“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.”  Matthew 18:1-3

We’ve all been therefore haven’t we?  Thinking that we’re so right about something only to be smacked in the face with the reality that a) we’re far from being right and b) we’re actually more wrong than we’ve ever been before!  It’s not the “being wrong” that surprises us, but it’s the shock that I could be “so wrong” all the while thinking and acting as if I am “so right.”

That’s where the disciples found themselves today.  They are walking down the road discussing a question that seems to have come up quite often with them, “which one of us will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” [It looks like they inherited the competitive gene as well :) ].

But why not have such a discussion?  Just one chapter earlier in Matthew 17, the disciples were with Jesus on Mt. Tabor during His Transfiguration – during which time “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.”  They saw the Lord Jesus in all His glory and they knew that they were His wingmen and they would share that glory with Him very soon.

And one chapter before that, in Matthew 16, after Peter had made his famous confession that Jesus is the Son of God, the disciples were bestowed with the greatest of honors.  “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19).

So after those two incidents, I think I’d walk around with a bit of a strut too, wouldn’t you?  Jesus shining in glory and us as His wingmen.  Jesus telling us that we not only will be with Him in the Kingdom, but we are going to have our own set of keys to the doors.  I think we’d all be riding high after that wouldn’t we?

That’s where the disciples were.  That’s why they started discussing who would be the greatest.  It seemed like a perfectly reasonable discussion to have.

Then Jesus hit them with the truth.  Not only were they wrong to be discussing who would be greatest, but Jesus made it clear that if they don’t make some serious changes, they were in danger of missing out on the kingdom entirely!

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 18:3

Excuse me…I beg your pardon…how can that be?  We’re the guys with keys to this kingdom.  How can You say we’re in danger of being left out of it?

This statement understandably came as a shock to their system.  They thought Jesus would respond by helping them figure out their order in heaven.  That’s what they expected.  They were so sure of their place in the kingdom, that argued their rank there.

But Jesus flipped the tables on them by telling them that not only might they miss out on being tops in the kingdom, but if they’re not careful they would miss out on entering entirely!

HOW CAN THAT BE?  How can guys who just had the keys to the kingdom now be in danger of missing out on it entirely?

The lesson here is that the kingdom of heaven is not static.  It is not a stationary point in time that one can say “I’ve made it now.  I can relax.”  The kingdom of heaven is a journey, not a point in time.  Being in the right place one day doesn’t guarantee being there the next day.

Heaven is all about a relationship.  It is a relationship with the Almighty.  Is there any relationship in the world that is static?  Is there any relationship where I can say “phew!  I’ve solved that problem.  I am done working on this relationship now.  I can just coast from here on out.”

No relationship is like that because every relationship is dynamic.  Today’s message is a wake up call for a lot of us.  Maybe we feel good about where we are with God because of some place that we were in the past.  But that is not how relationships work.  Listen carefully to the words of the Lord Jesus today:

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 18:3

For discussion: what does Matthew 18:3 mean to you?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.