Becoming Like A Child

Becoming Like a Child

Luke 9:46-48

Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

Luke 9:46 Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be

the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts, took a

child and had him stand by His side, 48 and He said to them, “Whoever receives

this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent

Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

In Luke’s gospel chapter 9 verses 46 to 48, we have Jesus saying something about

children. His disciples were arguing who would be the greatest and the inference is who

would be the greatest in heaven. Their thinking was part of the culture of the day.

People in Jesus day believed that there was a hierarchy in heaven. They also treated their

children differently than we do today.

To illustrate what Jesus was saying to them or should I say trying to teach them, he

brought a child into their circle. He then said, receive this child as you would receive

me. To unpack the statement, we have to quickly look at the culture of the day. When

high officials or dignitaries entered the town, the children of the town would flock

around the person. They were curious about what was happening and who this official

was. That person would come in on a fancy horse or maybe a donkey, but they would

be dressed in extremely nice clothing and have lots of fancy jewelry. This would pique

the interest of the children because they didn’t see that in their towns. The common

person was poor and was lucky if they had one set of clothing, and was considered well off

if they had two sets of clothing.

Let’s say that Jesus was countercultural. Every scholar believes that. Why? All you have

to do is look at what Jesus did and said. In this case, Jesus is saying that children are just

as important as adults and their entry into the kingdom of heaven will occur. This is

significant because in Jesus day, infants and young children's mortality rate was pretty

high. The survival rate of children into adulthood was low, and it’s hard for us to

conceive that because in today’s world, especially in the United States and other

technological countries, we don’t have that problem.

Parents loved and cared for their children. Children are a blessing from God and the

people in Jesus’ day treated their children as blessings from God, however, there were

certain cultural norms about children. For example, when an official or dignitary was

invited into a house for a meal, the child was sent outside to play. The host and hostess

did not want the children to bother the guest. Furthermore, the children would not be

interested in the discussion of the adults. They would get bored, and those of us who

have had children or have dealt with nieces and nephews know that young children get

very agitated when they're bored. Children always want to be doing something because

they’re active.

So, the anti-cultural part for Jesus was telling his disciples that children are important.

This theme shows up several times in all the Gospels. Now there’s another aspect that

we should take a look at. Children learn from their parents and from the environment

that they are living in. Children learn to hate other people through watching their

parents' actions and listening to their words. The other way children learn is that they

see what their culture is all about. They see how their neighbors react to each other.

They see how older children react and what they say and what they do. So, children are

like a sponge that just want to soak up all the knowledge that they can, and then their

attitudes through life come from the soaking of that information.

Children also can be considered a clean slate because they can come to understand that

their words and actions are wrong and can change the way they act and what they say a

lot quicker than adults can. So when Jesus says to his disciples you have to become like

children, he’s telling them they have to clean out their mind of all the things that they

were taught religiously and learn Jesus' interpretation.

The way to live by God’s law was determined by the Pharisees and religious leaders of

Jesus day. History tells us that a lot of the laws that the Pharisees created had nothing

to do with the Bible. The laws of God, but rather laws were created to keep them in

power and to bring wealth to them. If you want to truly please God and you want to