thisweekstudy

This Week's Study

Jesus The Whole Story
That's Gospel!

Part 150

Jesus, the Whole Story–that’s Gospel!

Chapter 150

Blessing the Children

At that time young children were being brought to Jesus so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and they were even bringing Him infants so that He could touch them. But the disciples, seeing this, began to rebuke those who brought them.
When Jesus saw what the disciples were doing He became indignant, and calling the disciples to Him said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the Realm of Heaven. I will tell you truth. Anyone who will not receive the Realm of God like a little child will never enter it.”
And Jesus took the children in His arms, and laying His hands on them, He blessed them.
(Mat. 19:13-15a; Mk.10:13-16; Lk.18:15-17)

In Jesus’ day it was quite common for mothers to bring their children to the rabbis to be blessed. This was accomplished usually by laying hands on them. The gospels don’t actually identify those who were bringing them, so it is just as possible that those who brought them were the fathers or other relatives.

How young were these children? Mark used the word paidia, which is the same word used for Jairus’ twelve year old daughter. Luke used the word brephe, which means babies, and Matthew used paidon, which means a half-grown boy or girl. But figuratively, this word also means an immature Christian.

One has to wonder why these parents and relatives brought their children to Jesus. Surely if they had heard of Him they would also have heard that their religious leaders had denounced Him and were looking for any way they could to entrap Him. At the same time, we have to remember the wonderful, miraculous things Jesus did with those hands–the lives they touched, the healings they performed. They would have heard of those things, too. So they brought their children to Him. The word translated brought is very interesting. It is prosphero, and it is used in connection with offerings. The children were being presented to Jesus as an offering, as a dedication to Him.

The disciples rebuked the parents for bringing their young ones to Jesus. The word translated rebuked is a strong word and means the disciples were physically hindering the parents from bringing in the little ones. Didn’t the parents know that Jesus was a very important Man with important things to do? He didn’t have time for such foolishness. They were interfering with Jesus’ very important work. After all, these were just children; some even were just babies. They were too young to understand all that Jesus was saying and doing. Children, though cherished, were considered insignificant members of society. Their place in the world was to learn, to be respectful, to listen, and to be obedient.

There are relatively few times when the gospels record the emotions of Jesus. He is typically seen as gentle, meek, humble, and mild. But Mark tells us that when Jesus saw what the disciples were doing He became indignant, though the KJV sugarcoats His reaction by saying, He was much displeased. The words in the original language are agan achthos, literally translated much grief, and mean to be greatly afflicted, indignant, be much (sore) displeased, be moved with indignation. Any way you look at it, Jesus was pretty riled up.

Jesus called the disciples to Him, thus immediately stopping them from what they were doing. “Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them…” He said. Again, when we look at the word forbid in the original language we find rich meaning. The word is koluo and is a word with an ongoing message. Jesus was not speaking for just that one time, but for all time. Stop hindering, stop preventing children from coming to Me, is what Christ meant.

Then Jesus adds that the Realm of Heaven is made up of those who exhibit the traits of children–not childish, but child-like. The essentials of what it takes to enter Heaven are seen in children. They tend to be dependent, trusting, responsive, obedient, humble, and forgiving. These are the qualities, Jesus said, this is what it takes to enter the Realm of Heaven.

Whoa, I hear some of you saying. I thought the only requirement to be saved is faith in Jesus Christ (Rom.3:21-24), I hear you saying. What you say is true. But where does your faith come from? What reconciles your mind to faith? Is it not that you decide to allow yourself to depend on Jesus, to trust Jesus, to be responsive and obedient to what you believe Jesus wants of you? This is what repentance is. This is what conversion means. It means having the humility to surrender yourself to Jesus. It means letting go of your old ideas, especially those that always seemed to get you into trouble, and becoming willing to try to follow the path laid out for you by Jesus.

It also means to practice forgiveness, though that’s very hard for some of us to contemplate. We often get the idea that forgiving those who have hurt us means that we have to agree that they were right in whatever they did. That’s not what forgiveness means at all. Forgiveness is what allows us to turn those who have hurt us over to God. Forgiveness allows us the freedom from judgment. Forgiveness allows us to move on. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. And often, forgiveness is a gift we owe ourselves. Many of us have a tendency to hold onto our shame and sorrow over our own sins and errors long after God has forgiven us.

There is one more aspect of these passages we should cover. Earlier we found that the word for children that Matthew used was paidon, which means a half-grown boy or girl. But figuratively, this word also means an immature Christian. We can say that the disciples, themselves, were padion. They were immature followers of Christ. They thought they understood what Jesus wanted, but they were wrong. Apparently they had forgotten the time they were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest in Heaven, when Jesus told them that those who humbled themselves like children would be the greatest in Heaven (Matt.18:1-6; Mk.9:33b-37; Lk.9:46-48). They apparently forgot that Jesus had told them further that for those who hampered anyone who believed in Jesus to come to Him, it would be better that a millstone be hung around their necks and they were sunk in the sea.

That message is no less true today than it was two thousand years ago. Anyone who would endeavor to shut out any child of God (regardless of age) or prevent them from entering and worshipping, or trying to draw closer to Christ, are themselves padion–immature Christians, regardless of their credentials or theology, regardless of their status in the community or in the world.