And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in My Name receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. Luke 9:48
In the previous verse, we would learn that the child who Jesus was referring to was one who He selected from those around Him, and sat beside Him. Some have suggested that this was a child of Peter. Given the time and the locale of this incident, they could be right, but it does not really matter because the Holy Spirit did not guide Luke in his Gospel to record this. Nor did Luke record whether this was a boy or a girl, so that is not an important consideration. Think about this picture: the Son of God, the very Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Source of all wisdom and power and holiness is seated in the midst of a crowd. Beside Him sits an unnamed and probably very small child, in apparent silence. The Lord Jesus indicates the child seated beside Him and makes an unusual declaration: Receive this child (or any child, for that matter) in My name, and you receive Me. This declaration has a great bearing on us for today.
Had we been making the declaration, we might have said that people should receive one of the disciples or other followers of the Lord Jesus. Religion today would have people receive their popes or priests or pastors, or prophets, or other leaders. All of the cults and false religions have their all-important men and women to whom they would direct followers or prospective followers. Some of those people have high levels of knowledge or have supposedly miraculous experiences that qualify them – in their religion’s opinion – to be received, to be listened to, to be obedient to. How different the reality presented by the Lord Jesus: receive a child in My Name. All of the experience and knowledge and training that religion would promote is meaningless. It’s not who we receive, says the Lord Jesus, but the One in whose Name we receive. This tells us that the humblest, youngest, least knowledgeable saint can be a representative for Jesus Christ. As the chorus of the old hymn says: ‘There’s a crown and we can win it, if we go in Jesus’ Name’.
Our text reminds us that those who witness for Christ, and those who preach the Gospel, can and ought to be received. This places a great responsibility on the sinners to recognize and accept the message of the Gospel. If, by receiving the Christian and the Gospel he preaches, they are accepting Christ, then if they reject the Christian and the Gospel he preaches, they are rejecting Christ. People don’t realize what a serious thing it is to oppose, or reject, or neglect, the Gospel message. At the same time, there is a great responsibility on the Christian to faithfully represent the Lord Jesus. We can hardly be accepted in Jesus’ Name if we are not faithfully representing Him.
As little children, let us be acceptable as ambassadors for the Lord Jesus, that people might be able to receive Him through us. – Jim MacIntosh