The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 214

HOMILETICS. Vers.1-14.-The lietls cmes. I. THEIR EXAMPLE. 1. The questi<m of the apostles. They bad not yet learned the great lesson of humility. Perhaps the favour shown to Peter, James, and John had excited jealousies among them. On their way to Caper- naum they had disputed who should be the greatest. After all the Lord's teaching they did not yet unde,rstand the spiritual nature of his kingdom. There are rivalries and animosities in earthly states; there should be none in that kingdom where the lowliest are the highest. But this is a hard lesson to learn, and the apostles were long in learn- ing it. At Capemaum they asked Christ, " Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Who should be greater (the words literally mean) than others? Who should stand above others in the hierarchy of the Church that should be built upon the Rock? Who should be nearer than others to the King in the kingdom which Christ had come to establish? 2. The little child. The Lord's estimate of greatness di.Jl'ered wholly from that current among men. He had said once before that of all that had been born of women there had never risen a greater than John the Baptist. He pu\ the holy martyr above all the monarchs, warriors, and statesmen of ancient times. But he had then said, "He that is the least in the kingdom of heaven iB greater than he." And now, in answer to the question who should be greater than others in that king- dom, he called a little child unto him. The little one came willingly, drawn by the gentle words, the loving looks, of the Master. The Lord set him in the midst, in the place of honour; he took him in his arms, St. Mark tells us. The Lord al ways loved the little children; he bade them come to him; he watched their innocent play with kindly interest, and drew spiritual lessons from it (eh. xi. 16, 17). Now the little one lay, restful and happy, in the Lord's embrace. Thither we would lead our children- to the Lord, to share his love and tenderness. And, ah I if he should call them away from our sight, we must lea~n to trust them in faith, though it cannot be without tears, to those everlasting arms. " He shall gather the la~hs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom." Happy child I we know not whether he grew up, as a late and doubtful tradition says, to be the famous Bishop Igna.tius. That holy martyr bore God in his heart, as the name Theophorus imports; doubtless he was borne up in his sufferings by the gracious help of God. We know not whether in his infancy he was borne in the arms of Christ, That child was greatly blessed. He would never forget, one thinks, the encircling arms of Christ. But doth not the Scripture say to us, "Tllo eternal God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the everla.sting a.rms"? and, alas! how often we forget the gracious presence of God in our unbelief and selfish fears! Now, the Lord called the attention of the apostles to the little 011e. 3. The Lord's answer; the lowliest are the greatest. (1) The necessity of conversion. The deep and awful question which we ought to put, each one to his own soul, is not-Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? but-Are we ourselves true loyal members of that king- dom? We cannot be in the kingdom at all except in the sense i11 which the wither~d fruitless branches still for a short time hang on to the vine; we cannot be in the king- dom in any holy and blessed sense unless we are converted; we cannot enter into the kingdom of glory at the last unless we are converted. The word" conversion" occurs only once in the New Testament; the verb, in its various forms, nine times; but four of those passa<>es are quotations of Isa. vi. 10. Sometimes the pa.ssive form of the verb is used. sometimes the active, And it is to be noted that in the four quotations of  218 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [on. xvw. 1-35.