18:1,2
The disciples were now asking Jesus about who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. They had been following Jesus for some time, yet their thinking was still very worldly. We need to be born again by the Spirit, we need to have our minds transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). Jesus called a little child, someone who would be regarded as of little importance by society. At the same time we should perhaps note that the child would be considered to be of great importance by its parents. Society may consider us to be of little importance, but our Father in heaven greatly values us.
18:3-5
“Unless you change ..” Change is central to the gospel. Whenever the gospel is presented essentially as “Jesus loves you” the gospel is not being presented. Now we cannot change without the power of the Holy Spirit, but we do need to know where He is leading us, and it is to be different than we were before. So there are two changes that Jesus talks about here. The first is to take a humble place. The world tells us to aim to achieve positions of great importance, positions which are honoured by society. Jesus tells us to be humble. The second is our attitude towards others. We are to welcome those whom the world considers to be of no account, and if we do this we are welcoming Christ.
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