, but that is why we have Jesus.

Now, your next question may be, “How do I do all that?” Well, I’m glad you ask, because that answer is in the next few verses.

Humility in the Face of Our Sin | Matthew 18:7-9

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Matthew 18:7-9

Unfortunately, temptations are part of life. Jesus does not tell us to ignore temptations or necessarily accept them, but he reminds us to remove those parts of our lives that cause us to sin. If we are to be better so that we can teach the younger ones to be better, we have to get rid of whatever is holding us back.

Many times Christians (and many commentators) want to view Jesus’ words here as hyperbole. Personally, I’m not convinced it is. But just like drowning ourselves in the sea, if we are unable to cut off a hand or gouge an eye, then we have to ask, “What are we willing to do?” What are you willing to give up if it means growing closer to God and growing away from sin?

Once we identify a sin-trigger in our life, we have to decide whether we are willing to remove it.

These triggers could be any number of things, and they aren’t the same for everyone. One man can have a bit of alcohol with a meal, and it never turns into anything but enjoying a strong drink with family and friends. Another man might taste the same alcohol, and it becomes an addiction and a  curse to him. With the Lord’s help, he can break that curse and addiction, but he also knows that he should never return to the drink. If he was addicted once, he could easily be addicted again.

There are many things in life that may not be necessarily sinful in and of themselves, but if they aren’t kept in check, they can turn sinful. Sometimes it could be a good thing. But if that good thing becomes a controlling thing, and it keeps you from serving the Lord, then it become sinful and needs to be cut out.

We will return to chapter 18 next week, but as we close today, let’s consider what Christ has told us so far.

First, Jesus demonstrated humility by paying a tax that he did not need to pay. He is the Son of God. There is no need for the Son of God to pay a tax for the upkeep of God’s Temple, especially in light of the fact that temple would be destroyed fairly soon. But he humbles himself in order to not offend those who didn’t know better.

Second, Jesus told us truly humbling ourselves requires us giving up the rights we think we have earned in life. Entering heaven is not based on our merit or our honor. We can only enter heaven because of Jesus' merit and his honor.

Third, Jesus reminds us the gravity of our sin. The weight of sin is so large that we cannot continue in it. Between teaching younger ones the same sinful habits or addressing our own sin, Jesus has told us to do everything possible to remove it from our lives. The price for our sin is too high for us to treat sin as if it is no big deal.