Matthew 18:5-6 5And whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me. 6But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him that he might have a millstone of a donkey fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Jesus continues to use the child he called into the middle of the gathered disciples as an illustration and teaching opportunity. These two verses show sharp contrast with significantly different outcomes for how people might treat children. Verse 5 gives the positive response of welcome (dexētai) or receive or accept. Welcoming is an important aspect of hospitality. Jesus calls his followers to extend hospitality to all children. Sometimes children can be a nuisance. They seem to get in the middle of things that should not. They are loud and call for attention. They can be a disturbance during church time.
Welcoming a child requires many of the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23, especially love and patience. Jesus emphasized the importance of children in the kingdom of God. As followers of Jesus, we must do what he did by extending our love and compassion to children. The key idea that gives us strength to welcome all children, even those who need discipline, is that we do it in Jesus’ name. The name of a person represents his or her character, personality, position, and authority. Welcoming in Jesus’ name means to welcome in the same way Jesus would. The greatest honor we could ever have is to welcome Jesus into our midst. Jesus extends that honor by emphasizing the importance of accepting children with the same hospitality.
Children have a degree of innocence and openness to the world, but this is often stolen from them by unloving and even cruel adults. Jesus gives one of the strongest warnings in the whole Bible in verse 6. Whoever extends the warning and makes it timeless and broad. The verb cause to sin (skandalisē) can mean to fall away from the truth of the gospel (13:10; 24:10).
The image of a millstone is vivid. Such as stone was extremely heavy and obviously would sink to the bottom of the sea. An image from today might be encasing someone’s feet in concrete, taking out to the Marianas Trench, and dropping them in to sink the 36,000 feet down to the bottom. If sin can be ranked, causing a child to sin and turn from God and righteousness ranks as one of the worse. Jesus does not list a specific sin here; causing a child to sin in anyway results in judgment.
There are many ways to lead children into sin today, including ungodly lifestyles, abuse, exposure to immorality, moral or spiritual compromise, and many others. The focus of Jesus’ warning is on those who believe in him. The word “child” does not appear in verse 6, opening up the possible application to any who humbly walk with Jesus in faith. There is a reciprocal relationship between how we treat children and how God will treat us.
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