Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 18-20.

Before I get into the main thing I want to write about I want to comment on where the Pharisees came to Jesus to ask Him about divorce.  I think we often miss how this is the second time Matthew reports on Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce.  Jesus’ response on the issue directly echoes what He said during the Sermon on the Mount. There, He said that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery.   Here, Jesus says that if a man divorces his wife and marries another that man commits adultery.  While that strengthens what He said in the Sermon on the Mount, it does not really add to it.  The fact that Matthew chooses to repeat Jesus’ teaching on divorce suggests that he saw this as an important teaching.

Now to get to what I thought was the main thing in today’s passage, being great in the kingdom of heaven.  At the beginning of the passage, Jesus’ disciples asked Him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus answers by telling them that in order to even enter the kingdom of heaven we must become like a child, and the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are those who take on the role of a child.  We debate and talk about what Jesus means by that a lot.  I want to note that towards the end of today’s passage, Jesus returns to teaching His disciples about what they need to do to be great in the kingdom of heaven.  When the disciples got angry over James and John seeking a position of prominence for themselves, Jesus tells them that if they want to be great among His followers must be a servant to others.  Jesus teaches that being the greatest is the exact opposite of how the world approaches greatness.  The world says that those who lord if over others, those who give orders which must be obeyed to others, are the greatest.  Jesus says that’s backwards.  Those who serve others who seek to do what others need and desire before they do that which they need and desire are greater than those who give orders.  This reminds me of how a child will often seek to do anything to help their parents complete their tasks.  A child will often happily run and grab tools for their father just to be part of the work their father is doing.  So, we should seek to do likewise.  Let us happily do the mundane things so that others can complete the more “important” tasks.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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