by Audrey Bauman

Mark 10: 13 – 16  NLT

Jesus Blesses the Children

¹³ One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

¹⁴ When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.”

I want you to try to picture this scene in your minds. I don’t know where Jesus and his disciples are, but let’s put them in a meadow or field with stones you could sit on while they chat with each other. Then the families show up. The parents want Jesus to bless their children. (In Jewish tradition, Pharisees would touch and bless children. Obviously, these parents think highly of Jesus because they want him to bless their children.)  The disciples are annoyed. They are dealing with crowds every day; sometimes they can hardly find time to eat. Now people want Jesus to pay attention to children, the lowest on the scale of valued human beings in that historic era. In the disciples’ minds, this is a waste of precious time. 

Jesus is angry with the disciples. The New American Standard Bible translates the word as “indignant”. This is a pretty strong word. Jesus then took the children in his arms. I suspect there was more than one armful. Picture those children swarming around Jesus while he hugged them. Can you hear the children laughing and shoving to get close to Jesus?

Jesus tells the disciples, “the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.” What does he mean?  Do we have to be innocent and naïve? The children who flocked to Jesus were not valued in their culture. They had nothing to offer Jesus. They didn’t even try to offer him anything. It was just his welcoming arms they wanted – something he could give them. 

That is how we come to Jesus. We have nothing to offer him. We may think we can impress God - that we are good people, and worthy of his notice – but we aren’t. Instead, God has everything to offer us. He wants us to come to him just because we want him in our lives – nothing else. Remember that chorus you may have learned as a child:

Jesus loves me this I know

For the Bible tells me so,

Little ones to him belong

They are weak but he is strong.

Our song for today is Praise the Lord by Micah Tyler.