Children in the Kingdom

This morning, we continue in a section of Mark in which Jesus lays out the morality of the kingdom. We have seen the priorities of the kingdom – to be first you must be last. We’ve seen the citizens of the kingdom. Those who are dedicated to Christ are citizens, while those who are deceptive or disobedient are rejected. Then, last week, we saw the authentic meaning of marriage in the kingdom. Marriage is a picture of God’s covenant with his people and Christ’s love for his church. This morning, we move on to the kingdom’s view of children, and by extension, all who are lowly. To see that, let’s read Mark 10:13-16 together. From this text, see two points: The Blessing of Children and Believing like a Child.

First, from verses 13 and 14, see the blessing of children. Mark tells us that, at some point in Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, the crowds began to bring him their children. The intention is obvious and reasonable: they want a holy man to bless their children. Some of this may have been superstition – if Jesus touched their children, they would be rich and famous someday. But, certainly, it was also motivated by faith that Jesus could and would bless their lives. The disciples, however, were having none of it, so we are told, “the disciples rebuked them.” The Greek word used for “rebuke” there is the same word used to speak of Jesus rebuking demons and the storm. It is intended to be corrective and communicate disapproval. So, they might have said to the parents, “How dare you bring these rug-rats to Jesus and interrupt his important ministry. Can’t you at least clean them up a bit before getting them near the master? Can’t you keep those hooligans quiet – the master is teaching!” As I explained a few weeks ago, this attitude towards children was typical of that day. The Jews saw children as incomplete humans who needed to be sternly disciplined so they would not humiliate their parents as adults. We could also understand it because of the importance of Jesus’s ministry. Even at a basic level, to the disciples, Jesus’s ministry was more important than ministering to little snot-nosed kids. He regularly exorcized demons, brought sight to the blind, and raised the dead. Why waste time playing with children? Beyond that, Jesus is the Messiah. He is not just any king. He is the king of kings. And, he is on his way to Jerusalem to, in their minds, take the throne of David, bring the various Jewish factions into line, and drive away the Romans. Why would he stop to pray over children who wouldn’t even remember this day?

Jesus, however, did not take kindly to their efforts. In verse 14 it says that he was “indignant” at what he saw of them. This word means that Jesus was moved with anger towards his disciples. There are three reasons for Jesus’ indignation. First, Jesus is angry because his disciples fail to recognize the blessing that children are in God’s kingdom. The Bible is shot through with the idea that children are a blessing from God and evidence of his favor. In fact, in the OT, children are the measure of whether God is blessing you or not. Genesis 1:28 says of the first man and woman, “God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” This is the first command ever given in the Bible, and it is a command of blessing – a command to have babies. This command is preceded by God’s blessing, meaning that God, as the author of life, enables humans to be fruitful and multiply. We see this in the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12. Abraham was old and his wife was barren, and God promises a blessing. That blessing is always understood (and later literally realized) to be an abundance of descendants. Conversely, the inability to conceive was seen as a curse. Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah all viewed their barrenness as a curse, and God ultimately blessed all of them so that they could be fruitful. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 127:3-5, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” Recognize that the Bible has no concern for family planning or population control. Children are not a burden in Scripture. Not once does it ever say that about any child – not even Ishmael or Esau. Children are a blessing, and our church and our culture should see them as such. It does not matter the circumstances in which they were conceived or the home that they were born into – children are a blessing from God.

Children are also viewed as the greatest, most important vocation for a father and mother. Deut. 6:7 charges parents, “You shall teach [the commandments] 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.”  Prov. 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Besides the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship of parent to child is the most important earthly relationship we have.

Jesus is also indignant because the disciples continued to be dull about the kingdom of God. Just a few verses back, in chapter 9, verse 37, Jesus had already used the example of a child to set the priorities of the kingdom. He told his disciples there, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” He’d also told them, in verse 42, “whoever causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea.” Now, here they are, angrily driving children away from Jesus. Throughout the NT we find this consistent measure of whether someone is living for Christ. One sure way to judge that is by how you treat the lowly. How do you treat children? Are they a burden? Do they get in the way of your life-goals? Do they hinder your pursuit of pleasure and wealth and career? What about us as a church? Do we think it is better to segregate kids out of the sanctuary so the adults can listen to the sermon in peace? Do we fuss over the cost of children’s ministry and VBS? Do we complain about the dings and scratches left by rambunctious kids? Jesus warns us in his rebuke of his disciples – the kingdom of God is for such as these.

The third reason for Jesus’ indignation leads me to my second point: Believing like a Child. In verse 15, Jesus uses children as an analogy for saving faith. He says, “You will not enter the kingdom of God unless you receive it like a child.” There is a good deal of debate and much misunderstanding about what exactly Jesus means here. What is it about a child that he is extolling here? Is it their innocence, their trustfulness, their dependence? Remember, the Bible does not have the romantic view of children that we do. It does not view them as innocent (Psalm 51 says that we are conceived in sin). I also don’t think that Jesus has in mind a “child-like faith.” Remember, it is not children who are coming to Jesus of their own volition. Parents are bringing them. Besides that, these are very likely toddlers and infants, as we read in verse 16 that Jesus took them in his arms. No, I think the point of analogy is in a child’s vulnerability and helplessness. A child has nothing to offer – no talent, no money, no knowledge or wisdom. A child is all burden, all need. In this way, a child is the exact opposite of the man we will see next week: the rich young ruler. He had all the riches of the world, and yet he could not earn heaven. A child, on the other hand, has nothing to bring. He simply receives the blessing of Jesus. So, if you would enter the kingdom, you must come as a child. As the hymn, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me”, says, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”

So, friend, if you would enter the kingdom of God, you must come with nothing and believe in God for everything. The promise of the Gospel is that, if you will come with your need, Jesus will give you abundant, everlasting life.

Brothers and sisters, may we have the same values as Christ – loving the lowly and despised, receiving those who have nothing to bring but burden. This is the way of the kingdom.