Let the Children Come to Me
During my time in Nicaragua on a mission trip to bring the Gospel into the schools, I saw thousands of children. I saw their excitement to see new people, to feel special, to see our performances, and to hear our message. The children were so willing to listen, to respond, and to learn everything there was to know about what we were presenting to them. I imagined then as I imagine now that children have not changed much since Jesus’ time…Same excitement, same willingness to listen and learn.
Matthew 18:2-3
2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them
3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus called to the children and was concerned with them. Jesus says to the disciples, when they are asking about who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, that they must change and become like a child. What does this mean exactly? What about children do the disciples (and us, by extension) need to emulate?
Matthew 18:4
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Humility! Jesus wants us to not think of ourselves first but to think of others as more important.
Children are cared for by their parents for almost all of their needs. There is very little a child can do without being enabled by their parents. Therefore, they have no problem with pride. Children are thankful for what they are given and do not take credit for what they have or what they can do with it. In fact, parents often have to instill a sense of pride and self-worth in children. Children are always eager to credit their parents for their good looks, talents, and most prized possessions.
Matthew 18:5-6
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Jesus gives us instruction on children and how we should treat them. However, I see some symbolism in these verses, because it makes me think about how Christians should act. The little ones could be us, those who believe in Jesus with humility. Anyone who causes us to sin would be better serving God on the bottom of the ocean dead and bloated.
When Christians receive one another, they are receiving Jesus.
Mark 10:13-16
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 and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
We see how being like a child gives one entrance into the Kingdom. In the Gospel of Matthew it was humility, but in Mark it is something else. What makes children so favored?
I think it is the excitement, faithful, and inquisitive nature of children that makes them so favored in the Kingdom. Children are so ready to believe. They have so many questions and are always looking for more information. Children have the inquisitive nature that every Christian should have about God and His love.
Every Christian should be seeking new information, asking questions, and have the faith to believe in God with everything they have.
There is a saying about faith and children that I heard from a movie:
Faith is like a glass of water. When you are a child, the glass is small and easy to fill. As a child grows, the glass becomes bigger and the same amount of water doesn’t fill the glass anymore.
I think it is that full glass of faith that all Christians should have, and that kind of faith is what gets us into the Kingdom of God. Fill up your glass of faith with the Bible, worship, and seeking after new understandings and new revelations from our God!
Photograph taken by Rick Butor.
