God Values the Little Ones (Mt 18:10-14)

Jesus' Disciples Do Not Despise the Dispensable and the Disposable, for Jesus the good shepherd is the model for his disciples (Mt 18:10-14).

• [1] These Little Ones (Mt 18:10a)
• [2] My Father in Heaven (Mt 18:10b)
• [3] 100 Sheep One Lost (Mt 18:12a)
• [4] Leave & Search [for the little one] (Mt 18:12b)
• [5] One Found 99 Never Strayed (Mt 18:13)
• [6] My Father in Heaven (Mt 18:14a)
• [7] These Little Ones (Mt 18:14b)

Notice the rhetorical structure in this chiasm (ring composition) composed of 7 inverted units:

• the beginning [1], middle [4] and end [7] focus on "the little ones" (Mt 18:10, 12, 14), while
• [2] and [6] are a pair of my/your "Father in heaven" (Mt 18:10, 14), and
• [3-5] are a parable on finding the one lost sheep (Mt 18:12-13) with
• [3] and [5] focusing on "the one and the many" while
• the climax in the very center [4] displays the willingness of the shepherd to risk leaving the 99 "on the hills" to go after the one that went away (Mt 18:12b).

Questions for Reflection:

1. Who are "these little ones" (Mt 18:10a)? Why might one little one wander away (Mt 18:12a; 16:24; Lk 14:26; 1 Jn 2:15-17)? Is the sheep misled or does it go astray? Is it the fault of the sheep or the shepherd?
• Might Peter denying Jesus, doubting Thomas, the 10 disciples who ran off in the garden, and the "Jerusalem street" (Lk 23:35, 48; 18:13) be among "the little ones" who strayed and went astray?
• What was Jesus "still doing" on the cross with "the little ones" (Lk 23:34)?
• Who did Jesus say is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18:2-5)? 
• What does the disciples' question about the greatest show about them (Mt 18:1)? 
• Was Jesus speaking of children in general or of this particular child (Mt 18:4)?
• What does the change from "child" (Mt 18:5) [paidion] to "little ones" (Mt 18:6; 10:42) [ton micron] tell us? 
2. Why does Jesus caution/warn his disciples to "not despise/look down on" [neglect, ignore] the little ones (Mt 18:10a) [to treat others with scorn or contempt]? Why? [See Q. 3.] 
• Does this challenge the leadership of the church in every age?
• Do people/organizations/"churches" tend to despise the dispensables /disregard the powerless /overlook the non-contributors? [Or declare an interest in them as a power play?]
• Do you desire/wish to be in what C.S. Lewis calls "The Inner Ring"? [What's the motivation?] Should you not rather be a "sound craftsman"?
3. What does it mean that "the little ones" (believers) have angels before "the face of my Father in heaven" (Mt 18:10b; Ac 12:15; 1 Cor 4:9; Heb 1:14; Ps 17:8; Rev 2:1, 8, 12; 3:1, 7, 14)?
4. What does Jesus exemplify in the center/climax of the chiasm [3,4,5] (Mt 18:12-13)?
• How does the world regard the weak, the powerless, the poor, the nameless?
• Why do people not want to bother with the one sheep who couldn't keep up?
• Can the lost, the one who wandered off, find their own way home?
• What is the shepherd willing to endure in order to look for the one who is lost/went astray (Lk 15:4, 8; Jn 10:11)? How does this strengthen and encourage the 99? 
• What is the tendency of [church] leaders with regard to 1/99? 
• How might we want our [church] leaders to act?
5. What does the shepherd rejoicing over finding the lost sheep teach us about repentance (Mt 18:13; Lk 15:5-6,9; 19:10)?
• Who is the celebration and rejoicing about (Lk 15:6, 9, 24, 27, cf. Lk 15:30)? 
• When the lost one is found were they blamed, rebuked, shamed and exposed as a "bad sheep," made to feel bad?
6. Despite the intention of the Father in heaven (Mt 18:14) and the shepherd (Mt 18:12), what could still happen? Is there the possibility of failure?
7. What was Jesus expecting of his disciples (Mt 25:40; Jn 20:21; 1 Pet 5:2)?

Reference: Bailey, Kenneth E. The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament. IVP. Downers Grove, IL 60515. 2014.