Message preached Sunday, May 8, 2016 from Mark 10:13-16
Theme: We need to rightly respond to even the littlest of children; because Jesus said ‘of such’ is His kingdom.
Ordinarily on Mothers’ Day, I take a break from our regular sermon series and preach a special message about one of the great women of faith that are found in the Bible. But as it turns out, the next portion of Scripture in our regular series through the Gospel of Mark seems like a very appropriate theme for Mothers’ Day.
It’s about little children. In fact, it’s one of the most beloved stories in the New Testament because it’s about how Jesus loved and welcomed the little children that were brought to Him. I like to think that most of the little children came to Him in this morning’s passage were brought there by their mothers. They brought their little children to Jesus that He might lay His hands on them and bless them; and I believe that when He laid His hand upon the children, He placed His hand upon the heart of those mothers. So; this truly is an appropriate message for Mothers’ Day.
But it’s not just all about the sweetness of that scene. As it turns out, this tender story also happens to contain one of the most powerful affirmations in the Bible. It teaches us a theological truth that yanks the floor right out from under countless religious and philosophical systems that set themselves up to ‘earn’ God’s favor. It is, in fact, one of the greatest affirmations you find in Scripture of the doctrine of ‘justification by faith’; and that doctrine is the greatest and most liberating concept ever to be declared in the whole history of humankind.
This remarkable story is told to us in Mark 10:13-16; where we read:
Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them (Mark 10:13-16).
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I believe that the key to understanding this passage is found at the end of verse 14. It’s there that Jesus—the Son of God—authoritatively declared of the little children that were around Him that “of such is the kingdom of God”. And so, before we look at the details of this passage, let’s pause for a moment and consider what that ‘kingdom’ is about.
When we think of the word “kingdom”, we often have an image that comes to our minds of a place—one that has castles, fair maidens, and knights on white stallions. That’s probably because we’ve seen too many movies. Really, the idea of ‘kingdom’—as Jesus is using the word—doesn’t have so much to do with a physical ‘place’ as it does with the concept of a ‘rule’ or a ‘reign’. The “kingdom of God” is simply that over which God exercises His reign in a favorable way. His kingdom is made up of those people upon which He graciously pours out His blessing and favor; and His kingdom subjects are those who gladly receive His grace and submit to His rule. The kingdom of God is what Jesus came into this world to declare to mankind. And more; He died on the cross, and atoned for our sins, in order to make it possible for you and me to be saved and enter into that kingdom. Jesus Himself is its King.
And what Jesus said in verse 14 is that those little children that were gathered around Him—coming to Him gladly and trustingly; with nothing that they can do but simply receive from Him—are the ones who best illustrate what it looks like to be the subjects of His kingdom. He said that “of such is the kingdom of God”. He didn’t mean that only little children were subjects of His kingdom; but rather that those who were “such” as they are—in terms of their humble approach to Him—are subjects of it. He certainly didn’t mean that His kingdom is composed of people who are “childish”; but rather, of people who are “child-like” in the simplicity and sincerity of their faith and trust in Him.
What an amazing thing that is! When Jesus wanted to let us know who served as the best representatives of what it meant to be citizens of His kingdom, He didn’t point to the great religious leaders of the day. He didn’t point to kings and queens and monarchs and rulers and emperors. He didn’t point to the great philosophical thinkers, or the noteworthy cultural icons, or people of outstanding talent or wealth or learning or prestige or power—the great ‘movers and shakers’ of this world. He didn’t point at all to the ones that this world considers “great” or “honorable” or “impressive”. He didn’t point to what Time Magazine might consider ‘The 100 Most Influential People’. In fact, from this world’s standpoint, He pointed to the exact opposite. He pointed to the ones who this world would have considered the least significant, and seemingly-least ‘influential’, and easiest to ignore.
So; I believe that the key to understanding Jesus’ words and actions in this morning’s passage is to understand that remarkable affirmation—that “of such” as those little children who came to Him “is the kingdom of God”. And if what He says about “such” little ones is true, then that means at least two things. First, it means that we’d better be very careful how we treat such little ones—and never hinder them in coming to Him who loves them so. And second, it means that we’d better do what we can to become like them—that is, not becoming “childish”, but rather “child-like” in our simple trust in the Lord Jesus.
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Let’s walk through this passage in more detail; and see how this is so.
In the original language, Mark begins this morning’s passage by using the word “then” or “and”. It’s a word that is intended to connect this story to the larger context of what had preceded it. And in those previous verses, we see that Jesus and His disciples had been traveling toward Jerusalem. He was on His way—as He declared in advance—to be betrayed, arrested, tried, crucified, and raised from the dead three days later. In other words, He was on His way to die on the cross for our sins.
Now; they had come to a region of Judea that was by the eastern side of the Jordan River; and it was there—as you might remember—that He got into a debate with the Pharisees about marriage and divorce. We’re told that, afterward, He went into a house with His disciples; and they asked Him more questions about divorce and remarriage. It’s interesting, when you think about it, that this remarkable declaration about ‘little children’ came in the context of Jesus’ important words about marriage.
So; it must be that they were still in that house. And it seems that people came to Him with their little children—most certainly many of them being the mothers of those children; but also, no doubt, many fathers as well. And Mark tells us, “they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them . . .” (v. 13). I don’t blame them. I would certainly have want the Son of God to place His hands on my children and bless them; wouldn’t you? It would feel like the greatest thing I could do for them!
And may I make just a couple of observations about this? First, it must have been that these were very young children—perhaps some of them being very small; because we’re told that they had to be “brought”. In fact, when the Gospel writer Luke tells this same story, he uses the word that means “infants”. And there’s a great lesson here for those of us who are mothers and fathers, or grandmothers and grandfathers, or even aunts and uncles. Little children need to come to Jesus and get to know Him. But they can’t come on their own. They need to be brought. They need grown-ups like you and me to bring them to church, and bring them to the Sunday School classes and to the nursery classes. They need for us to take them there and go with them. One of the greatest practical ministries we can perform to the children that God has placed in our lives is to bring them—as early as possible—to the house of God and let them learn about the love that the Lord Jesus has for them. To know about Him is the greatest need they have; and they need for you and me to take them so they can have that need met.
Second, you get the impression that the children themselves were drawn to Jesus and wanted to come. Jesus even said later, “Let the little children come to Me . . .”; as if it were they themselves who wanted to come to Him. And there’s another lesson for us. Children are naturally drawn to Jesus. Personally, I think it’s a terrible mistake whenever someone says, “I don’t teach my children about the Christian faith. In fact, I don’t teach them anything about religion at all. I want to wait until they have grown up; and then let them decide for themselves.” If this passage teaches us anything, it should certainly teach us that children are naturally attracted to Jesus and want to come to Him; and that to stand in their way is to do inflict a great harm upon their souls. That, of course, doesn’t mean that little children don’t have sin natures. We’re all offspring of our fallen parents Adam and Eve; and we’re all born with an inclination toward sin. But little children don’t have the many years of experience of justifying their sins, as we grown ups do. They know Jesus loves them just as they are; and they want to come to Him. I believe we should satisfy that longing in them and tell them about Jesus as soon in their lives as we can.
And third, you also get the very strong impression from this passage that Jesus Himself was drawn to children! He loved them very much and wanted them around Him. He delighted in them; and they weren’t afraid to come to Him. They didn’t find Him to be fearsome or grim; but rather, Someone who smiled on them, and welcomed them, and made them feel safe and loved. Children have a pretty acute sense of things; and they can tell when someone isn’t kind or good. And no one, it seems, ever had to drag their children kicking and screaming to Jesus. Jesus loved the little children—and the children and their parents knew that He loved them. They brought the children to Jesus so that He could touch them; or as Matthew tells us, that He might put His hands on them and pray. He very much wanted to.
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But that leads us to what Mark tells us next. He tells us “but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.” Why do you suppose they would have done this? One possible reason is pride. They thought of themselves as the ‘gatekeepers’ of the way to Jesus; and that no one could just come marching up to Him unless they permitted it. After all, in Chapter 9, Mark tells us about how one of His disciples had been forbidding someone from performing miracles in Jesus’ name “because he does not follow us” (v. 38).
However, I think that the most likely reason they prohibited people was because of a misguided desire to protect the Lord Himself. Our Lord had been busy teaching and ministering to people; and had been arguing with Pharisees and religious leaders who were opposing Him. He was—after all—the long-awaited Messiah. He was the most important Man on earth. Perhaps the disciples were thinking that Jesus was far too significant and busy to have His time and energies wasted on holding and touching other people’s little children.
There’s an interesting phenomenon in the original language. Mark uses the imperfect tense of the verbs to describe that people were ‘in the process of’ bringing their little children to Jesus; and that the disciples were ‘in the process of’ rebuking them for doing so. And perhaps, at first, the Lord hadn’t noticed what they were doing. “But”, Mark tells us, “when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased . . .” Some translations have it that He was “indignant”. The word that Mark uses is a very strong one. It’s a word that expresses an emotion that involved pain. Any time, of course, we read that Jesus felt a strong emotion, we should take notice of it. But we should especially take notice of this; because it’s the only time we’re told that Jesus felt an emotion like this one! He was displeased to the point of being hurt and angry. And the reason was because the children whom He loved were being prevented from coming to Him—and by His own disciples!
May I stop and ask: Do you suppose Jesus feels that kind of emotion now when He sees the way people hinder children from coming to Him today? Not long ago, we read these words from Jesus:
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42).
There are certainly many things that happen in this world that displease our Lord. But I have a feeling that few things in this world displease Him as much as people standing in the way of little ones coming to Him. And I would not want to be on the wrong side of that displeasure!
Now; I’m grateful that, when I displease the Lord Jesus—which is often, I’m afraid—He graciously seeks to correct me. He had a great deal of emotion over what He saw; but in that emotion, He corrected the error of His beloved disciples and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them . . .” He doesn’t say it just once, but says it twice; once in a positive way—”Let them come . . .”; and then in a negative way—“and do not forbid them”. And note once more the reason He gives; “for of such is the kingdom of God.”
And I wonder if we couldn’t take this as a clear statement of what ought to be a high priority in His household of faith. Churches often try to target their ministry to specific age groups—usually, it seems, collage age folks and young professionals. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But if what we do in church ends up failing to minister to these ones that Jesus valued so highly—the little children; and if we fail to invite them to come and get to know Jesus, then we’ve completely missed the boat! Our church ought to be a place where everyone is eagerly welcomed and enjoyed and appreciated—but especially children. And most of all, we must be a place where those children will hear the message of Jesus’ love, and will be helped to place their faith in Him.
May our church increasingly be a place where Jesus’ words are respected and obeyed: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”
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So that’s the first great practical lesson that I believe we’re meant to learn from this passage about little ones. We must never hinder them in coming to Jesus. We must bring them, and do all we can to help them to get to know Him as soon as possible. We have some folks in our church who are particularly gifted in doing that; and we ought to praise God for them and support them. But we should all—as a whole church—be a part of that great work.
But as I told you earlier, I believe this passage also presents us with a powerful theological surprise. Jesus not only teaches us in it that we not only need to be careful never to hinder the children in coming to Jesus for salvation; but more—we must actually become like them if we want to come to Jesus ourselves!
Note how Jesus says this. Mark tells us that He began by telling His disciples—and perhaps with all the parents who brought their children also listening in—“Assuredly, I say to you . . .” You probably already know that whenever our Lord says anything at all, it’s important. He doesn’t have to stress its importance first before He says it. So; whenever He does so, it’s important. And this time He does! The phrase “Assuredly” or “Truly I say to you . . .” is His way of making what He is about to say stand out as particularly important and worthy of our attention. And what He says is truly stunning!—that, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” (v. 15).
Now; let’s allow that to sink in! Jesus says that, in order to enter into His kingdom—that is, to be saved, and enter into the eternal blessings of His heavenly rule—someone has to come to Him in the humble attitude that characterized those little tiny children. And it’s just not that, if someone doesn’t do so, they would find it hard to enter into His kingdom, or that their rewards in heaven would be less than they otherwise would. Rather, Jesus uses a strong double negative; and says that they will “by no means”—not at all; not in any way—even get to enter into His kingdom!
Stop and think of how those children came. They didn’t come to Jesus as many people might try to come to Him today. They didn’t come with great confidence in their religious credentials, or by making an argument for how worthy they were of being accepted. They didn’t come because they had sat at a desk somewhere, gathered all the data, and—by the power of their own logic and reason—concluded that coming to Jesus was the most sensible and rational thing to do. They didn’t come in the confidence of having earned His favor through their philanthropic passions and their good deeds. Jesus once told a parable about such people in His Sermon on The Mount. He said;
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
These little children didn’t come in that way—boasting of their accomplishments. They couldn’t! They came in the only way they could. They came as simple children—with nothing to offer but themselves; just coming to receive from Jesus.
What do you suppose might happen if I tried an experiment? Who knows?—maybe I’ll even do it one day if one of you wants to help fund it. Let’s suppose I took a card table and set it up in the middle of a shopping mall or a park—somewhere where there would be lots of people of all ages passing by. Let’s suppose I put $100 in five-dollar bills on that table; and put a sign on it that said, “FREE $5 BILLS. TAKE ONE.” What do you suppose would happen?
I haven’t done it yet; so, of course, I don’t know. But I suspect that if we set up a hidden camera, we’d watch and see mature, “sophisticated” adults walking by, reading the sign, pausing, and peering a little suspiciously at it. They’d look around and say, “Okay—what’s the catch?” They’d feel like there’s a trick to it all; or that there was something that they had to do to earn it; or that maybe someone is about to make a fool of them. They’d be just a little cynical about the offer. I’ll even bet that some would leave without taking anything. But I’m ALSO willing to bet that kids wouldn’t have any problem. They’d see the five-dollar bills, read the sign, and gladly snatch one up—running off with it to buy what they wanted. They’d probably even go tell their friends. I’d love to make a video of that; and if any of you wants to finance it and help me film it, let me know. We’ll put it up on YouTube and give you credit. I’ll even let you take a five-dollar bill.
And do you know what I’d put at the end of that video? After the scenes of children just walking up and gladly taking advantage of the free offer, I’d put Jesus’ words, “Of such is the kingdom of God.” And do you know why? It’s because that’s how little children receive from Jesus. They don’t have any hang-ups about it. They don’t ask what it is that they need to do. They don’t worry if there’s a catch to it all. They don’t worry about whether or not they’re getting tricked, or were about to look foolish. They just simply, sincerely, innocently, gladly come and receive from Jesus. That’s how we must come to Him for salvation!
This is the essence of the greatest and most liberating doctrine that has ever been declared in all the history of humankind—the doctrine of “justification by faith”; that a man or woman is declared “righteous” in the sight of God by His grace—by simply by placing their faith in Jesus and receiving salvation as a free gift. Our salvation from Jesus is not a matter of our works or our merit. Our salvation is something that Jesus Christ has already purchases for us on the cross—where He took the guilt of our sins upon Himself and died in our place. He was then raised from the dead to prove that God the Father is satisfied with the sacrifice He made for us. And now, all we have to do is come humbly—like a little child—and receive it.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
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Now; in closing, look at verse 16. What a picture it gives! After having said that the kingdom of God is made up of “such” people as those little children; and then after telling everyone that, unless they become like those little ones, they can’t even enter the kingdom of heaven, we’re told, “And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.” It was as if He was giving everyone a live demonstration of how He receives those who come to Him that way!
Do you realize that right then—at that moment—those little tiny children were the most blessed human beings on planet earth? The Son of God in human flesh was holding them in His arms! He was touching them, and was placing His holy hands upon them. He was blessing them—and you’d better believe they WERE blessed! As we’re told in another Gospel, He prayed for them! To be loved by Jesus like that—! I don’t know about you; but I’m jealous of those little children with a holy jealousy! I wish I could be one of them!
Well; the fact is that I can be one of them. But I must make sure that I come to Jesus like them. I can’t be worried about whether or not I have done enough to deserve His love. I can’t come thinking that I have made myself more worthy than others because I am smarter and more mature or more sophisticated than they are. I can’t come looking around to see who might see me; and I can’t worry about whether or not the ‘hip’ people of this world will think I’m foolish or unsophisticated.
I heard about a family reunion where all the aunts and uncles were sitting around in a circle talking and visiting and sipping lemonade; when their tiny little niece just walked into the middle of the circle, held out her arms, and announced, “Well; here I am!” I believe that’s how you and I must come to Jesus. We must come simply saying, “Lord Jesus; I have nothing to offer. I only come as a sinner who wants to be forgiven, and to be made a citizen of your kingdom, and to be loved by You. I come with nothing more I can do but accept what You have done for me; and with a longing to receive the blessings you freely give. Here I am!”
I believe that He welcomes people into His kingdom who come to Him in that simple, child-like, trusting way. In fact, I know it; because He Himself said it:
“of such is the kingdom of God.”