I Tell You the Truth Matthew 18:1-3, 6, 13-14 18 Jesus and Children

Matthew 18

1: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2: He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.
3: And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
      Humility and trust!  OH, Lord!  This is such a precious passage and such a grave warning.  You certainly are unconventional in Your teaching style compared to the arrogance and self righteousness of the Pharisees of the day.  You also were toppling the idea that just because the Jews were Your "chosen people", their attitude and condition of the heart was more important than their knowledge and lineage.  Children, because they do know to do otherwise, trust their parents and teachers to tell them the truth, and follow them. You also gave these "Chosen" a lesson in humility too.
6. "“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
      You go on to give a woe to anyone who would cause a little child to stumble.
Unfortunately, this happens in our homes and in our schools.  Children are brought up on hypocrisy and then fall away leave when they are old enough.  Some are provoked to anger and are so deeply hurt they resort to substance abuse just to be able to survive.

18:13-14 "And if he finds it,  I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish."
      You are talking about  little children again.  Here you tell the parable about the 99 sheep who stayed in the field and the one who wandered off.  The Shepherd left all of them and spent the whole night searching for the one that was lost. The tenderness and diligence of the shepherd searching and searching for the lost "one"until he finds it is so powerful.
      In the church, I can see where there might be grumbling just as the Prodigal's brother did:
"Why doesn't the shepherd just let that dumb sheep go?  Why, he wandered off didn't he?  No one threw him out.  Doesn't that prove that he is a rebel and doesn't want to be with us?  He's spending all of his time running around looking for that dummy while we need him here to watch over and protect us!"
      If we are not diligent, Lord, how selfish and arrogant we can become.  We become complacent in our churches and have the attitude that we do not need more in our church, that we are fine just as we are.  That is NEVER Your plan.  We all ought to be as concerned for the wanderer as the Father is.  We have got to realize that at any time, the enemy can cause one of us to wander away...sometimes unwittingly.  We are to seek and share salvation to the lost among us too.

18:18-19 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again,  I tell you the truth that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
      It is such a precious promise that You are with us in our homes, churches, schools, at work and at play wherever two Christians are together.  Here you were speaking about confronting a brother who has sinned against You and how church discipline should work, but the child is still in their midst, or at least it looks that way.
      Oh, Lord, may we bind our children and grandchildren in our homes, and bind the fallen in our churches.  And if one proves not to be repentant may we be willing to loose them as well.