Be Still And Know

Matthew 18.3-4 NLT Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” These words would have sounded very different to the disciples from how they sound to us these days. Happily children have a very important and protected place in our society. We rightly pour enormous energies and resources into ensuring that children are given every opportunity to thrive and that they are brought up in a safe environment. The situation could hardly have been more different in Jesus’ day when children had no status or protection in law, and were seen as no more than potential adults. They were to be seen but certainly not heard. For the disciples to be told that the only way into the Kingdom of Heaven was by becoming like a child would probably have sounded insulting and certainly deeply shocking. The disciples were desperately conc