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Instructions to the Disciples: The Charter of the Community[a]

Chapter 18

Become Like Little Children.[b] At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus beckoned a child to come to him, placed it in their midst,

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 18:1 In this fourth collection of the sayings of Jesus, there are a good number that we have already met, and we recognize here, at times, the tone of the “Sermon on the Mount” (chs. 5–7). Everything is focused on the coming of the kingdom, but the words of Jesus now apply to the community life of the disciples. Chapter 18 is known as the “ecclesiastical discourse” because it describes the demands made by brotherhood in the Church of Jesus, which is a community of love, prayer, and forgiveness.
  2. Matthew 18:1 The true disciple of Jesus must renounce all ambition and become as simple and humble as a child.