Lessons About Little People And Big People Series

Introduction:

A. One day, a 3 year-old girl named Charlotte received a certificate of achievement following her last swimming lesson.

1. When her dad came home from work that evening, her mom handed her dad the certificate and said to the little girl, “Charlotte, would you like to tell your daddy what this is?”

2. 3 year-old Charlotte thought for a moment, then with her proudest, most confident voice she exclaimed, “Oh, Daddy, that is my terrificate!”

B. Don’t you just love children?

1. They can say the funniest things and they also can say the profoundest things.

2. Every child should be given a “terrificate” and so should every adult.

3. God thinks that all of us are “terrific” because we are made in God’s image.

4. God values and loves every single person – no matter their age, or size, or bank accounts.

C. In today’s section from the Gospel of Mark, we are going to see that Jesus loves the little people and the big people.

1. Today, we will hear Jesus teaching some important lessons about little people and big people.

I. Lessons about Little People

A. Last week we noticed that Jesus had moved from teaching with His disciples privately, to teaching the crowds in public.

1. The public setting gave the Pharisees an opportunity to question Jesus and try to trap Him.

2. The public setting also gave mothers an opportunity to bring their children to Jesus to be blessed by Him.

3. As we will see, it seems that Murphy’s Law ruled everything the disciples said and did.

a. If anything could be said that was wrong, they would say it, and if anything could be done wrong, they would do it.

b. Both blunders are illustrated when mothers brought their children to Jesus for blessing.

B. Mark wrote: 13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. (Mk. 10:13)

1. Can you picture a long line of mothers and children lined up to be blessed by Jesus?

a. We see this kind of thing happen at Christmas time with the mall Santa or when politicians are campaigning.

b. The persistence of these mothers who brought their children to Jesus is inferred by Mark’s verb tense that means that they “kept on bringing their children” to Jesus.

2. According to the custom at the time of Jesus, mothers made sure their children were blessed by a distinguished rabbi after their first birthday.

3. Although the word Mark used for “children” can include an age range from one to twelve, Mark’s later reference to Jesus taking them into His arms suggests the children were young.

C. The apostles didn’t like what was happening and tried to put it to an end.

1. Mark says that the disciples rebuked them – meaning they rebuked the mothers.

2. They saw these moms and their children as interfering with Jesus’ important work of teaching.

3. Their motives may have been good and right, but their feelings and conclusions were wrong.

4. Despite the fact that they have been with Jesus more than two years now, they still had not caught the heart and spirit of Jesus.

5. Even after Jesus’ recent words about receiving a little child was a way of receiving Him and His Father, they still didn’t get it (Mk. 9:36-37).

D. When Jesus saw that they were preventing the mothers from approaching Him, He was greatly displeased.

1. Mark wrote: 14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mk. 10:14-15)

2. Mark says that Jesus was “indignant” – what they were doing angered Him and Jesus gave them a stern reprimand.

3. Jesus’ statement about children teaches us that children are innocent in God’s eyes and are automatically a part of God’s kingdom.

a. There will be a time when the guilt of their sin begins to be held against them and at that time they must experience the new birth in order to be a part of God’s kingdom.

4. Jesus’ main point is that adults must have spirits like children in order to enter God’s kingdom.

a. Those with a childlike nature are the ones who can enter the kingdom through the new birth.

b. Humility, obedience, and trust are natural traits of children and must be cultivated by adults.

c. People with haughty spirits and hardened hearts cannot enter God’s kingdom.

d. While children should look to adults and follow their example, there are also ways that adults should follow the example of children.