Matthew 19:13-15 Mark 10:13-16 Luke 18:15-17

Matthew 19:13-15 13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

Mark 10:13-16 13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

Luke 18:15-17 15 And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Children are an important part of God’s plan.  He uses children to illustrate many truths and to accomplish His will in a variety of situations.  We have a special place in our hearts for our children and it is a nice thing to know that God has a special place in His heart for them too.  We are all His children through faith in the Lord Jesus.  God constantly refers to Himself as a Father.  This truth should impact the way we relate with God and the way we relate with children.  Certainly, there is much we need to teach our children; but there is also much we can learn from them as well.

THE CONFRONTATION OF PARENTS WITH CHILDREN: Many parents would bring their children to Jesus.  Certainly, some of them were sick and their parents were desperate to see them healed.  However, it appears that most of them were health and the parents simply wanted Jesus to touch their child and bless them.  The disciples got into their “body guard mode” and were trying to protect Jesus by sending these parents and their children away.  In their mind, Jesus had much more important things to do than spend time blessing little kids.  Parents can be rather insistent when it comes to their children and it appears that things were starting to escalate as the disciples continue to try to keep them away from Jesus.  This same mentality continues in many ministries today.  Children’s ministries seem to take a back seat to ministry to teens and adults.  We scold the children running around church instead of seeing them with the eyes of Jesus. 

THE COMPARISON OF DISCIPLES TO CHILDREN: Jesus steps between the disciples and the parents of the children and He makes some important and shocking statements.  First, He tells the disciples to loosen up and let the children come to Him.  Jesus loves the children.  He loves us all.  So often our love is based on what we think others can do for us.  In other words, loving others is just another way of loving ourselves.  That is the reality of our sinful hearts.  That may have been why it was so hard for the disciples to think about loving children, because they really didn’t have much that they could offer.  We need to learn to love like Jesus loves.  We also need to make sure that we are not standing in the way of anyone who wants to come to Jesus.  There is plenty of Him to “go around” it is not like if we bring more to Him that there will somehow be less of Him available to us.  The second surprising statement Jesus makes about the children is that He compares them to the true disciple.  He clearly states that everyone who comes to Jesus, must come as a child.  We cannot come to Him as if we have something to offer Him.  We must come in humility, with open hearts that recognize our dependence on Him and with a longing to be blessed by being with Him.  Children seem to have a longing for relationship.  They just want to be with their parents.  They fear being alone.  God wants us to come to Him with that attitude.  Humility, love, dependence and a desire to be with Him are the trademarks of the true disciple that children just seem to naturally embody.  We need to learn from them and be much more like them.

THE COMPASSION OF JESUS FOR CHILDREN: Jesus took the children into His arms and put His hands on them and blessed them.  Receiving a blessing from someone is not really a part of our culture.  That may be unfortunate.  However, we see several instances in the culture of Scripture, where blessings were very important.  Jacob and Esau fought over their father’s blessing.  Before his death, Jacob called all his children to come to him and he blessed them.  We are not sure what He said to them, but it was an act of loving kindness.  Children can be annoying, noisy and disruptive.  We tend to get frustrated with them and often avoid being around them.  We would do well to follow the example of Jesus.  Be intentional about spending time with children.  Encourage them with words, play with them, show the love of Christ and bless them.  

APPLICATION: As parents, the best thing we can ever do for our children is take them to Jesus.  No matter how old they may be, recognize that His blessing is more valuable than anything you can do for your child.  Make sure that our faith in Jesus is like that of a child.  Be humble, innocent and know that we are helpless without Him.  Love children as Jesus did.  Talk, play, pray and spend time with children.  Encourage the children around us with our words as a means of blessing them.