Transcript:

In this passage Jesus is responding to a question from the disciples, and their question is: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And to answer the question, Jesus takes a child as a symbol of the smallest and least significant of human beings and places the child among them and instructs the disciples. Now, it’s important to remember that at that time, children had no social value or status whatsoever, and so Jesus is making a stark challenge to his audience to resist the seduction of and the hunger for power that can flourish in any community. So, in other words, humility is the key.

The humility required for entrance into the kingdom consists in not expecting or demanding to be treated with any more consideration than a child in that society could expect, in that society could expect. So humility is realising that all we are and all we have is gift, and that we are dependent on God for everything and that of ourselves. We can do nothing. And the response to this humility, the response to becoming like the little child, is characterized by joy, because we are confident, like a child, that we’re not alone, but that we’re embraced by God, who loves us unconditionally and in whom we can have absolute trust. So Jesus is saying live humbly, look at this small child full of trust and spontaneity and full of life and joy, and don’t crave for power or privilege or anything like that. Rather, be humble, knowing that God loves us as we are.