See that ye do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in [the] heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in [the] heavens.
In this chapter the Lord warns His disciples not to despise a little child. Two questions follow: who are "these little ones," and what are "their angels"?
Commentators differ on the reach of the phrase. One reading keeps it wide. It takes in a literal child and any young believer. And the reason the Lord gives is not innocence:
This is a beautiful word. Our Lord states it so widely that it takes in a little child as well as the little ones who believe in Him. I believe this chapter was meant to give encouragement about little ones. The ground our Lord takes is not that they were innocent, which is the way people so often speak of them. It is that the Son of Man came to save the lost. This assumes the stain of sin is there, and that the Son of Man came to meet it. So we may have confidence in the Lord, not for our own souls only, but for the little ones too.
Another reading works from the Greek word and from its earlier use in the chapter:
The word used here for "little ones" is mikron, one who has not yet grown up and is not necessarily a child. It is the same word used of Zacchaeus — he was little, mikron, not grown as to his stature. In verse 6, where the word first appears, the Lord says of these, "who believe in Me." It refers to those who had believed on the Lord but had not grown much in the truth. We may call them new converts.
The Lord links Himself to the very people we are tempted to overlook.
The great thought put before us here is the identification of the Lord with every little one... So honour done to one of the little ones is done to Him, and injury done to one of them is injury done to Him... How ready we are to do this. We say this one knows so little of the Word, or that one is so ungracious. And with all our criticism we forget that he is, after all, one of Christ's own.
One explanation takes "angel" to mean a representative. The angel stands for someone else before God.
Here the Lord warns the disciples against despising a little child. The reason He gives is that "in the heavens their angels" — that is, those of the heavenly host who represent them in the presence of God — "always behold the face of My Father who is in the heavens." He said "My Father," not "their Father." The question here was not the little child's relationship to God. The angelic ministry spoken of is quite separate from that. It is God's provision for the creature as such.
Others read the word differently, drawing on Acts 12:15, where believers hearing Peter at the door said, "It is his angel."
What our Lord calls "their angels" here seem to be the spirits of children now in heaven. The spirit represents the person in the present state until the resurrection. Compare Acts 12:15; Hebrews 12:23; and Revelation 1:20, this last representing the assembly. Some speak of a "guardian angel" as the meaning here. But that does not seem to give a good reason for the Lord's warning, and Scripture nowhere mentions it.
Read that way, the verse becomes an assurance about children who die. Commentators differ here, and some who take the "angel" as a real angel still refuse to build the idea of a personal guardian on it:
"Are they not all ministering spirits sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). Faith can enjoy it — childlike faith, without going into speculation. However, the passage does not teach that every believer has an angel who guards and protects him and who sees the Father.
Seeing a face carries a meaning here, and a duty follows from it:
Seeing His face means they are always in divine favour... The Father looks on these little ones with favour, and angels care for them. So disciples should take an interest in them and help them all they can... Let us take care, then, that we do not despise these lambs of the flock.
The Lord's warning rests on more than angels alone.
They are not to be despised for three reasons. First, angels minister to them without ceasing. They stand represented before the face of the Father in heaven. Second, they are objects of the Saviour's saving grace. Third, the Father's will is toward them in blessing; He does not desire that one should perish. Sweet words of comfort these for those who have lost their little ones in early life.
- Small — "Little ones" covers the young child in front of Him and the believer who has not yet grown. Commentators differ on which is mainly meant.
- Seen — What people overlook stands before the Father's face, and to see His face is to stand in His favour.
- Represented — Commentators read "their angels" two ways: heavenly beings who stand for them before God, or their own spirits in heaven. Scripture nowhere mentions a personal guardian angel.
- Sought — They are not called innocent but lost, and the Son of Man came to save the lost.
- So — The Father does not want one of them to perish. To despise the least believer is to despise Christ Himself.
For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.