At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
5 sermons cite this verse
… Look at Matthew 18. Matthew chapter 18 verse 1. Now in between all of these Jesus is healing he's doing all kinds of different things but there's a focus here on his teaching these blocks. Look in 18 verse 1. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And so he begins to teach them all the way through the end of this chapter. You get to chapter 19, verse 1, and you see the phrase, another time. When Jesus had finished saying these things, he moved on. He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. Okay, one more. Go to chapter 24. Chapter 24. Look at verse 1. again we're going to see the disciples and probably others come around Jesus to hear from him chapter 24 verse 1 says Jesus left the temple was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings and he begins to teach we've got a concentrated teaching time all the way to chapter 26 verse 1 and there for the last time we underline when Jesus had finished saying all these things he said to his disciples and then he moved on So he finished. …
… an important lesson the hard way. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who then, here's the question, is the 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. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, look at this. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. That is mafia, bro, right? What are we talking about here? It's so intense. He chooses the most intense language available to him to try and get this point across. And if you kept reading verse 7, verse 8, verse 9, he even says, like, do anything to keep yourself from drifting from this mission. Cut a hand off. Pluck an eye out. Cut a foot off. Whatever it takes, make sure you stay focused in my kingdom on what's what. As though that weren't enough, he now takes our attention to heaven to show us how the priority of youth evangelism is like paramount in heaven. He says, verse 10, take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. …
… In the book of Matthew chapter 18, I'll begin reading with verse 1. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called. I want you to notice how many times he says a little child, these verses. Jesus called a little child to him and set him in the midst of them and said, Assuredly, I say unto you, unless you are converted and become as a little child, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles themselves as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. Then a stern warning in verse 6. But whoever calls as 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. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for offenses must come, but woe to the man by whom the offense comes. …
… Or this is what Jesus says in Matthew 18. at that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven he called a little child to him and placed a child among them and he said truly I tell you unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven therefore whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. I remember reading this and being like I got to be like a like a like a kid again. I got to be like a child again. You know I love being a parent and one of the joys of being a parent is when you got like a five-year-old or a three-year-old and you take them to Disneyland for the first time or Universal. I don't know whatever you're into. Take them to Candy Cane Lane Christmas time and they see something and you watch their eyes. …
… what does he say I just knew it was there oh yeah listen to this at the time 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, listen closely, these are the words of Jesus, 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. Okay. Those are some serious words right there. If I don't become like a child, I won't enter the kingdom of heaven. And it's those who humble themselves that will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Then he goes on. He says, if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, like leads him towards sin. He goes, it'd be better for him to tie a millstone around his neck and then jump into the ocean. …