Section 18:1–4

Jesus’ disciples must be humble

Jesus’ disciples were sometimes concerned about their own reputations. They were also concerned about what their roles would be in the kingdom that Jesus announced. In this section, they asked Jesus directly about this concern. (The parallel passage in Mark 9:34 shows that the twelve disciples were arguing among themselves about which one of them would be the greatest in God’s kingdom.) Jesus answered them in a way that showed that the greatest person in the kingdom was not whom they thought. Jesus told them that the greatest person in the kingdom is the person who humbles himself and becomes like a child.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (New International Version)
-or-
Who is the greatest?

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:33–37 and Luke 9:46–48.

Paragraph 18:1–4

18:1a

At that time: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as At that time is more literally “at that hour.” This phrase indicates that the events in this section happened shortly after the events at the end of chapter 17. It does not necessarily mean that this story happened an hour after the previous one.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

About that time (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Shortly/soon after that
-or-
Then/Later

the disciples came to Jesus: The words came to refer to the disciples “approaching” Jesus. They approached him with a question.

The disciples did not come to Jesus from a great distance. They were already with him in Capernaum. But the previous section talked about only Jesus and Peter. In this section, all the disciples are together with Jesus.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

the disciples approached Jesus

the disciples: For help in translating the word disciples, see the note at 5:1c.

18:1b

Who then is the greatest: The word greatest refers to the most important person. It is the person with the highest rank or status. It is the person whose name is above everyone else’s name.

In this question, the disciples were asking about themselves. They wanted to know which one of them would be the greatest. They were not asking about Jesus himself or God.

Here are some other ways to translate this question:

Who is the most important person
-or-
Who ⌊among us⌋ is the most honored/respected person
-or-
Who has a name that exceeds every other name

in the kingdom of heaven: The phrase kingdom of heaven has the same meaning as the phrase “kingdom of God.” Both phrases refer to God’s activity of ruling and caring for his people as their king. Both refer to the relationship that God has with his people. He leads, protects, and cares for them. They obey, trust, and submit to him as their king. The phrase kingdom of heaven does not refer to a land or country that he rules over.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

• As a noun. For example:

the kingdom of God
-or-
God’s kingship
-or-
God’s rule over people
-or-
the rule of ⌊the one/Lord who lives in⌋ heaven

• As a verbal expression. For example:

The way that God rules his people

-or-

The way that God cares for his people as king.

See kingdom of heaven in the Glossary for more information.

This same phrase occurs in 4:17c and 5:3b.

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