#42 – Come Like A Child Series

#42 – Come Like a Child

Series: Mark

Chuck Sligh

March 21, 2021

TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 10:13. READING: Psalm 139 and Mark 10:13-16.

INTRODUCTION

You gotta’ love kids! They’re a lot of work and sometimes frustrating, but man, are they a hoot!

Illus. – Asked to tell a Bible story in their own words, here are some gems from some kids:

• One wrote, “The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.”

• Another, “The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.”

• A little girl wrote, “Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.”

Illus. – Someone asked another group of kids some questions about love and marriage. – Here are some of the questions and my favorite answers from this group of kids:

• To the question, “How does a person decide to marry?”, Allen, age 10 said, “You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.”

• When asked “When is the proper age to get married?”, Freddie, age 10, said, “No age is good to get married at....You got to be a fool to get married!”

• Asked “How can someone tell if people are married?”—Derrick, age 8, said: “You might have to guess based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.”

We love kids in the church because the Bible teaches us to love kids. That was not the case outside of the Judeo-Christian world. In many societies, infanticide was neither condemned nor uncommon. Wikipedia says, “Now universally illegal, infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children.”

Illus. – For instance, a papyrus letter to his expectant wife, Alis, dated in 1 B.C., written by a man named Hilarion (which ironically means “cheerful”) instructs her: “If it is a male child let it [live]; if it is female, cast it out.”

All through the Bible, both before Christ and after, children are seen as a blessing. Yet even in Jewish society with clear Old Testament regard for children, they were mostly seen for their eventual contribution to the family’s productivity and income when they grew older. The time from birth to adulthood was often viewed as an unavoidable phase to get through until children could become useful to the family.

Well, in today’s text, we’ll see how Jesus elevated the dignity and intrinsic value of children. He loves them for what they are and what they teach us. This is one of my favorite scriptures in all the Bible, so let’s jump right in…

I. IN VERSE 13, THE APOSTLES SHOW A DISREGARD FOR CHILDREN. – “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them; but his disciples rebuked those who brought them.”

Mark tells us that some parents brought their children to Jesus. The Greek word for “young children” here is paidía, which was used for children from babies to preteens.

The parents brought them to Jesus so that He might “touch” them. Now touching children has bad connotations today, but “touching” here referred to laying hands on the children to bless them, as is seen later in verse 16 where Jesus does this very thing. Lying hands on children was a Jewish custom going all the way back to the time of the patriarchs in Genesis when fathers laid hands on their sons to bless them. What the parents wanted here was all very proper, traditional and wonderful.

But the disciples would have none of it! They rebuked those who brought them. Why?

• One reason may have been to protect Jesus. They knew He was under pressure, and they were constantly overwhelmed by large crowds. But that doesn’t explain Jesus’ sharp reaction in the verses that follow.

• Another explanation that is offered is that little children were of little importance to the disciples since they help further their cause in any way. If so, in the disciples’ minds they would be a waste of Jesus’ time. In that case, the disciples had a utilitarian approach to people: the idea of placing value on people on the basis of what they can do to help you.

• A third possibility is that this was another manifestation of the exclusivism and elitism we saw in Mark 9:38 where they forbade an exorcist from casting out demons in Jesus’ name.

Regardless of their reason, it backfired on them….

II. IN VERSE 14, JESUS’ SHOWS HIS LOVE FOR CHILDREN. – “But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, ‘Suffer [or “allow”] the little children come unto me, and forbid them not, for the kingdom of God of such is the kingdom of God [or literally, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”]