In our gospel today, Matthew 18:1-5, Jesus is asked by the disciples, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over and set it in their midst, saying “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest, and whoever receives one child in my name receives me.
This may seem strange to us today. For many of us, our lives revolve around our children. For many families, between school, sports, clubs, social activities, the children seem to run the parents. But in Jesus’ time, children were the lowest of society. They had no rights or social status and were helpless. In fact, 30% died in childbirth, and another 30% died by the age of 16 due to sickness and disease. To the disciples, Jesus saying they had to serve children, the lowliest of the low, was shocking to them.
So how does this message relate to us today in our lives? Jesus makes it clear – to be his followers, to be the greatest, we must humble ourselves like a child and put ourselves last and serve others. There sure would be a lot less pain and suffering in our world if serving others was the most important attribute of a person. Jesus’ teachings were counter cultural in his time – selflessness. Unfortunately, it is still counter cultural today! Let us strive to be great by humbling ourselves and serving others.
De Colores, Deacon Kevin
