“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:10 (NRSV)
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, humility comes from the Latin word humus, meaning ‘ground’. A commoner is said to be of ‘low birth’, and someone who grovels is pictured as crawling upon the ground in an act of pleading or begging. A judge in a courtroom is seated upon a chair higher than anyone else in the room. One “climbs” the social ladder and someone who is depressed is called ‘downcast’. Almost universally, the lowliness of the earth is pictured as being inferior to the height of the heavens.
Jesus draws a sharp distinction between humility and inferiority. In the disciples’ world, as in our own, the lower one ranked on the social scale the more inferior one was. Jesus bucked this social truism and offered a radically different assessment. Instead of being inferior, those who humbled themselves before Christ had access to the greatest of privileges. They have ‘angels’ who have direct access to the Father.
Jesus may be referring to the idea of guardian angels, which was popular in Jewish folklore (stemming from Psalm 91:11). Hebrews 1:14 does tell us that angels are ‘ministering spirits’ to believers. What exactly this means we are not sure. The church fathers discussed whether Matthew 18:10 implies that each believer has a guardian angel (Chrysostom said yes), and whether the presence of sin in our life can drive our guardian angel away (Origen and Jerome thought so), and whether the angel was received at birth or at baptism. Aquinas believed in guardian angels and taught that they were drawn from the lowest of the angelic ‘ranks’. John Calvin was suspicious of the idea but did not rule it out (a). Whatever relationship angels have towards humans, Jesus’ point is that only his humble followers will receive it. While the lowly of this earth have no access to political or social figures of power, the lowly in the kingdom of God have access to the very throne of God.
We should pay close attention to Jesus’ warning to “take care that you do not depise….” The words “take care” should send a shiver through our spine, because Jesus is issuing a threat. As sovereign Lord of the universe, he is warning all humankind to be very careful. Punishment is coming to those who look down upon his followers. That, in and of itself, is a terrifying thought.
(a) Davies & Allison, Matthew, International Critical Commentary, vol 3, p. 772.
0 comments:
Post a Comment