John Calvin Commentary Matthew 18:1

"In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" — Matthew 18:1 (ASV)

At that time the disciples came to Jesus. It is evident from the other two Evangelists that the disciples did not come to Christ of their own accord. Instead, having secretly disputed on the road, they were brought out of their hiding places and dragged forth to light. There is nothing inconsistent with this in the account given by Matthew, who moves quickly to Christ’s reply. He does not relate all the circumstances of the case but passes over the beginning and relates in a summary manner the reason why Christ rebuked the foolish ambition of his disciples for the highest rank. When Christ inquires about a secret conversation and forces the disciples to acknowledge what they would willingly have kept back, this teaches us that we should beware of all ambition, however carefully it may be concealed.

We must also pay attention to the time at which this occurred. The prediction of His death had made them sad and perplexed. Yet, as if they had received from it pure delight, as if they had tasted the fabled nectar of the poets,⁴⁹⁷ they immediately entered into a dispute about the highest rank.⁴⁹⁸ How could their distress of mind have vanished in a moment, except because the minds of men are so devoted to ambition that, forgetting their present state of warfare, they continually rush forward under the delusive influence of a false imagination to obtain a triumph? And if the apostles so soon forgot a teaching they had recently heard, what will become of us if, dismissing for a long period meditation on the cross, we give ourselves up to indifference and laziness, or to idle speculations?

But it is asked, what occasioned the dispute among the disciples? I reply, as their sinful nature willingly shakes off all uneasiness, they overlooked everything that had given rise to grief and focused on what had been said about the resurrection. Out of this, a debate sprang up among idle persons. And as they refused the first part of the teaching, for which their sinful nature has no appetite, God permitted them to fall into a mistake about the resurrection. They began to dream of what would never take place: that by mere preaching, Christ would obtain an earthly kingdom and would immediately rise to the highest prosperity and wealth.

There were two faults in this debate:

1. The apostles were to blame for setting aside anxiety about the warfare to which they had been called, and for demanding beforehand rest, wages, and honors, as if they were soldiers who had completed their service.
2. Instead of working with one accord, as they should have done, to provide mutual assistance and to secure for their brothers as large a share of honors as for themselves, they strove with wicked ambition to excel each other.

If we wish for our way of life to receive the Lord’s approval, we must learn to bear patiently the burden of the cross that has been laid on us, until the proper time arrives for obtaining the crown. As Paul exhorts, in honor preferring one another (Romans 12:10).

Closely related to the first of these faults is the vain curiosity of those people today who, leaving the proper duties of their calling, eagerly attempt to fly above the clouds. The Lord, who in the Gospel invites us to His kingdom, points out to us the road by which we are to reach it. Fickle people, who are not concerned about faith, patience, calling on God, and other exercises of religion, dispute about what is going on in heaven. It is as if a man who was about to start a journey asked where a lodging place was located, but did not move a step. Since we are commanded by the Lord to walk on the earth, those who make the condition of departed saints in heaven the subject of eager debate will, in so doing, hinder their own progress towards heaven.

⁴⁹⁷ “Comme si tout alloit a souhait et comme si ce qu’on leur a dit estoit aussi doux a avaller que sucre;” — “as if every thing went to their wish, and as if what was said to them were as pleasant to swallow as sugar.”;” — “as if every thing went to their wish, and as if what was said to them were as pleasant to swallow as sugar.”

⁴⁹⁸ “De la primaute;” — “about the primacy.”;” — “about the primacy.”