Mark 10:13-16
Introduction: Dr. Haddon Robinson told the story of an
apartment fire in Harlem, in New York City. A blind child was trapped by a
third story window, that opened to a narrow alley. Flames and smoke intensified,
time was short. The rescue workers had difficulty getting a ladder to the
window, so they held a net below and called to the child through a bullhorn,
urging her to jump. But she stood at the window crying, afraid to jump, despite
the pleas of the firefighters below who held the net which she could not see.
Then she heard a voice she recognized. Her father had arrived at the scene and a
fireman handed him the bullhorn. “It’s daddy, there is a net, we’ll catch you,
jump!” Immediately the fear vanished from her face, and she jumped from the
window into the rescuers’ net. What had changed? She heard her father’s voice,
and she trusted him, completely.
Children, especially little children, are
completely dependent on their parents, they have an almost simplistic devotion
to them, they trust them implicitly. Jesus uses this encounter in the Gospel of
Mark to hold up children as an example of how we must receive the Kingdom of
God. This story stands in contrast to the rich, young ruler in the next scene, who
asks about the kingdom, but who only with difficulty will enter it!
Context: Jesus has
been patiently teaching the disciples about humility, service, and being at peace
with one another. In short, He is showing what it means to follow Him. In
that context, He used a question about divorce to point to God’s design for
marriage, a lifetime together, learning and growing. And now, as He had done in
Mark 9:36,37, He again uses a child as an example of the dependency, trust, and
devotion that is necessary for those who would enter the Kingdom of God. That points
us to…
The BIG Idea: The
dependent trust and simplicity of devotion of a child illustrates what it means
to believe God. Do you believe?
I. The Setting: We need to value children as God does
(10:13-14a).
13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the
disciples rebuked them. 14
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant…
Imagine the scene that Mark describes here for
us. The crowds are coming to Jesus, some, perhaps, hoping to see a miracle,
some still trying to decide who this man really is, some perhaps hoping for some
confirmation that He is the Messiah. A few (like the Pharisees) were looking
for reasons to reject Him as such. As parents would often do with beloved and
respected rabbis, many were bringing their children to Jesus, hoping that He
would lay a hand on them and speak a blessing over them. Luke mentions in his
parallel account of this event (Lk 18:15-17) that some even brought infants. The
word “child” [paidion] used by Mark refers
to a young child, though it can refer to children from toddlers through
elementary age (as in the feeding of the 5,000 [Matt 14:21]). “Young children”
are being brought by their parents to Jesus for blessing.
The
disciples were rebuking the parents…
(13). As a group, it seems, they
intercepted the parents, preventing them from bringing these young children to
Jesus. You can imagine the context – a growing crowd, people anxious to hear
what Jesus would say, there was no time to allow for such distractions! I remember visiting a very large church down
in Charlotte, NC. I knew the pastor of the Hispanic ministry at the church and
we followed the senior pastor into the morning worship service. He had two
staff members at his side, and they were a kind of “security team.” He needed
to be focused on the service that was coming, and there was no time for him to
be “distracted” by conversations on the way to the platform. So, if someone
approached, one of the staff would intercept them and talk until the senior
pastor had passed on his way to his seat near the platform.
I
don’t mean to say that was not appropriate in such a large church, but it is
striking to me how Jesus, in contrast, was so approachable – not only to rabbis
or the wealthy, but even to children. In this case, maybe pressured or confused
by Jesus’ teaching about what would happen in Jerusalem, the disciples’ sense
of urgency led them to “rebuke” [epitimao,
“censure, reprimand”] those bringing these children.
Their action seems surprising considering what
Jesus said and did back in 9:36,37! There, as Jesus taught about humility and
service, we read that He…
…took a child
and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to
them, 37 "Whoever
receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me,
receives not me but him who sent me."
Was this another lesson that didn’t yet “take”?
I think by now we are getting the idea that the disciples are not perfect! But
we are also reminded not to judge them too quickly. In fact, we are the
disciples, and too often we need to be reminded of lessons the Lord
has already taught us!
The disciples were
trying to keep the children away, and Jesus was “indignant.” The Greek term
denotes “a state of anger aroused by
injustice” (14a). He intervened vigorously, not allowing the disciples to
stand in the way of Him blessing these children, and their parents. We’ve seen
as we have been going through this Gospel, that Jesus always had time for
people. After all, He came to seek and to save the lost! Whether it was a
leader taking Jesus to see his desperately sick daughter, or a woman suffering
on the way who touched the hem of His robe, he would engage with the needy,
those who knew they needed His help in the midst of their crisis, and He would
meet them at the point of their need, and lead them deeper in their knowledge
and trust of Him. Let’s be intentionally sensitive to needs around us! The
disciples no doubt felt they were looking out for Jesus, keeping him from being
overly burdened with unnecessary problems as they sought to keep away the
people bringing their children. Jesus seizes the moment to help the disciples
reorder their priorities, and to illustrate again what it really means to
follow Him. The Big Idea we see here is that… *The dependent trust and
simplicity of devotion of a child illustrates what it means to believe God. Do
you believe?
II. Serving: We see Jesus, the Servant, setting an example
by ministering to the needs before Him. We need to bring children to Jesus,
teaching them the truth (14b,16).
…and said to them,
"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the
kingdom of God… 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them,
laying his hands on them.
Considering the righteous indignation that
Jesus felt in reacting to the disciples, He is amazingly patient as He corrects
them with His teaching. He does not ask “How did you guys forget so quickly? Were
you not listening?” No, He simply tells them not to hinder them, to let them
come. He began his public ministry preaching the “Gospel of the Kingdom of
God” (Mark 1:14,15) and now He perhaps shocks the disciples by saying that
these children are the example or the model of what a kingdom citizen looks
like. Of course, the importance of
teaching children the truth about God is foundational in the Scriptures.
Following the call to love God wholeheartedly, the greatest commandment, is the
call to teach the next generation about Him (Dt 6:5-7)…
You shall
love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your might. 6And these words
that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently
to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when
you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise…
Love God,
and teach your kids to love God! That is God’s command to parents. Many
parents would not think of failing to provide the physical needs of their
children: food, clothing, shelter, safety. And yes, kids need school to learn and grow
intellectually. Yet many parents don’t embrace the need to teach them
diligently about God. They can make up
their own mind about that later. Really? Believing parents are called to teach
them. The church comes alongside to reinforce what is already being taught at
home.
Jesus
clearly saw the importance of loving children and teaching them the truth about
God. He tells the disciples, “Allow the
children to come to me, and do not hinder them…” Considering that just a
few verses earlier Mark had recorded Jesus’ teaching about receiving a child in
His name (9:36,37) one might think this corrective would be unnecessary! The
disciples needed repetition, and reminders, as do we. They wanted to keep the children away and
allow Jesus to dedicate himself to what was important. Jesus, on the other
hand, wants the disciples to understand how important children were to him, and
to let them know that they could learn a few things from them as well!
For to such belong the kingdom of God… Now note well
what Jesus is and is not saying here, as it will be reinforced in v.15. He is not
saying that only children will be in the Kingdom! He does say “…to such as these…” belong the kingdom. The
kingdom is open to those who, like a child, affirm their absolute dependence, who
trust Him implicitly, who love Him whole-heartedly.
And
so, perhaps stunning the disciples, v.16 says, “He took them in His arms and blessed them.” This is a tender scene.
Little children blessed and embraced by Jesus. The reformer John Calvin said, “Faith is not a distant view but a warm
embrace of Christ.” We’ve seen
Jesus’ love for children, and we need to love them enough to guide them,
patiently, consistently, toward knowing Him and trusting Him for themselves.
Kids are teachable, open to the truth.
How many in a typical church service
came to Christ before the age of 20? According to researchers, a majority, in
some cases maybe 80 or 90 percent! The older we get, the more hardened we can
get against the things of God. (Don’t give up witnessing to an aged friend or
relative, with God all things are possible!). So, it is important for our
Children’s Church, our Sunday School, our AWANA ministry, our VBS, to be
“Gospel-Centered” in our teaching always. We want to point our children to
Jesus at every opportunity, to teach them why He came, to show them what it
means to follow Him. That is how Mark started, right? The beginning of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Gospel is Jesus! Remember the
scene, after the resurrection in Luke 24, Jesus
44 Then he [Jesus] said to them,
"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled." 45
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures… (Lk
24:44-45a).
It all points
us to Jesus. Sixty-six books, one story. We want to show to our children that
the whole Bible is about the Good News, the Gospel, it’s all about Jesus. Kids
are teachable. That reminds us that *The dependent trust and simplicity of
devotion of a child illustrates what it means to believe God. Do you
believe?
III. Simplicity: We need to
receive Jesus with child-like faith: dependent, trusting, devoted (15).
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a
child shall not enter it."
J.
Gresham Machen said, “The more we know of
God, the more unreservedly we will trust him; the greater our progress in
theology, the simpler and more childlike will be our faith.” Simplicity.
Machen was one of the professors who left Princeton Seminary ninety-five years
ago in the face of encroaching liberalism to start Westminster Theological
Seminary. He was dedicated to the pursuit of God, to knowing Him intimately. I
think he would agree with the famous German theologian, who, after a lifetime
of study was asked about the most profound truth He had learned in his study of
theology. He said, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!” Simplicity.
How does a child believe their parent? They take them at their word.
Daddy says it, mommy says it, it is true. Simple. We are called to believe
God like that. It is not that we have to have every mystery of the universe
figured out. We listen to Abba, He has spoken, and we take Him at His Word. God
said it, that settles it!
Children are dependent on their parents to provide for them, to care for
them, to keep them safe. Children depend completely on their parents for
everything; food, clothing, shelter, protection. God is a perfect Father, His
discipline is always with love, His compassion with sincerity, His instruction,
the truth. We need Him for everything as well. We are dependent upon Him
for our next breath, for health and strength to work… strength for today, and
hope! And He is faithful, completely trustworthy.
Someone has said that a child is
not likely to find a Father in God, unless He finds something of God in His
father. It seems that our human family is a grid that helps us
understand God’s love for us and our security in Him. Sometimes people who have
had an absentee parent (or worse, an abusive one) find it difficult to believe—or
maybe the difficulty is understanding what it means for God to be our loving,
heavenly Father. The truth is, none
of us had perfect earthly parents, and none of us are perfect parents.
We get glimpses, but we long for
something better, we long to be better. We can know that God is someone we can
trust, always. He is good, all the time, He does all things well, He really
will work all things together for our good (Rom 8:28). As a child depends
on their parents, as they trust them implicitly, we must come to God, and cling
to Abba.
Children are trusting. I have a picture somewhere of our daughter Sarah around
two years old, jumping from a deck into my arms in a pool. Absolute trust. I
remember she kept on doing it time after time. Until once I wasn’t ready and
she experienced total immersion at a young age! Are we convinced, like a child,
that God is trustworthy? Like the child in the burning building who heard her
father’s voice and leapt to safety, will we cast ourselves into His arms?
(Unlike me, HE is completely trustworthy!).
Children, especially little children,
are devoted to their parents. Their mother is the most beautiful woman
in the world, their father the strongest or smartest man. Why? The explanation
is simple, they love their parents, unconditionally. And a child wants the
approval of their parents, they want to please them. Do we have that kind of
heart for God? God is worthy of our trust and our devotion, we can depend on
Him, always.
What is God saying to me in this
passage? The dependent trust and simplicity of
devotion of a child illustrates what it means to believe God. Do you believe?
What would God have me to do in
response to this passage? Parents are to take seriously the call to
teach their children the truth of God. That is God’s heart.
1) Gospel-centered
parenting: We can come alongside parents and support them in that process.
Thankfully, we seek to do that in our church—Junior church, SS, AWANA, VBS, all
reinforce the teaching parents are giving their kids at home with
Gospel-centered teaching of the Word of God. Not just Bible stories with a
“moral,” but reminding kids that this is God’s book. He is holy and just, sin
is a problem, but God so loved us He sent Jesus as a sacrifice to be our
Savior! He came to seek and to save the lost.
2) Jesus’ love for children can comfort us. We
see Him taking little children in His arms, we see His heart for these young souls.
Some may have prodigals. Some may have lost children, either through sickness
or accident, or perhaps through miscarriage, or even abortion. We can surmise that
children who die in infancy, or before they are old enough to know right from
wrong—the age of accountability—are covered by the grace of God and are safe in
the arms of Jesus. You will see them again if your trust is in Christ.
3) There is also another emphasis in verse 15,
“Whoever does not receive the kingdom of
God like a child shall not enter it.” He is not calling us to be childish in our faith, but we should be
child-like. Paul rebuked the
Corinthians for not growing up, for still being spiritual babes when by then
they should have been teachers, ready for meat, instead of only spiritual milk.
Childish faith? No. That isn’t what Jesus is teaching here. We are being called
to child-like faith: dependent,
filled with wonder, whole-hearted devotion, implicit trust. “It’s Daddy, jump!” Do we trust Him? Do
we love Him with our whole heart, soul, and mind? Then let’s
trust and obey, and follow Him, stepping out in faith, holding forth the Word
of Life. Amen.
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