Encounters Along the Way Christ’s Encounter with Evil Mark 1:9 – 13, 21-28

Though rarely do we consider that a child might model something of eternal value to us adults, we must not neglect to consider whether we might learn something of deep spiritual significance from our children.

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” Mark 10:13-16

At the time of our text, Jesus and his disciples had recently left their home base in Capernaum and headed out into a region known as Judea. Jesus’ custom was to teach the gathered crowds and, so, we are told that He was busy teaching, when people began to bring children to Him for His blessing upon them. Why do the disciples respond the way they do by rebuking the people? To rebuke means to sharply reprimand, so the picture we are given is that the disciples were giving these parents a stern earful for approaching Jesus.

The disciples most likely felt that the parents with little ones in tow were not taking seriously enough the learning environment that Jesus was creating or they may have thought that the parents were debasing Jesus by dragging their children before Him. In any event, Jesus saw – and most likely heard – what was happening and reacted. Jesus was physically irritated by the disciples’ behaviour and He issued a rebuke of His own, this time directed at His followers. Jesus corrected His followers, openly inviting the children into His presence.

Jesus then issued a shocking teaching – “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”. In first century Israel, children were generally ignored and thought very little of. For the Jew, entrance into God’s Kingdom – salvation, if you will – was an earned reality and a child could not earn entrance into God’s Kingdom. For the first century Roman too, childhood was little more than a stage to progress through en route to adulthood. To suggest that a child might model something of eternal value was ludicrous for the Jew and Roman alike.

It is important to note that that Jesus doesn’t indicate that His Kingdom belongs to children, but that it belongs to “such as these”. There is something about a child that reveals to us the kind of person God is looking to add to His kingdom. So, what is it about children that Jesus is commending here? What is it about a child that we ought to take note of?

First, children rarely offer a presumption of worthiness for any given thing We presume that we are worthy of eternal life because we are “good people”; that God ought to be glad to save us. But the salvation spoken of in Scripture is unearned; it is not something that we somehow deserve. When we abandon a presumption of worthiness and just accept the gracious offer of God as the gift that it is, with childlike wonder and appreciation, we find ourselves standing at the open door of God’s kingdom.

Secondly, from children we can learn humility. To enter into God’s kingdom then, we must submit to His kingship. Christ’s point in our passage is that people who receive the kingdom - the wise and gracious rule of God over their lives - as a child receives the provision and guidance it needs – with humility and joy - will enter the God’s kingdom. Might we recognize the powerful humility present in our children and learn from their example.

Finally, I’ve found that children are inherently trusting of those given care over them – they place faith in those to whom they are entrusted. Unfortunately, we live in a world that repeatedly proves to us that we cannot trust everyone, often times even those whom are given care over us. We therefore develop a “prove it” mentality in all that we do, so much so that we will not trust or place our faith in someone or something until we have proven it trustworthy. . In countless places throughout scripture, we see described and pledged God’s loving care of humankind and His absolute trustworthiness. At some point, we’ve got to put His word to the test, by investing our faith in Him. The final thing we can learn from our children is the practice of trusting God in advance of experienced proof of His trustworthiness.

My prayer this morning is that we would be a people who are quick to receive those of childlike faith, a community open to the presence and example of our children, and a church that continually blesses our little ones in the name of Jesus, bearing witness to their silencing of even our greatest enemy. Might we become a people of childlike faith.