Get Out of the Way!
God looks at children with a tenderness that we adults usually lack. It’s not that adults don’t love kids, but today’s passage illustrates the way our minds are shaped by the worlds as we grow up. Jesus looks on the children and doesn’t see a “distraction from important grown-up work”, he sees the key of the Kingdom of God shining forth from these little ones and he calls all of us to pay attention to it.
Children are blessed by Jesus on many occasions. He heals them, he talks to their parents about them, and of course, in our main passage today, he clears the "grown-ups” out of the way so he can show them a better example of people ready for the Kingdom of God - little children!
J & R Lamb, Library of Congress, Washington, Drawing
Anchor Texts:
Mark 10:13-16 ESVUK - Let the Children Come to Me
Psalm 8 ESVUK - How Majestic Is Your Name
The Psalm about isn’t specifically about kids, but there is one line in it worth pondering in the context of the rest of the Psalm.: “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” It’s a strange verse, and before moving on in this blog, spend some time thinking about what this verse might mean.
Questions to Ponder:
Why do you think the disciples wanted to stop the little ones from getting to Jesus?
Do you think this passage relates to dedicating your children in a church worship service? Why or why not?
Jesus gets angry and rebukes the disciples (it says he is “filled with indignation”) - does this fit with your mental image of Jesus? How does a “passionate” and even angry Jesus fill out our understanding of him as our Lord?
If you could bring somebody, young or old, to meet Jesus so he could bless them / heal them etc. who would it be?
How can you “bring that person to Jesus” today?
The Theme in Video:
This kids video highlights Jesus on many occasions showing how much he cared for little ones.
Why not try to get the verses we’re studying memorized? This simple kids song is beautiful and it will get stuck in your head! The scripture is from Matthew’s gospel but the story is the same! While you think of it, come by the church office and get this CD out of the church library for your kids!
The Theme in Art:
This drawing (I honestly don’t know if this is a professional artist or an amateur) caught my attention because there are a couple elements that were unexpected to me. Do you see anything that catches your eye? I’ll share a few thoughts below.
Com Unto Me, Little Children - William Johnson, Ca. 1944, Watercolour
First, I see a few adults - and usually I don’t picture adults close to Jesus in this scene and if I do picture them, they are either the parents standing far off, or the scowling disciples standing reluctantly aside. Yet, in this painting, there are adults right up next to Jesus with the kids who are clearly interested in Jesus in the same way that the kids are. One of them is even kneeling before Jesus.
I also noticed how tall Jesus is in this painting. He’s quite literally larger-than-life. Most prominent are his hands. In our series on Signs and miracles we have seen how important it was to Jesus to reach out and touch many of the people that he healed, and in our passage today again we see Jesus prioritizing “touching the children while he blesses them.