THE GREATEST MAN IS A HUMBLE MAN

Matthew 18:1-9
Key Verse: 18:3

    "And he said: `I tell you the truth, unless you change and
     become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom
     of heaven.'"

     In the last passage we learned Jesus paid the temple tax. The
people of Israel all abhorred the Roman Emperor's taxation. In addition
to this, Jewish religious leaders levied a temple tax-two drachma a
year for each person. Jesus is the Creator God. Jesus didn't have to
pay the temple tax, because the temple is his house, and it is the
place all men worship God. It is also the place of prayer for all
nations. Mark 11:17a says, "And as he taught them, he said, `Is it not
written: "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations"?'"
But Jesus paid the temple tax in order to be a good example to those
who were annoyed by all kinds of taxation while they were extremely
poor or had no money at all. Jesus told Peter to go and throw out his
line, catch a fish, open its mouth, take out a four-drachma coin, and
pay the tax for Jesus and for himself. If Jesus had just paid the tax,
it would have been just a good example. But Jesus also taught Peter to
do so, and to go beyond his ability. In this way, Jesus taught basic
Christian gospel spirit to his top disciple, Peter. In today's passage
Jesus teaches his disciples who is the greatest. Let's think about who
is the greatest in the kingdom of God.

First, the disciples' hegemony struggle (1). Look at verse 1. "At that
time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, `Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?'" Jesus gave his life to teach his disciples about
spiritual reality, especially the living hope in the kingdom of God. He
also tried to teach them the meaning of his death and resurrection,
through which all men can come to God's house, the kingdom of God.
Peter had made a confession of faith, "You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God" (16:16).  Still, the disciples were ordinary human
beings more than spiritual people. In verse 1, the disciples' short
question summarizes world history's hegemony struggle. For seventy
years, beginning when Lenin rose to power, Russia became the Soviet
Union. Lenin's idea was based on Karl Marx's social democracy. Marx's
social democracy stemmed from Heinrich Heine's thought, expressed
through his poems. Actually Heine was a Jew. But Germans think of him
as a German, because his poems influenced the national direction,
economy and social democracy of many countries. These days Germany has
fulfilled social democracy and may have the best government among all
governments of the world. Actually, Germany was not established by
Germans, but by Jews. Many Jewish doctors, lawyers and businessmen came
to Germany, thinking that Germany was the right place to establish
their own nation. At that time Germans were called "German," which
comes from "Gerrman," which originally meant "barbarian." Jewish people
came to Germany and established medical schools, law schools, and all
kinds of industrial institutions; they also taught business. At the
time, communication was poor.  Except for the Jews, people did not know
how to communicate or exchange information with other countries. But
Jewish people had a way to communicate and exchange information for
business: They wrote letters diligently all over the world. Then they
exported and imported goods and products and became very rich. But
Hitler wanted to hold power and become the greatest. He used the word,
"patriotism." His motto was "the superiority of Deutschland." His
speech power was indeed charismatic. So many Europeans followed him.

     Another example is Lenin. Lenin's real name was Vladimir Ilych
Ulyanov. He changed his name to Lenin. He destroyed the Tsarist
government of Russia and rose to power. For 800 years Russia had been a
pretty peaceful country, because the farmers produced crops in the vast
land of Russia, which had ten time zones. At the beginning, Lenin
wanted to practice Marxism. So he called Russia, "Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics." But Russia was so large that he could not
propagate Marxism. In order to control the vast country, he made all
the farmers' lands the possession of the state. Thus, his political
power was the strongest, because possessing all the land of Russia
meant that he owned not only the land, but also the lives of all the
farmers. In this way he defeated all his opponents and held political
hegemony. Another hegemony struggle was in the Russian Orthodox church.
They became like devils when they supported Lenin's dictatorship and
benefited from the government by getting what they wanted,
unlimitedly.

     Another example is Japan. Japan was the Samurai country. Each
village was virtually a country, in which a Samurai leader governed the
village-nation. Around 560 countries fought one another. If a father
was cut to death by the sword of an enemy, his son's life goal was to
get revenge after mastering Japanese sword-fighting. But one man,
Toyotmi, enlightened his people not to fight each other, but to
cooperate and make their country an international country. He was very
successful in making an emperor system which unified the people.

     After World War II, America, Russia and England were the nations
of victory. Japan, Germany and Italy were the defeated nations. Stalin
got all the benefits, dividing so many countries into two. Now Germany
and Vietnam are united, but Korea is still divided into two parts. At
that time Vietnam was divided into two parts: South and North, like
Korea, due to President Roosevelt's dozing in his senility at the Yalta
Summit Conference. France wanted to possess Vietnam as its colony and
began to invade it. They made an airport called Dien Bien Phu. From
there, they bombed and killed so many Vietnamese. But North Vietnam's
leader, Ho Chi Minh, dug a trench around the airport and cut off air
supply to Dien Bien Phu, which was the fortress of the French Air
Force. Ho Chi Minh killed or captured 10,000 French soldiers in one
day. So France surrendered to Vietnam. America underestimated the
people of North Vietnam.  America allied with South Vietnam and began
to attack North Vietnam. For this, 500,000 young American soldiers were
sent to Vietnam to fight.  America attacked North Vietnam with a huge
number of bombs for eight years. Because of this, those in America who
ran the bomb industry became very rich. Still, America could not teach
a lesson to the North Vietnamese and their leader, Ho Chi Minh.
America's idea to support the French and to teach a lesson to North
Vietnam was sheer arrogance. We cannot tell the result of this war in
detail, but two things are obvious:  America cannot say that she won
the war, and America could not teach a lesson to the North Vietnamese.
Why did this happen? The root cause was a hegemony struggle. America
wanted to show off as the most powerful nation and teach the North
Vietnamese that they should not defeat France, which was an allied
nation of America during World War II.

     Hegemony struggle seems to be sinful man's master passion. Once, a
man who grew up sorrowfully, without seeing his mother's face, received
an honorary doctoral degree in literature from his alma mater.  During
the ceremony, the one who received the honorary doctoral degree looked
honorable and gave a speech to encourage professors and students. There
were two persons who cried from the beginning of the ceremony to the
end. One was the recipient's wife. The other was his older brother. His
wife cried out of joy and thanks to God. After the ceremony, the
recipient thanked his older brother for crying during the ceremony.
Then his older brother shouted, "You are so honorable! You are a
doctor!  But I am so miserable for having no achievement." The hegemony
struggle can exist even among brothers. It is indeed a sorrowful story,
more sorrowful than the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the
United States of America.

     Of course, the disciples had left everything and followed Jesus
for almost three years. They were educated by the Son of God. But in
their sinful human nature, engaging in a power struggle to be number
one was in their hearts. Peter was the one who made a confession of
faith, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Now he,
together with the other disciples, are asking Jesus, "Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (1) They needed to repent of their
hegemony struggle so that they might be called children of God and
possess the kingdom of God.

Second, how to overcome the desire for hegemony struggle (2-6). The
tragedy of history has been man's struggle for hegemony. The disciples'
problem was the same. They were nice disciples of Jesus, chosen and
disciplined to be future leaders of the world. But it seemed impossible
for them to overcome the desire for hegemony struggle. Still, Jesus had
a hope that they would overcome the desire for hegemony struggle.

     Look at verses 2 and 3. "He called a little child and had him
stand among them. And he said: `I tell you the truth, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven.'" In these verses Jesus teaches that we must be like children;
otherwise we cannot possess the kingdom of God. The deeper meaning is
that if we possess a nation, we cannot possess Jesus and his
everlasting house, that is, the kingdom of God. Clearly, those who are
full of desire for hegemony struggle can be rich men with no souls and
leaders of nations among terrible opponents. We have had a sorrowful
and bitter national experience for the last several years while
Republicans and Democrats have struggled for power. I wonder if a
political fighter can be called a child of God or enter the kingdom of
God. We must have immediate insight, and at the same time, insight to
our final destination. Our immediate insight is how to be successful in
this world. Insight to our final destination is to see the kingdom of
God. This is the universal truth, and it is invincible. Therefore,
Jesus gave his disciples a brief teaching that they should be like
little children.

     What are little children like? We know very well. They are too
beautiful to look at. One time I went to St. Gregory's school to look
for my daughter. Not only was my daughter there, but also many other
young boys and girls. I shouted, "What angels! They are angels!" I
asked my daughter, "What was your main topic of gossip?" She answered,
"Well, it might be envying excellent students, or crying many tears
after reading good books." Children are beautiful, too beautiful to
look at. Last Saturday afternoon we had a competition among twelve
musical ensembles with instruments of all kinds. Many things were going
on in the minds of the children who participated. Mostly, they wanted
to know whether their parents came or not. After the performance, each
of them went to his or her parents to find out their opinion, and they
valued it more than the judge's. Children love their parents when they
are young. Children are obedient to their parents. Children listen to
their parents. Children's problem is that their parents do not have
time to listen to them. Most of all, children are very humble. They
listen to their parents and obey them.  In short, children are humble.

     Jesus' teaching to be like children and to overcome the desire for
hegemony struggle is clear. In order to be a child of God and a member
of the kingdom of God, not to mention a disciple of Jesus, one must be
humble. We can understand what Jesus said in light of what we studied
about those who suffered and died in their struggle to rise to power.
Their main characteristics are selfishness and a proud mind. Actually,
selfishness and a proud mind are the same when we analyze them
philosophically. Lenin was very selfish. He didn't mind that tens of
millions of farmers in Russia lost their land so that he could own it
all. So he was selfish. And he abused his power beyond measure. He was
not like a little child. He was like the horrible monster Dracula, who
appeared just once in twenty centuries. He cannot enter the kingdom of
God. He will go to the kingdom of the devil, which is a bottomless pit
and very hot.

     Why is humbleness so mighty? It is endless to talk about it. But
we can see as an example Shepherd Moses. Moses was a man of destiny.
When he was born, his people were in Egypt as slaves. As they increased
in number, the king of Egypt was a little uneasy. So he issued an edict
to kill all the newborn baby boys of the Israelites. At that time,
Moses was born. He was kept in his mother's cradle. But when he made
noise, his mother and family members could not but throw him into the
Nile River.  His basket was well-made. When he was thrown into the
water, he did not die. By God's providence, he suddenly became the
Prince of Egypt when the Egyptian Pharaoh's daughter drew him out of
the water. His name "Moses" means "drew him out." Moses lived in the
palace and received the highest education in oratory, philosophy,
astronomy, and princely manner. In addition, his martial arts ability
made him superior to everybody in leading the Egyptian army. He was
nursed by his own mother through the help of his sister. One day Moses
made a decision.  Hebrews 11:24-26 says, "By faith Moses, when he had
grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for
the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt,
because he was looking ahead to his reward." Because of his decision,
God began to train him as a shepherd of Israel. The training was not
easy. God brought him to the Midianite desert where a grandpa lived
with his seven daughters. There Moses shepherded the old man Jethro's
sheep---not one or two days, but for forty yearsin the heat of the day,
and in the pouring rain. This shepherd training took forty years. When
his training was over, Moses was eighty years old. It was time for him
to go to heaven to rest. Another difficulty in the time of training was
his six sisters-in-law. Because of their endless talking, they made him
almost sleepless for forty years. In this way, God lowered Moses from
an Egyptian prince to a desert shepherd. He might have been crying,
saying, "Mommy! Mommy! I miss you. I want to go to heaven to rest."

     Moses really wanted to go to heaven and rest, because he was dead
tired and weary and thought he had lived enough. Then suddenly one
morning, fire appeared in a bush, but the bush did not burn up. From
the bush God called, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do
not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of
your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob." At this Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at
God. The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in
Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and
I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue
them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that
land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and
honeythe home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached
me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now,
go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out
of Egypt" (Ex 3:4-10).

     Moses wanted to cry a little, thinking of his mom in his old age,
and go to heaven and rest. But God called him as a shepherd of Israel.
That was too much. He was very reluctant to become a shepherd for his
suffering people. But he humbled himself and listened to God's voice at
the cost of his life. He was sure that he would be killed if he went
back to Egypt. But he went. It was because he did not depend on his
ability; he depended on God Almighty. He challenged King Pharaoh of
Egypt. God was with him. Finally he could bring 600,000 Israelites out
of Egypt and into the desert. They were happy when they were freed from
their slavery.  They were happy when they crossed the Red Sea as on dry
land. They were happy when the fortress of Jericho fell down, making a
thunderous sound. But when they thought about their secure lifestyle in
Egypt, where they were provided with apartments, kitchens with stoves,
they felt sorry.  Even if they had to do hard labor, they wanted to go
back to Egypt. They didn't like to pioneer. They didn't want to be
trained as God's chosen people. So they complained to Moses: "Why did
you bring us here? Were there no graves in Egypt?" (Ex 14:11) Once his
sister Miriam became jealous of Moses' powerful leadership. She
agitated people and instigated a rebellion against Moses. The
Israelites humiliated Moses, complained about him and abused him.
Finally they wanted to stone him to death.  Then Moses took a prayer
position on the ground and didn't say anything.  So the writer of
Numbers says, "(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than
anyone else on the face of the earth.)" (Nu 12:3) Moses was indeed a
humble man who was worthy of obtaining the kingdom of God and becoming
a shepherd for 600,000 rebellious sheep. When we think about Miriam, it
is funny that even a woman has the desire for hegemony struggle. But
Moses was different.

     When we think about Jesus' humbleness, it is indeed amazing.
Jesus is the Creator God. Without him, nothing was made that has been
made (Jn 1:3). Therefore, he could have erased all sinful mankind, as a
painter erases his canvas to draw a more creative picture. He could
have harshly dealt with human beings. But he gave up his power and
glory and his righteousness as God, and came down to this world. He was
born in a stable and laid in a manger. This humbleness is full of grace
and truth (Jn 1:14). Because of his incarnation, he can be our Shepherd
and Savior.  His humbleness extended to Levi the tax collector. His
humbleness extended to an isolated prostitute, the Samaritan woman. His
humbleness extended to proud Nicodemus to give him the most famous word
of God.  It is John 3:16. It says, "For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life."

     In history, there was a most proud person whose name was Saul,
meaning "the greatest." Saul was the first man who called himself "the
greatest." The second was Mohammed Ali. Saul persecuted the
newly-rising gospel work in the Galilean district. The ritualistic Jews
who held power felt threatened, so they wanted to do away with Jesus'
people. Saul volunteered to be their ring leader. He was on the way to
Damascus to arrest and kill Christians. But the Risen Christ chose him
to be the shepherd for the Gentiles, because Jewish people---even
though they were chosen people---became like old wineskins, totally
useless. The old wineskin Jews treated the Gentiles like animals. In
order to save the Gentiles and other people of the world, the Risen
Christ chose this dangerous man. After seeing the Risen Christ, Saul
was completely changed. When he fell down from his horse, he was
blinded. But our Risen Lord sent Ananias to help him. Ananias said, "O
Lord, he is a dangerous man," trembling and shedding cold sweat on his
back. But the Risen Christ said to Ananias in Acts 9:15,16: "Go! This
man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and
their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much
he must suffer for my name." The Risen Christ was so humble that he
could choose the most proud person in history as his chosen instrument
for the sake of world evangelism.

     In his old age, Paul said in Philippians 2:5-8: "Your attitude
should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature
God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but
made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made
in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled
himself and became obedient to death---even death on a cross." Paul won
converts in many nations of the times. He loved new Christians like his
own children. He did not pay expensive college tuition for his own
children, but he gave generously to and cared for all the Gentiles who
were converted in Christ Jesus. He was happy to die in Christ. So he
said in Philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is
gain." I don't know whether he went to Rome by boat or by swimming.
Anyway, he went to Rome and wanted to conquer the Roman Empire by
teaching the Bible one-to-one. At best, he taught the Bible to the
prison guards and to the old Jews who had come to Rome before him,
whenever they came according to one-to-one appointments. He had been
such a proud man. How could he teach the Bible to a Roman prison guard?
The old Jews who came to Rome were clever,  and a sample of old
wineskins. But he taught them the Bible. In other words, Paul was an
extremely humble man. As mentioned, Moses was a humble man, more humble
than anyone else on the face of the earth. He was the most humble
person in the Old Testament. If we choose the most humble man in the
New Testament, it is Paul. Paul, when he became humble because of the
Risen Christ's grace, also humbled himself to others unlimitedly in
order to introduce Jesus to them.

     Proud men can cause much trouble to others. But humble men share
the humbleness and happiness of Jesus at any time. Therefore we must
become humble men. Look at verses 5-6. Jesus said, "And whoever
welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be
better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be
drowned in the depths of the sea."

Third, the punishment of selfish people (7-9). Look at verse 7. "Woe to
the world because of the things that cause people to sin. Such things
must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!" This verse is
very simple. Selfish men think, "Mine is mine and yours is yours." When
they have money, or even if they do not have money---in any case, they
are selfish. They cause much trouble to those around them. The antonym
of humbleness is selfishness. A selfish person is hungry for money and
power.

     Look at verse 7. "Woe to the world because of the things that
cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through
whom they come!" Therefore, proud or selfish people must repent and be
humble. Otherwise, they will be in the category of those who struggle
for power all their lives. To cause damage or trouble to others is not
a small matter. So Jesus said in verse 8, "If your hand or your foot
causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you
to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and
be thrown into eternal fire." Proud and selfish people may not accept
these words of Jesus. But it is good to accept Jesus' word and his
warning. In verse 9, our Lord Jesus Christ stresses this warning: "And
if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is
better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be
thrown into the fire of hell." If you have a difficult problem and need
to gouge out your eyes, please do it by faith and wear dark sunglasses,
so that you may enter God's eternal house.

     Today we thought about man's endless selfishness and proud mind
and how to solve this problem. May God bless you to take this passage
seriously and set your life direction. Without life direction, you
don't know what you are doing. Without life direction, life is not
normal. I pray that you may be children of God and possess God's
eternal house instead of being put into eternal fire, the fire of hell.
Don't think your body is everything. You have God's life in you, and
you are a soul. May God bless you.