From this verse to the end of the chapter we find no parallel in the other evangelists. The Saviour here returns to the subject of children, whether literally or metaphorically so called, and proclaims the high appreciation which is their due.
Take heed ( ὁρᾶτε, see) that ye despise not one ( ἑνο Ìς) of these little ones. God's care is minute; it extends to each individual of the class. The contempt denounced might arise in various ways and from various considerations.
The advanced believer might despise children as hot competent to enter into covenant with God or fit to receive Church privileges, whereas circumcision under the old dispensation and infant baptism under the gospel afford a very different view.
Again, to say or do unseemly things in the presence of children is a mode of" despising" which may prove a deadly offence. Or the contempt may be on the side of the ambitious and self-seeking, who cannot understand the simple and childlike spirit which seeketh not its own.
The Lord gives two proofs of the high consideration due to his little ones. The first proof is that which follows; the second is given in Matthew 18:11-14. Their angels. Not "their spirits after death," as some commentators erroneously interpret (for the term "angel" is not so used, and Christ speaks in the present tense, do always behold), but the angels especially appointed to watch and protect them—their guardian angels.
This doctrine (which, as of very solemn import, the Lord introduces with his usual formula, I say unto you), that each soul has assigned to it by God a special angel is grounded on this, and supported by many other passages of Scripture (comp.
Hebrews 1:14; Psalms 34:7; Psalms 91:11; Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10). It has been questioned how angels can be said to succour us on earth, while in heaven they are always looking on the face of the Father.
The difficulty has been answered, among others, by St. Gregory, who writes, "They never so go forth apart from the vision of God, as to be deprived of the joys of interior contemplation. They are both sent from him, and stand by him too, since both in that they are circumscribed, they go forth, and in this that they are also entirely present, they never go away.
Thus they at the same time always behold the Father's face, and yet come to us; because they both go forth to us in a spiritual presence, and yet keep themselves there, whence they had gone out, by virtue of interior contemplation" ('Moral.
,' 2.3). It is probable that the highest order of angels is here signified, such as among the Jews was called, "the angels of the presence, or of the face." To behold the king's face means, in Eastern parlance, to be admitted to his immediate presence—to enjoy his special favour and confidence (see 2 Kings 25:19; Esther 1:14; Jeremiah 52:25).
It is to these supreme beings, who draw their knowledge and love directly from Almighty God, and receive their commands from his mouth, that the tender lambs of Christ's flock are committed. This fact demonstrates their dignity and the great heinousness of setting a stumbling block in their way.