like a child

"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" Matthew 18:2-4

"it is important to remember the Jewish attitude toward children in the first-century Palestine if we are to grasp the full force of Jesus' teaching here. In the present day, we tend to idealize childhood as the happy age of innocence, insouciance, and simple faith; but in the New Testament times the child was considered of no importance, meriting little attention or favor. children in that society had no status at all--they did not count. the child was regarded with scorn.

for the disciple of Jesus, 'becoming like a little child' means the willingness to accept oneself as being of little account and to be regarded as unimportant. the little child who is the image of the kingdom is a symbol of those who have the lowest places in society, the poor and oppressed, the beggars, the prostitutes and tax collectors...the scribes were treated with excessive deference in Jewish society because of their education and learning. everyone honored them because of their wisdom and intelligence. the 'mere children' (napioi in Greek, really meaning babes) were Jesus' image for the uneducated and ignorant. he is saying that the gospel of grace has been disclosed to and grasped by the uneducated and ignorant instead of the learned and wise. for this, Jesus thanks God.

the babes (napioi) are in the same state as the children (paidia). God's grace falls on them because they are negligible creatures, not because of their good qualities. they may be aware of their worthlessness, but this is not the reason revelations are given to them. Jesus expressly attributes their good fortune to the Father's good pleasure...the gifts are not determined by the slightest personal quality or virtue."

- Brennan Manning The Ragamuffin Gospel