Matthew 18:10–14

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

"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 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.

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.

No doubt we can take in all those who are saved on the same principle. The Gospel of Luke shows us (Luke 15) this very parable applied to any sinner. But here the Lord is taking it up in connection with what went before, namely, right feelings toward one who belongs to the kingdom of heaven. Starting from a little child whom He sets in the middle of them, He carries the thought of the little one all through this part of His discourse.

The joy over one being found is greater than over ninety-nine who had never gone astray. Of course this ninety-nine stands for people who think of themselves as righteous and never lost. "The lost" are those who admit their lost condition. Of course all are by nature and practice lost, but many refuse to admit it. However, the Father's tender care for little ones is a most important feature of the kingdom of heaven: it is not His will that one of these should perish.

The parable in the first part of Luke 15 seems to be repeated in Matt. 18, only that there it says, "And if so be that he find it". There is no "if so be" in Luke 15, for there it is the work of the Lord Himself as Shepherd. There is an "if so be" in Matt. 18, for there it is our work. The Lord always finds the one He goes after; I may fail, but that does not mean I ought not to try to recover a brother who has gone astray. I may have the pleasure of bringing him back again.

Just before this (v. 12), the Lord had been speaking of His own search among the mountains for the lost sheep, and of His joy when the straying one came back. No doubt He did this so that we might see the value He puts on one of His own, and learn to act toward them in the same way. Notice that nothing is said here about putting right any wrongs. The Lord does not say, "if he listens to you, all your wrongs shall be put right," but "if he listens to you, you have gained your brother."

But if someone wanders from the truth, what then? Are we to be finished with him? Not at all — we should all the more leave the ninety-nine good ones and seek this one until we find him. Is it separation from evil to busy ourselves with the ninety-nine we think are right, and leave the lost sheep? Not at all, it is not the Lord's way.

Down to verse 14 we are still occupied with the little child. They are not to be despised for three reasons. First, they are the continual objects of angelic ministry, and are represented before the face of the Father in heaven. Second, they are objects of the Saviour's saving grace. Third, the Father's will toward them is blessing; He does not want one to perish. These are sweet words of comfort for those who have lost their little ones in early life, and full assurance of their blessing. The tendency to go astray is in a little child as much as in a grown man, as verses 12 and 13 show. But a child's wandering is not put to his account in the same way until he reaches years of responsibility.

No doubt the same principle covers everyone who is saved. Luke's Gospel shows us (Luke 15) this very parable applied to any sinner. But here the Lord is taking it up in connection with what came before — that is, right feelings toward one who belongs to the kingdom of heaven. Starting from a little child whom He sets in the middle, He carries the thought of the little one all the way through this part of His discourse.

The ninety-nine seem to be mentioned here for one reason only. For the moment, the one lost sheep has drawn to himself all the Shepherd's concern — and, when found, all His tenderness, as if there were no other. Yet this overflowing joy does not lessen His interest in the ninety-nine. For the moment it is simply not shown in the same way. Let any of these become the lost one, and they too would stir the same anxiety and tenderness.

Of course this ninety-nine stands for those who think themselves righteous and count themselves as never having been lost. "The lost" are the ones who admit their lost condition. Of course all are by nature and practice lost, but many refuse to admit it.

The parable in the first part of Luke 15 seems to come again in Matthew 18. Only here it says, "And if he finds it." There is no "if" in Luke 15. There the work is the Lord's own, as Shepherd. There is an "if" in Matthew 18, for there it is our work. The Lord always finds the one He goes after; I may fail, but that does not mean I ought not to try to recover a brother who has gone astray. I may have the joy of bringing him back again.

Next comes a sentence of the very deepest importance to us: "if he listens to you, you have gained your brother." Doesn't this show us why I am to tell him his fault? And why it is to be between him and me alone? It is "to gain" my brother. Just before this (v. 12) the Lord had spoken of His own search among the mountains for the lost sheep, and of His joy when the straying one came back. No doubt He did this so that we might see the value He places on one of His own, and learn to treat them the same way.

If my errand to my brother were only to hurt him, the task could easily be done without a scrap of exercise; but if I am to gain him, then grace must work both in him and in me.

How many die at an early age? Do they perish? We are not left to spiritual instinct, or to reasoning from general principles. Nor is it the unbelieving and unspiritual plea that they are "innocent." They do belong to the fallen race, for whose sake the good Shepherd came and died: "so it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." Are we not right, then, to look beyond those who believe to "these little ones," and be sure that if they are taken before they could believe, they will not perish?

I know He is giving them as the pattern of our spirit. But there was a real infant there, and He was speaking of him. If He meant a holy person who was as humble as a child, there would be no sense in saying, "it was not the will of your Father that one of these little ones should perish, for their angels," and so on. So it is the infant.

We must not despise them, for three reasons. First, angels care for them all the time, and they are represented before the face of the Father in heaven. Second, they are objects of the Saviour's saving grace. Third, the Father's will toward them is blessing; He does not want one of them to perish.

How many die at an early age? Do they perish? We are not left to spiritual instinct, or to reasoning from general principles. It does not rest on the unbelieving, unspiritual plea that they are "innocent." They do belong to the fallen race, for whose sake the good Shepherd came and died... Are we not free to look past those who believe, to "these little ones," and be sure that if they are taken away before they could believe, they are not to perish?

The comparison of verse 11 with Luke 19:10 is instructive. There the subject is a grown man, who had had plenty of time to go astray, so the word "seek" appears. Here the subject is a little child, and that word does not appear. The tendency to go astray is in each, as verses 12 and 13 show. But God does not count the wandering in the same way until the years of responsibility come.

Here it is the Father's will which He has come to carry out, and it is not the Father's will that one of these little ones should perish. How sweet and perfect an assurance! It is only the contrary will of man that hinders his salvation: on God's part there can be no contrary one... Thus the little ones removed from us by death we may trust confidently to the divine love which waits on them. Our assurance as to them is rooted in the unchangeableness of the divine nature.

We believe that Matthew 18:10-14 furnishes the foundation of the precious truth of the salvation of infants... Are you not fully persuaded that all who die in infancy are saved? That since their little bodies undergo the penalty of Adam's sin, their precious souls share the benefit of Christ's atonement!

The parable in the first part of Luke 15 appears again in Matthew 18, only that here it says, "if he finds it." There is no "if" in Luke 15, for there the work is the Lord's own, as Shepherd. There is an "if" in Matthew 18, for there the work is ours. The Lord always finds the one He goes after. I may fail, but that does not mean I should not try to recover a brother who has gone astray.