The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand—The Book of Matthew · Pastor Adam Wood · Matthew 18:1–4 · November 16, 2025

Transcript:
Alright, Matthew chapter 18, Matthew chapter 18 is where we will be tonight. Matthew 18. Starting at verse number one tonight, Bible says this, At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Accept 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. Now if you look back at Mark chapter 9, I'm gonna read just the parallel passage in Mark, Luke also has one, but we're just gonna stick to the Mark passage tonight. Get a little bit more information in Mark chapter 9 concerning this discussion, which I think is helpful for us to see exactly where the disciples are. Now keep in mind that as we read this story here of the disciples and asking who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, that we're talking about the disciples here. We're talking about the inner circle of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're talking about the cream of the crop. We're talking about those who will be and are, even at this time, the most useful. The ones who understand the most of all the disciples of Christ. The ones who have just, three of whom have come through the transfiguration, have seen his glory. And yet they are the ones asking these questions. They're the ones having discussions between themselves on something like this. Mark chapter 9, verse number 33 says this, And he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? Now note verse number 33, the word is disputed. That is not a word that's found in Matthew 18. That's different. Disputed. So they were talking about, the disciples were talking about this question without being in the presence of Christ. So just by themselves. The twelve talking amongst themselves. But it was a rather heated discussion. You see that in the word disputed. It was not exactly what you might call a humble discussion. It was a rather heated discussion. Verse 34 says, But they held their peace. For by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be the first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. Now sometimes I wonder when I see the twelve, the Lord mentions the twelve, I think of Judas Iscariot. What was Judas thinking as Jesus was talking about this? Probably, you know, Judas was a man who had no spiritual appetite. He was a fake all the way. He was a hypocrite from start to finish. Never was, obviously never was a believer. Was a devil from the beginning, right? That's how Jesus identifies him. Sometimes I wonder just my mind wanders a little bit. And I wonder what was Judas thinking as Jesus taught all of these things? Like he was sitting in church all the time hearing these things. I just wonder if he sat there and just listened and it went in one ear and out the other. You know, never found any good ground. I don't know. This is just amusing here. Verse 36 says this, And he took a child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receive with me. And whosoever receive with me, receive with him, not me, but him that sent me. So if you'd like to put a mark in Mark chapter 9, and then go back to Matthew, we will flip back there a little bit tonight. Would you pray with me this evening? Our Lord, we are, we acknowledge that we are, we are, we are in need of great help. Lord, we are like, if we are honest, if we examine ourselves in light of your word, and especially in light of your glory and who you are. Lord, we are just absolutely destitute of goodness or wisdom, of righteousness, of any good thing that we might boast of. We do need, though, a good dose of the humility that you are telling your disciples that they need. Each one of us here, Lord, we need to see ourselves in the right light, in the right understanding. Not only as we see ourselves in light of who you are, but also Lord, that we might see ourselves aright in relationship to one another. So Lord, would you please help us and guide our study tonight? In Jesus' name, Amen. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? That's the question that they're discussing. And, but that question, I think, is problematic. Well, it is problematic because the Lord actually says it's problematic in Mark chapter 9. But this question, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, as I mentioned, is a question that even though it's problematic, is being discussed by some of the Lord's closest disciples. And I'll say more about that in a minute. But what is implied, what is implied in this question is the problem. And what is implied is obviously, I am the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Right? That's the obvious implication. And the fact that they're disputing it and they're arguing about who is the greatest, each person arguing for himself, each person stumping for his own place in the election of the greatest of the disciples, each one of them filled with the persuasion that he is the greatest. Now, that's to start with, that's a big, big issue. That is a big, big problem. And I do want to turn right back to Mark real quick and look at what it says in verse number 34 and 5. So if you're still there, look back at Mark once again. And what I want to pose to you is this, that the disciples are asking the wrong question. The disciples are asking a question that, you know, sometimes teachers say there is no wrong question, there is no bad question, there is no dumb question. Well, there is a dumb question. This is a dumb question. This is a question that should not be asked by the disciples of Christ, because it reveals something about them and where they are with the Lord. Mark 9 verse number 34, notice what it says, or let's look at 35 again. He sat down and called the twelve and saith unto them, if any man desire to be first, the same, I read verse 35, I apologize, verse 34, but they held their peace for, by the way, they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. So they're having this conversation, they're having this, we might call it lively discussion about who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, each one of whom is saying, you know, it's probably me, of course, and as they walk by the way, but Christ isn't with them, you know, immediately with them and that ends in the conversation. And so they get to the house and Jesus asked them, what was, what were you talking about? What were you disputing about? And notice their reaction, they're quiet. Why do you think they're quiet? You know, a few minutes ago, they're walking by the way and they were giving reasons why I'm obviously the greatest of any of the disciples. I mean, anyone with two eyes can tell that I'm obviously, you know, I'm among the top three. I mean, look, Peter says, might have said, look, I was chosen to go and see Jesus in his transfiguration. Actually, he couldn't say that because he wasn't allowed to talk about it until after the resurrection. But he was probably thinking it in himself, right? You know how this goes. And so Jesus asked them about it and they held their peace because in them, they knew that this was probably not a discussion that they should have been having. But yet here they are, the preachers having their discussion, having a discussion that they have no business having, asking a question they have no business asking. Verse 35 says this, and he sat down and called the twelve and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, note the word desire. If y...