as humble as this little child. The character trait that appears to be foremost in the simile of becoming like a child is humility (11:29; 23:12; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ; cf. “meekness” in 5:5; 21:5). In this sense conversion amounts to a renunciation of all one’s human prestige or status and an acceptance of the values of the Kingdom. It is not that children are innocent of selfishness or that they consistently model humility, but that children have no status in society. As they are at the mercy of adults, so disciples acknowledge in repentance that they have no status before God and that they depend solely on the love and mercy of the heavenly Father. (It is not at all clear that is another version of this saying of Jesus, as advocated by Davies and Allison 1991:758.)
