“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Mt 18:5). He uses the important word welcome (dechomai), which is used elsewhere for the way strangers receive missionaries sent by Jesus into their homes in his name (Mt 10:40). It is used to describe the patience one must have to hear Paul in the midst of his foolishness (2 Cor 11:16). It is used to describe the posture of receiving generosity and love (Phil 4:18). It connotes patience, embrace, openness, and genuineness. It communicates the posture of receiving someone into my very presence. Jesus says, when you do this with a child,
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