For The Son Of Man Is Come To Save That Which Was Lost - Part 2055

" ... and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant!" (Matthew 20:27; Matthew 23:11)

"And whoso shall receive one little child in My Name receives Me!" (Matthew 18:5)

In this passage, the disciples are mirroring much of the goings on that are currently taking place within our own societies. That is, one desires to be better than the other, doing what each can to be successful in their own right. In many cases, it can be a cut-throat journey to the top, and once there, not such a happy place to be at all. In fact all the money in the world cannot undo the critical lessons that Jesus taught us to believe while He walked this earth.

Herein is a perfect example. On the surface, it appears the disciples had bought into that worldly competition, and have come to Jesus asking Him, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

As we know, however, the risen Jesus -- our Holy Ghost and Comforter -- desires for all our hearts to be set upon the heavenly, the spiritual, the second man who is indeed the Lord God from heaven. He wants us to rise above the things of this world and look upon Him for our sustenance and direction. His Name is JESUS, as the angel declared, for He shall save His people from their sins. Emmanuel, being interpreted, God with us! (Matthew 1:21-23) 

Thus, we come to this point in the scriptures. How does Jesus respond to the disciples shifting one another for position?

Jesus takes a little child unto Him and sets him in the midst of them. And Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you -- except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in My Name receives Me." (Matthew 18:1-5)

In his writings, Luke describes the same incident this way. "Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by Him, and said unto them, "Whosoever shall receive this child in My Name receives Me: and whosoever shall receive Me receives Him that sent Me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great." (Luke 9:46-48)

In another place, Jesus called them [unto Him], and said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:16)

And yet in another place of scripture, we learn that there was strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And Jesus said unto them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sits at meat, or he that serves? [is] not he that sits at meat? but I am among you as He that serves." (Luke 22:24-27)

You see, when God clothed Himself in sin-prone flesh (yet always without sin) so that He could bring us into the abundant life in Him that He intended from the very beginning, He did so as a servant. This is why God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. (II Corinthians 5:19)

As John wrote, "He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11; John 1:1-18)

Yes, the same God who made man and woman in the beginning came to the earth He created as a servant so that we could have salvation. He came to save that which was lost. Just like the parable Jesus told when the shepherd left the 99 sheep to go find the one that was lost? So did Jesus come to bring us back to Him, all of us who had gone astray. 

"And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray." (Matthew 18:13)

Yes, He came where no other would go to rescue His sheep, showing beyond measure His over abundance of mercy and love for His beloved creation. After the kindness and love of God our Saviour. (Titus 3:4-7) And His plan of salvation, decided before the world was formed. He knew that He would have to put a little child within the midst to remind us of how much He loves us. As Jesus said so clearly, it was never the will your Father which is in heaven that any one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:14)

Don't miss the greatest love story ever told. Ask Jesus to become Lord and Christ in your heart today. Find a New Testament translation (not a revision!) and begin reading what Jesus has to say to your heart today. As my father used to say, "Read the red" because these are the precious words of God our Saviour. His love forever displayed in the heavens and all around us too. We have so much to be thankful for in our hearts, that the becoming as little children in our hearts toward the Lord should be easy, for before we became a servant for His purposes, He first became a servant for us. 

As Jesus said, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes unto the Father but by Me!" (John 14:6) 

He is the ONLY way to heaven. As for those who reject Jesus as the chief cornerstone of our faith, Jesus said, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (Matthew 15:14)

Meditate upon these things this day, and know too that nothing is going to happen to you that the Lord Jesus has not already taken care of. This is why Jesus -- both Lord and Christ -- is our all in all, for He is all in all. The beginning and the ending, the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega.

Stand in the offering plate.