At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. 10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. (Mt 18:1-5,10)
During the public ministry of Jesus, besides preaching and teaching and working the deeds of the kingdom, he was forming the disciples, training them with the values of the kingdom. He cleared may of their doubts about the kingdom. One of such doubts is what they ask Jesus today. ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’. The disciples think that the kingdom of heaven also works like the kingdoms of the earth with greatest and smallest.
The disciples are taught to become like the little children. For the children there is no greatest and smallest. They do not work on profits, gains, power, position and they do not play politics. They only seek for the basic things like food etc. They do not manipulate.
The representatives of the children are already in heaven. Each child has his/her representative (angel) in front of God. The angel is the link between God and the child. Hence a child should not be despised.
