Let the Children Come

A mother lifts her toddler onto her hip. A father holds a small hand tight. They push through the crowd towards Jesus. And then a disciple steps in front of them and says, not now.

Jesus has left Galilee behind. He's travelling south, into the region of Judea and across the Jordan, on the way that will lead him to Jerusalem. Wherever he goes, crowds gather, and as usual he teaches them. There are serious conversations going on. Religious experts have come with hard questions to test him. His disciples are discussing what Jesus means, asking him questions in private. These are busy, important days. And into the middle of all this, people start bringing their children.

They aren't bringing them to be taught or tested. Mark says they want Jesus to touch them. Picture it: mothers and fathers, grandparents too perhaps, carrying babies wrapped in cloth, leading little ones who are tired from the walk, older brothers and sisters tagging along. Some of the children are shy and hide behind their parents. Some are wriggling to get down. All they want is for this teacher everyone is talking about to lay his hands on their children and bless them.

But the disciples see them coming, and they step in. They rebuke the people. You can imagine how it sounded: not now, take them away, the Master is busy. Maybe they thought they were protecting Jesus. Maybe they thought children were a distraction from the real work. Whatever their reasons, the parents are turned back, and the children with them. In the disciples' minds, the important people are the grown-ups with the serious questions.

And Jesus sees it. Mark tells us something striking here: Jesus is indignant. He's not mildly annoyed. He's displeased with his own disciples. “Let the little children come to me,” he says. “Don't stop them. The kingdom of God belongs to people like these.” And then he goes further. “I tell you the truth: anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” The disciples have just been told that the children they turned away are the very picture of how to come to God.

What does it mean to receive the kingdom like a child? Christians have given many answers. Children trust. They know they need help. They don't pretend they've earned the gifts they're given. They just hold out their hands. And then Jesus does exactly what the parents had asked, and more. He takes the children up in his arms. He puts his hands on them, one after another. And he blesses them. No child is left out. Nobody is too small, too young, or too noisy for Jesus.

Placing hands on someone to bless them was a very old custom in Israel. In Genesis, when the aged Jacob blesses his grandsons, Joseph's two boys Ephraim and Manasseh, he stretches out his hands and lays them on their heads. Parents in Jesus' day would have known that story well. When they asked Jesus to touch their children, they were asking for something ancient and precious: God's favour spoken over their sons and daughters.

Let the Children Come. You'll find it in Mark chapter 10, verses 13 to 16. The disciples thought children could wait. Jesus said they were the ones to learn from. So here's a question to carry with you. What would it look like for you to come to Jesus with open hands, just like a child?