NOTES for Mat 18:1-9

It is so hard to take in that the Kingdom of Heaven is unlike earthly kingdoms in every respect. Therefore the question "who is greater?" asked by the disciples vividly shows not only their level, since despite their closeness to the Teacher they are still guided by earthly ideas. This question reflects the state of our whole fallen nature, with its notions of domination and subordination that have belonged to it, and have become so familiar, over many thousands of years.

Whenever anyone tries to justify the principle of domination, it is not hard to notice the hope of the one doing the justifying that he himself will be the one to dominate. But Christ, as in many other cases, gives us here a completely different view of the problem. He proposes that adults, solid people accustomed to respecting themselves, become like children. We are advised to reject what we are used to considering valuable, not only social status, but also, to some extent, experience. But if it is the experience of a life saturated with sin, it may not have the value of genuine life experience. Christ invites us to open ourselves toward the Father like a child trustingly receiving everything new from elders. Only, unlike adult people, the Father will never abuse a child's trust.

And it is no accident that immediately after these words Christ speaks about temptations. How easy it is to traumatize a trusting child for life, and how bitter it is when people who have sincerely reached toward the light run into Pharisees and false teachers. The stern words about cutting off body parts may seem like a call to self-mutilation, but in reality what we have before us is a call, expressed in its most extreme form, to be demanding toward oneself, to overcome the evil that nests within us. This evil destroys not only us, but also threatens those nearby. And especially those who have managed to become childlike in their openness.