Who Is the Greatest?^(A)

18 At that time the ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² Jesus called a little child to him and stood the child before his ·followers [disciples]. ³ Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you must ·change [or turn from your sins; convert; ^Lturn] and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven [^Ltherefore] is the one who makes himself humble [and becomes] like this [little] child.

⁵ “[^LAnd] Whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] a child ·in my name [^Cas a representative or follower of Jesus] ·accepts [welcomes; receives] me [^Cindicates concern for the lowly; children had low social status]. ⁶ If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; ^Lmillstone of a donkey] tied around the neck and be ·drowned [^Lthrown] in the [^Ldepths of the] sea. ⁷ ·How terrible for [^LWoe to] ·the people of the world [^Lthe world] because of ·the things that cause them to sin [temptations to sin; ^Lstumbling blocks]. ·Such things will happen [^LIt is necessary for stumbling blocks to come], but ·how terrible for [^Lwoe to] the one ·who causes them to happen [^Lthrough whom the stumbling block comes]! ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [^Lto enter life maimed or crippled] than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the ·fire that burns forever [eternal fire]. ⁹ If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], ·take [tear; gouge] it out and throw it away. It is better for you to ·have only one eye and live forever [^Lenter life one-eyed] than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ·fire of hell [^LGehenna of fire; 5:22].

Who Is the Greatest?^(A)

³³ Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] went to Capernaum. When they went into a house there, he asked them, “What were you ·arguing about [discussing] on the road?” ³⁴ But they did not answer, because their ·argument [discussion] on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.

³⁵ Jesus sat down and called ·the twelve apostles [the Twelve] to him. He said, “Whoever wants to be ·the most important [first] must be last of all and servant of all.”

³⁶ Then Jesus took a small child and had ·him [or her; ^Cthe Greek here does not specify gender] stand among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said, ³⁷ “Whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] a child like this in my name [^Cas a representative or follower of Jesus] accepts me. And whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] me accepts [not only me, but] the One who sent me.” [^CChildren had low social status, so the saying indicates concern for the lowly.]

⁴² “If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; ^Lmillstone of a donkey] tied around his neck and be ·drowned [^Lthrown] in the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you ·to sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [^Lto enter life maimed] than to have two hands and go to ·hell [^LGehenna; ^Ca valley outside of Jerusalem where in the OT period children were sacrificed to a pagan god; later used as a burning trash heap; a metaphor for hell], where the fire never goes out. |⁴⁴ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.|^{[a] 45} If your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and to live forever [^Lto enter life crippled] than to have two feet and be thrown into ·hell [Gehenna; v. 43]. |⁴⁶ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.|^{[b] 47} If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], take it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into ·hell [Gehenna; v. 43]. ⁴⁸ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out. ⁴⁹ Every person will be salted with fire. [^CThe meaning of this proverb is uncertain; it may mean that the testing of believers purifies (fire) and preserves (salt); or it may refer to believers as God’s covenant people, since salt and fire were part of the OT sacrificial system; see Lev. 2:3; Num. 18:9.]

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its salty taste, you cannot make it salty again. So, ·be full of salt [^Lhave salt in/among yourselves; ^Csalt here may symbolize fellowship within the covenant], and have peace with each other.”

Who Is the Greatest?^(A)

⁴⁶ Jesus’ followers began to have an argument about which one of them ·was [would be] the greatest. ⁴⁷ Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a little child and stood the child beside him. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said, “Whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] this little child in my name ·accepts [welcomes; receives] me [^Cchildren had low social status, so the saying indicates concern for the lowly]. And whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] me ·accepts [welcomes; receives] the One who sent me, because whoever is least among you all is really the greatest.”

Don’t Lose Your Influence^(A)

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its salty taste, ·you cannot make it salty again [^Lhow can it be seasoned?]. ³⁵ It is no good for the soil or for ·manure [the manure pile]; it is thrown away.

“·Let those with ears use them and listen [^LThe one who has ears to hear, let him hear].”