Who is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven?

 Mat 18:1-7

In that hour, the disciples came to Yeshua saying, ‘So who is greater in the kingdom of heaven?’  And calling to himself a young child, Yeshua stood him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like the young children, you surely cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  So anyone who humbles himself such as this young child, that one is the greater one in the kingdom of heaven; and should one receive a child such as this one in my name, he receives me.  Should somebody cause one of these small ones who believes in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a mill stone be hung about his neck, and he be thrown into the depth of the sea.

This passage is often used to assert that one must exhibit either the faith or the trusting character of small children in order to enter into salvation; however, I have often wondered if this was really the point of Yeshua’s response to his disciples’ question.  Yeshua makes five assertions:

1.  Unless they change and become like the children (definite plural), they most definitely would not enter the kingdom of heaven.

2.  Anyone who humbles himself like this example child will be the greater one in the kingdom of heaven.

3.  Anyone who receives such a person receives Yeshua himself.

4.  Such a person as a small child can stumble.

5. The person who causes such a person to stumble will receive so great a level of punishment that annihilation would be a better condition for him.

The immediately prior context includes the following events:

1.      Peter, James, and John witnessed Yeshua’s transfiguration.  (Mat 17:1-13)

2.      The disciples were unable to cast out a demon from a boy, so Yeshua responds to the father’s plea and does so.  Yeshua informs the disciples that they had failed because of their lack of faith.  (Mat 17:14-21)

3.      Yeshua pays the temple tax for himself and Peter by telling Peter to go fishing and to take the money for the tax from the mouth of the first fish he caught.  (Mat 17:24-27)

Now, the disciples had committed themselves to Yeshua, and Peter had already made the declaration that Yeshua was the Messiah and the Son of the living God (Mat 16:13-20).  In addition, Yeshua had given them power to cast out demons and to heal the sick some time previously (Mat 10:1-4).  So personal faith in Yeshua was not at issue.  They had witnessed supernatural power, and they personally had exercised supernatural power.  Perhaps, they had become confident in themselves rather than recognizing that the power they had been wielding came from outside themselves and that they were merely channels.  In other words, they had faith, but their faith had become somewhat misdirected.

What was the significance of the question that the disciples posed to Yeshua?  The NASB and other common English translations render μειζων by greatest, and the common interpretation is that they were asking which of them would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Ranking among the disciples is an issue that crops up in various places in the gospels (c.f., Mat 20:25, Mark 10:14, Luke 22:25), but I do not think that was their point here.  The term μειζων is the comparative form for μεγας, and μεγιστος is the superlative.  In their world and experience, people were ranked socially by wealth, position, religious observance, and the ability to wield personal power.  So, in my opinion, they were asking what kind of ranking system would exist in the kingdom of heaven.

Yeshua answered by calling to a person, παιδιον, and standing him in the midst of the disciples.  Now in the immediately prior context, Yeshua and his disciples were in Capernaum – probably at or near Peter’s house – so there would undoubtedly have been either children or young men nearby.  The term παιδιον is a diminutive of παις and literally means young child.  In the LXX, the term is used most often to translate ילד but also for בן and נער.  The term נער refers to a young man who has not yet taken up full adult responsibilities; the other two may refer specifically to a male child, or generally to children of any age.  In Koine Greek, παιδια could also be used like boys or lads to refer to close associates who are not children.  If Yeshua was speaking Hebrew at the time, as is most likely, he probably used the term ילד and probably called to a child between 7 and 15.

His first statement in answer was, ‘Unless you change and become like the children, τα παιδια, you surely cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.’

Change from what?  In the prior context (17:17-22) Yeshua had admonished his disciples for their lack of faith, and now they are asking about the social ranking system in the kingdom of heaven.  In both cases, their conduct and attitudes lacked what Yeshua was trying to build into them.  Consequently, he is asking them to change their attitudes and values.

Become like the children in what way?  Assessing the force the second verb is more difficult.  The term like implies similitude not identity, but it does not define specifically what character or attitude is expected.  Yeshua called a child from the street as an example, but his words make a distinction between the children and this particular child.  What attributes apply to young children generally?  Usually, unquestioning trust and complete dependence in their elders, particularly those of their extended family.  In the immediately prior context, the disciples had exhibited personal faith in Yeshua but had faltered in recognizing their total dependence on him for supernatural power over the demonic world.

What is meant by the kingdom of heaven?  Most Christians today assume that this refers to the place where the redeemed will go following physical death.  This expression does not occur anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures.  It is prominent in the Gospel of Matthew but not in any other part of the New Covenant writings; however, related expressions do occur five times in the Gospel of Mark and once in Luke. 

	Mat	Mark	Luke
Βασιλειας του κοσμου	4:8
Βασιλειας των ουρανων	4:17, 5:3, 5:10, 5:19, 5:19, 5:20, 7:21, 8:11, 10:7, 11:11, 11:12, 13:11, 13:24, 13:31, 13:33, 13:44, 13:45, 13:47, 13:52, 16:19, 18:1, 18:3, 18:4, 18:23, 19:12, 19:14, 20:1, 22:2, 23:13, 25:1
Βασιλεια του θεου	12:28, 21:31, 21:43,	1:15, 4:11,4:26, 4:30	22:16
Βασιλεια του πατρος μου	26:29,
Ευαγγελιον της βασιλειας	4:23, 9:35, 24:14
Τον λογον της βασιλειας	13:19
Ευαγγελιον θεου		1:14

Now, the generally acknowledged purpose of Matthew is to present Yeshua as the promised Messianic king who is to rule over the kingdom of heaven eternally.  The remaining interpretive problem is to assess the significance of the form των ουρανων.  The reasonable range of possibilities are as follows:

·         Genitivc of Description – the kingdom that is heavenly in character

·         Genitive of Place – the kingdom located in the heavenly realm

·         Ablative of Source – the kingdom that comes from heaven

The common perception among Christians has been that the destiny of the church will be the heavenly realm, which favors genitive of place.  However, this idea is alien to the expectation of Matthew and the other disciples who were looking for the Messianic rule there and then during their lives.  In as much as Yeshua describes himself as one who came from heaven, one who returns to heaven, and one who will return from heaven to earth, ablative of source appears to be the best choice.  That is, this kingdom was described as (temporally) near while Yeshua was here physically, and it will be manifest fully when he returns from the heavenly realm, but it will exist here physically on earth.

Now, who will be present in this kingdom?  Certainly, one major group will be believers, which will be composed of two groups.  First, redeemed individuals who have died prior to Yeshua’s return will be present with resurrected bodies.  Second, believers who remain alive at the time of Yeshua's return will be given resurrection bodies without having first died physically.  In both cases, these people will then be immortal and not subject to the sin principle that affects mortal humans.  However, Isaiah (Is 65:20) wrote of people who would be thought accursed should they live less than 100 years.  Similarly, Revelation 19 describes the final deception of the nations and their war against Messiah.  Neither the elect angels nor resurrected believers can be susceptible to Satan’s deception.  Consequently, the second group that enter the kingdom must be ordinary humans who will have ordinary human children, and some of their descendants will participate in the final rebellion against God and his Messiah.  Consequently, I conclude that Yeshua here is addressing the question of who will enter the messianic kingdom at the time it is formed and what the ranking system will be at that time.