"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."
Growing up, we probably all sang the children’s hymn written by C. Herbert Woolston, pastor, gospel songwriter, entitled "Jesus Loves the Little Children." He was the son of Isaiah S. and Sarah B. Woolston. In 1859, he married Agnes Claire Worrall. He entered the ministry under the influence of evangelist H.G. DeWitt in
1873, attending Crozier Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania, from
1877–79. He served as pastor at East Baptist Church, Philadelphia for forty-years and under his leadership, and according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, "the congregation grew from 176 members to more than 1,000." Woolston died not long after his seventy-first birthday. His extensive ministry to children undoubtedly inspired him to write the composition of this well-known three-stanza hymn. With its worldwide perspective, Woolston's hymn probably holds a place in the United States second only to "Jesus loves me! This I know," written in 1859 by Anna Bartlett Warner. Even the simplest of songs have the ability to carry a profound message. Jesus loves and values children, often referring to us having the humility of children throughout His earthly ministry.
In Matthew 18, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Children are teachable, and as Christ's followers, we should be, too. Rather than being influenced by whatever comes along, we need to put God first, to humble ourselves enough to put our trust in the Lord and listen to Him. We need to realize we are not the authority, God is.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
love our children, to protect them, guide them and give them discipline, to show affection to them and to take time to laugh with them. We pray that You would bless every parent, and every child to fulfill Your will for their lives. Grant grant forgiveness and restoration to families with broken relationships. Father, do a mighty work in every heart here today. Lord, I pray for the young people growing up in this society who are being manipulated and misguided by those they are supposed to trust, guide them to right decisions. We pray this in Christ's name, that He would be exalted and You would be glorified.
Amen
Today's Message: Jesus Loves The Little Children
As Christians, we are to be sensitive to the spiritual needs of all children, not just our own. Unfortunately, the spiritual needs of some children often get overlooked. Not every parent is interested in the spiritual well-being of their children, they aren’t raising their children in a Christian home, they want wait until they are old enough to decide for themselves. I have known some parents, who aren't particularly concerned about their children's spiritual well-being, but will happily drop them off at Sunday school or V.B.S. so we can "baby-sit" them, in order to have an hour or two free from their children. Successful parenting takes a lot of work, preparation, money, praying and sacrifice. I know parents who know the Lord, from all around the world, who bring their children to Jesus, in a spiritual sense.
As a parent myself, I have always had a tremendous desire for my children to know and love Jesus personally, to know how much God loved them. There is a confidence you have as a parent, knowing that you’ve brought your child to Christ. God forbid, if they were to die before you, you have the assurance that you will see them again. Having lost my grandsons several years ago, I wouldn’t be able to survive as a grandparent if I didn't have that confident hope that I will see them again.
It was customary in Jewish society, for parents to bring their children to any great teacher of the law, that he might bless them and pray for them. They believed that these men who specially taught God’s Word, who served God’s kingdom, had a stronger sense of the heart and soul of God. Perhaps, their prayers were more powerful. A father would bring his infant child into the synagogue, he would pray for his child, then
would hand that child to an elder, who would pray for his child, then hand the child down the line of elders, each one praying for the child, and blessed them. Jewish parents had been raised to do that.
We have parents today, who bring their child to be dedicated to Christ, and be prayed for by their pastors, elders and the church, to publicly declare their desire to raise their child, lead and spiritually nurture their child in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and the teachings of Scripture. That is a beautiful thing for a parent to do, to acknowledge God's sovereignty over their child. Our children are a gift from God, and it is God Who retains ownership.
"Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 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." After laying His hands on them, He departed from there."
Let's look at verse 13, "Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; " Let's stop there for a moment. The word children here is the noun "paidion," means a young child, it could be a boy or a girl. It comes from the root word "país," in the diminutive form, indicating small size. There are some scholars who apply the term to youth up to 20 years old. I believe that we should note, Scripture doesn’t tell us just how young or small these children were.
If we were to compare this to the other passages in Scripture, where we know they must have been infants, we would find the word "brephos," meaning an unborn child, an infant or a newborn child. In Luke 1, when Mary visited Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist at the time, it says "the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." So we can understand these children weren't babies they were bringing to Jesus here.
By the way, Jesus didn't hold the idea that children are righteous, holy, innocent, pure or undefiled, He knew they were sinners born of flesh. So, He doesn’t make them into some kind of perfect little human beings. Anyone who has ever tried to teach or listen to a sermon, knows that infants can be very disruptive in a service, they kind of interrupt the process. I imagine the disciples saw these children as being very disturbing while Jesus was trying to teach, not that they hated children, as some have exclaimed.
At the end of verse 13, it says "and the disciples rebuked them." The word used for rebuke is the Greek verb "epitimáō," which is a very strong word, meaning to warn to prevent something from happening. Mark emphasizes the imperfect tense, which implies continued rebuking, almost threatening them. Mark adds "But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant."
In verse 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." The Amplified version says Jesus said "do not forbid them from coming to Me." In other words, Jesus was very frustrated with their lack of concern, getting angry with them for trying to stop these parents from bringing their children. I believe this is because He has a tender affection for children and He knows that no one is outside the love and care of God. So Jesus set them straight, "Don't you ever tell anyone who can or cannot come to Me, now or in the future!," that's the idea here. Jesus wants children to come to Him. I love the way their little eyes light up when you tell them how much He loves them, it's a beautiful thing to see. They don't generally see other people as separate from themselves. Have you ever noticed that?
At the end of verse 14, He says "For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." It's important to note, there’s no indication of the parents faith, He's not saying "these children" belong to the Kingdom of heaven, isolating believing children from unbelieving children. He says "Heaven belongs to such as these," indicating He is including all children. I believe He's saying, grace unmerited is extended to all God's created children. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus often uses children to indicate how we as adults are to come to the kingdom of heaven. The way you treat one of God's children is the same way you are treating Jesus Himself.
In Matthew 18, Jesus says "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
In Mark chapter 10, He says, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." Perhaps it's because little children have a way of accepting things in simplicity, believing everything you say and they we grow older, we tend to complicate things by questioning everything. Eighty-three percent of Christians make their commitment to Jesus between the
ages of 4 and 14. That number dramatically drops to only a fourteen percent between 14 and 18. Above the age of 19, it's becomes even lower at just six percent. I believe more churches should invest themselves in children, they are the future of the church until Christ returns. By the way, there the Kingdom of heaven is populated with two kinds of people; children and those who come like children, both powerless and dependent, trusting Christ for what they can’t do for themselves. We can’t get to Heaven on our own.
In Mark 10:16, Mark adds, "And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them." The word blessing is the word "kateulogeó," from the root words "kata," and the word "eulogeó," meaning to bless fervently.
That brings us to verse 15, "After placing His hands on them [for a blessing], He went on from there." Mark adds "And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them." Jesus not only loves children, He made them His a priority, taking them into His arms and no doubt, into His heart, blessing them with His time and affection.
In Closing..
Children are a precious gift from God, we must remember whose they are, where they came from, and where they’re to return. What an opportunity we have this time of year, to let God use us to follow His example to instill hope for the future, faith that will sustain them in times of trouble, and love that will last them for all eternity. Let us not waste the opportunity that God has given us opportunity that God has given us to bless the children in our lives by giving them the greatest gift of all, our time and affection, and teach them diligently about Jesus! It's our responsibility to set the right standards for them.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen