Live Oak — At some point in Jesus’ popularity people were bringing their children to him: Mk.19:13-15; Mk.10:13-16; Lk.18:15-17. Combining these accounts we see that people were bringing both infants and small children to Jesus. They wanted Jesus to take their children in his arms, lay his hands on them and pray over them in order to bestow a blessing upon them. The disciples of Jesus were hindering them, but Jesus was indignant about this! He said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God (or of Heaven). Truly, I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Then he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

The first thing to consider is the reason why families were bringing their children to Christ. Second, what is the nature of Christ’s blessing offered? It doesn’t seem as if the children were sick and in need of healing. This blessing seems to be out of a concern for the children’s general state of being. If this blessing was the venerable custom blessing of Gen.48:14-16, then it is likely a blessing of future prosperity. The families preferred Jesus’ blessing over their own fathers’ and Jesus was more than happy to give it. Yet the fact that Jesus gave his blessing with reasons regarding the Kingdom of Heaven causes us to dig deeper than the blessings of Ephraim or Manasseh. Remember what spiritual corruption became of Ephraim and Manasseh in their worldly prosperity? This blessing cannot be so shallow. So then, Jesus was concerned for their souls’ bright future. Now, is Jesus simply granting these children an inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven? We’ll get to that in a minute.

The third thing to consider is why the disciples were rebuking such a blessing. They did this before Jesus spoke on the subject, so we see that it was based on their own perceptions of what was going on. Like so many other times (Mt.15:23; Lk.9:54; Lk.18:39 – to name a very few), the Lord’s disciples were presumptuous and wrong even though Jesus was with them teaching them day after day (Jn.14:9). What a lesson of caution for us! There are two options in my mind for what they were doing here: 1) they did not foresee the spiritual application Jesus would make to a worldly blessing, if indeed such was the case. 2) They didn’t see the point in little children wasting Jesus’ time and attention regarding spiritual matters; after all, they’re only infants!  Now, which of the two would make Jesus absolutely indignant? I think the obvious choice is number two.

Fourth, what did Jesus mean when he spoke about the kingdom of God and these children? I think Jesus wasn’t just blessing children here.  He was teaching his disciples out of indignation. He was indignant, I think, because of their misconception that infants gain nothing and they offer nothing in spiritual matters, and also because his disciples were arrogant enough to suppose that only someone as mature as them was worthy of Jesus’ time and attention, and was worthy of the Kingdom of God. He was humbling them quite substantially in that moment when he put everything on hold, rebuked his own disciples in public and preferred infants over them, saying, “If you don’t grow up and act like a child, you can’t get into Heaven!”

The question we put on hold may now be answered: Was Jesus granting these children an inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven? I don’t believe these children were getting a free pass into Heaven for the rest of their lives, and that’s not the point. The point is that the residents in Heaven will and must be like children - humble, simple, obedient, willing to learn, and totally dependent on the one who had born them. And the earlier one learns to remember his Creator in the days of his youth, the better. How do you stack up to Jesus’ expectation?



– Tim Seaton is the preacher for the Northside Church of Christ on SR51 in Mayo. Meeting times are Wed. 7pm.; Sun. 9:30 am. Come out to edify and be edified with us! We seek no other authority than Christ; no other name than Christian.