JesusX30 Challenge—Scene 17: REGROUP & REINFORCE
@TysonPutthoff | #JesusX30Challenge #JesusX30 #JX30Challenge
1. Key Texts
• Matthew 18:1–10 — The child in the midst
• Mark 9:33–37 — “Who is greatest?”
• Matthew 25:31–46 — Welcoming the overlooked
• Psalm 34:18 — The nearness of God to the lowly
2. Date & Place
• Late Summer 28 AD
• Capernaum — Jesus’ home base on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee
• The disciples return after months of mission, conflict, miracles, and confusion
• This is a regrouping moment where Jesus reshapes their mindset before the road to Jerusalem
3. Main Account
A. The Question About Greatness
• The disciples ask: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom?”
• They’re still thinking in terms of status, rank, and hierarchy — the world’s categories.
B. Jesus Places a Child in Their Midst
• Children in the first century had no social status, legal standing, or power.
• Jesus says: “Unless you turn (strephēte) and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom.”
• “Turn” = change direction completely; abandon ladder-climbing.
C. Redefining Greatness
• “Whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest.”
• Humility = groundedness, ego-resilience, freedom from performing for approval.
• Greatness in Jesus’ Kingdom begins where the pursuit of greatness ends.
D. Welcoming the Overlooked
• “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
• To welcome = make space, notice, include, honor those the world ignores.
• Jesus redefines leadership as attentiveness to the invisible.
E. A Warning About Causing Harm
• “If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble…”
• Not violent imagery — a blunt statement of the seriousness of exploiting the vulnerable.
• The Kingdom protects the powerless fiercely.
F. Heaven’s Inverted Hierarchy
• “Their angels always behold the face of my Father.”
• Reference to the Malakhei Panim — the highest-ranking angels in Jewish tradition.
• Jesus’ point: the lowest on earth are guarded by the highest in heaven.
• Those who feel unseen are not unseen in God’s economy.
4. Main Point
• Jesus dismantles the disciples’ obsession with status.
• Greatness = humility, welcome, compassion, and protecting the vulnerable.
• The Kingdom of God is found not at the top of the ladder, but at child-height.
5. Exegetical Insight
• Strephēte (“turn”) = moral/spiritual reversal, not sentimentality.
• Children function as social “non-persons” in antiquity — making Jesus’ illustration shocking.
• “Behold the face of my Father” = language reserved for the highest angels, underscoring heaven’s protection of the lowly.
• Jesus reframes hierarchy as relational, not positional.
6. Reflection Questions
• Where am I still climbing ladders Jesus is asking me to step off of?
• Who in my world feels unseen, unheard, or overlooked?
• How might I “welcome” them in Jesus’ name?
• Do I measure success the way Jesus does — by depth of compassion rather than visibility?
7. Action Step / Challenge
• Identify one “little one” in your daily orbit — someone overlooked — and intentionally notice, welcome, or support them this week.
• Ask God to help you “turn” toward humility and away from performance-driven identity.
Buy the books!
This 30-day challenge is based on my book trilogy entitled Jesus: The Strategic Life and Mission of the Messiah and His Movement (3 Volumes, Hekhal Publishing Co., 2025).
You can buy or borrow the trilogy at:
Hekhal Publishing Co. (look for free samples of each book as well)
Amazon (print or ebook)
Barnes & Noble (print or ebook)
Hoopla (borrow)
Many more booksellers worldwide!
