And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mark 10:13-16, ESV)
The disciples just keep messing it up, don't they? Haha.
But it's weird, I kind of empathize with them. When they see kids approaching Jesus, they immediately start to rebuke them, thinking that they're probably just going to cause trouble for them. Even I think that when a group of high school kids come walking into the hmv that I work at.
But Jesus' reaction is indignation. Jesus is angered and annoyed because He views the actions of the disciples as unfair. Why?
Jesus' reason is because the kingdom of God belongs to the children, it belongs to those who receive the kingdom of God like a child.
Obviously, this doesn't mean you have to be a kid physically to enter the kingdom. So then, what does it really mean?
Understanding what a child means in a Biblical context can be a bit difficult, because the Bible mentions the child both in a negative and positive way. For example, 1 Corinthians 13 says that when Paul became a man, he gave up his childish ways.
But in Matthew 18, Jesus says, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
The thing is that a childish attitude is different from a childlike attitude. Children will often surrender themselves to their parents simply because they know that their parents know better. Even though they will often try to do things their way, they will mess up, and then realize that their parents were right all along. That is a child like attitude, one that submits and surrenders to the will of God.
In the original text, the word for "bringing" originally meant something along the lines of dedication, similar to when sacrifices were dedicated to God. The kids were being brought to Jesus so that they could be dedicated, so that their lives would in the light of Christ till death. The fact that these kids were so willing to do this goes to show that they were in for this, despite the fact that they probably had no idea what comes next. They wanted in on Jesus.
A childish attitude is one that we all exemplify all too well. It's when we think we know best, and we try to challenge the authority we're under. It's when we complain and whine that we want more of the gifts rather than the Giver of the gifts. All of these things were faults exemplified by the disciples, the pharisees, and the crowds around Jesus throughout Mark.
And that's why Jesus calls us to receive the kingdom of God like a child. We are to receive by means of submission and surrender to God's will. After all, if His kingdom comes, then His must be done as well.
I'll be the first to admit that it's tough being a child, still submitting to authorities like my parents. I love them to bits and pieces, but my sinful nature will always try and push me to a sense of prideful individuality away from them, because I like to think that by now, I know myself better than they do. But they still catch me off guard with the things they know about me that I miss. I still am trying to remind myself every day to submit to them still.
And if it's already difficult enough to submit to my own parents, how much more so it is to submit to God, who calls us to radical relationship and life with Him. But in this passage, Jesus puts an emphasis on the kingdom of God as our gift after this life. I've been putting so much stress on it with these past couple of posts, that beyond all the struggles we face in this life, we inherit an even greater gift that far outweighs and surpasses those struggles.
We constantly forget that our greatest gift from God is God Himself. It isn't money or wealth or good health or anything earthly for that matter. Like when Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" it's not that when we delight in the Lord, He'll give us what we want. Think about it. When you delight yourself in the Lord, your heart's desire is already the Lord Himself. That's what naturally happens. You can't possibly delight in the Lord when your heart's desire is elsewhere. Delight in the Lord, and you'll get the Lord.
Just as children can delight themselves in their parents, we too can delight ourselves in our Heavenly Father. And just as the child can get the gift of the givers themselves, we get the gift of the ultimate Giver Himself. The kingdom of God is God Himself.
And the truth is that He longs to bless His children, He loves to give them gifts. He loves to pour Himself out over us. Jesus, after His short speech, simply lays His hands on the children, and blesses them. Jesus wanted to do this the moment He saw them, which was why He felt indignant when the disciples stopped them, and told them to let the children come to Him, to not hinder them. Jesus wanted to bless them. God just as much wants to bless us today, since and IF we are His children.
If we are not His children, then we don't get it in on this. If you, the reader, are not in a relationship with Him now, please, let Him adopt you as His own now. He died and resurrected so that He could adopt you, despite your sin. He knows us inside out, and yet, He still CHOOSES to adopt us. There is no greater love than this.
Submit and delight yourself to God, and we will receive the God that longs to bless us.
-simon
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