In the Bible, the command to turn often means again
or anew
when it appears with another verb (see Numbers 14:25; Deuteronomy 1:40,Deuteronomy 2:1; Malachi 1:4, Malachi 3:18). Jesus did not mean that the disciples should become childish, but that they, like Jesus, should call God Abba, Father,
placing their full trust in him, to receive the kingdom only as his gift. This knowledge of God as Father has been opened by Jesus and is the necessary condition for returning to the arms of the Father.
Comparing membership in the kingdom of God to being like a child encourages them to embrace their identity as children just like the child in their midst (Matthew 18:2). Children do not guide themselves but are guided by their fathers, just as adult disciples should seek only the guidance of their Father.
Jesus exposes their wrong, worldly frame of mind, and their need for change—not their initial conversion, but rather a turning away from the sins they are committing. Unless the disciples repent of these sins, they can not enter the kingdom; they will not attain salvation. That stands in stark contrast to their question about positions of honour in the kingdom. They must renounce all pride or desire for importance, or else they are on the same ground as the Pharisees, and the disciples’ righteousness must be entirely different.
In the Bible, the command to turn
often conveys with it the meaning of again
or anew
when it appears together with another verb (see Numbers 14:25; Deuteronomy 1:40, Deuteronomy 2:1; Malachi 1:4, Malachi 3:18). It was not the Lord’s intention that the disciples should become childish, but that they, like Jesus, should call God Abba, Father.
They were arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom, but in the process they had forgotten how one actually enters that kingdom in the first place! One cannot enter it through merit, and even less by ambition for honour. The kingdom of heaven is a gift of God, received by the one who learns to call him Abba, Father
—that is, to place one’s full trust in the heavenly Father. This way has been opened by Jesus and is the necessary condition for returning to the Father’s house, into the arms of the Father.
By comparing membership in the kingdom of God with being like a child, Jesus encourages them to embrace their identity as children just like the child standing in their midst (Matthew 18:2). Children do not guide themselves but are guided. Similarly, when it comes to God’s kingdom, adult disciples should not desire to be more than children who are brought home to follow their Father.1
Jesus conveys that they are living in a completely wrong, worldly frame of mind—and that they must change. We should not understand this as referring to their initial conversion, but rather as a turning away from the sins they are presently committing. Unless the disciples repent of these sins, they will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven—they will not attain salvation. That stands in stark contrast to their question pertaining to the positions of honour in the kingdom. The disciples must learn to renounce all pride, to abandon every desire to be or to become important. Otherwise, they stand on the same ground as the Pharisees—and the righteousness of the disciples must be of an entirely different kind.2
3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.