Our Scripture meditation is based on Matthew 18:1-4 from next week’s Gospel Read, the 15th Sunday after Pentecost.
[1] At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” [2] And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them [3] and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Why does Jesus praise Christians who are child-like, but the Apostle Paul uses “infant” to describe spiritually immature Christians?
Jesus makes a straightforward statement in verse 4: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.
Yet Paul also makes a direct declaration in 1 Corinthians 3:1: “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.”
What gives? One explanation is that Jesus and Paul are describing Christians at different points in their lives.
In verse 3 Jesus says that, unless we turn and become like children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Just as a child is fully dependent on his parents for his existence, so we are also totally dependent on God for our spiritual lives. God the Father had to send Jesus to us for our salvation. God the Son had to give His life in our place to forgive the sins of the world. God the Spirit had to bring us to faith in Jesus for our personal salvation.
Paul is focusing on Christians after we’ve been brought to faith in Jesus. Christians who are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit will grow to maturity in the faith. (Ephesians 4:11-16, Hebrews 6:1) If we are not showing signs of maturing, then we might still be infants in the faith.
As such, there is no contradiction between Jesus’ teaching and Paul’s teaching. They are simply using children and infants for different illustrations about different points in the Christian life.
Until next week, the Lord bless and guide.
Kevin Wilson 360 