This
passage, along with a couple others, is the source of that tender image we’ve
all probably seen where Jesus is sitting down and he is surrounded by children
and he has one or two on his knee. He’s smiling and they're smiling. It's such a wonderful image. That
image of Jesus sitting, surrounded by joyful children is sweet and tender, all
on its own. But, according to this passage, that image is also an image of
the God’s kingdom.
We’re told people were bringing their infants for Jesus to touch. Luke uses two different words in this passage, one means infants and the other means little children. So, we can think of this group of children as a mixture of infants and young children. Their parents are bringing them so Jesus can bless them. In Matthew and Mark’s gospels, we are told he was blessing them and praying for them. So, that’s the situation. People are bringing their children for Jesus to bless and it’s at this point the disciples step in and try to stop them.
We’re not told why the disciples try to stop these parents from bringing their children to Jesus. To my mind it was something like, “Don’t bother the teacher. He’s doing this important work teaching about God’s kingdom. He doesn’t have time to be distracted by a bunch of children.” And Jesus basically turns around and says, these little humans are the very embodiment of the kingdom I have been sent to proclaim. “Let the little children come to me, do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”
Jesus says two things in that statement. 1) He says: Don’t prevent the children from coming to me. 2) He says: The kingdom of God belongs to those like them, to those who are like children. The disciples seem to think the children are a distraction, that they are in the way of the important work of proclaiming the kingdom of God. And Jesus basically says, these children are the very image of God’s kingdom. And then, he drives the point home by saying: “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
So, Jesus holds these children up as a model. If we want to enter the kingdom, take a lesson from little children. Become like them, in some way. So, what is it about children that Jesus is holding up as a model for us? That’s the question that this text brings up. We’re told to receive God’s kingdom as a child, but we’re not told exactly what that means. We have to interpret that statement. So, what are the child-like characteristics that Jesus is holding up for us to model? The key to interpreting this passage is the word "receive" (we are to receive the kingdom as a little child).
Here’s one way to think about it. Ultimately, because God is the very ground of existence, everything we have is given to us by God. God gives and we receive. That’s the situation. In the verses right before today’s passage, right before these children come up to Jesus, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. If you remember, both the Pharisee and the tax collector are praying. The Pharisee thanks God that he is better than the tax collector. Basically, his prayer is, “Thank God, I’m not like him.” The tax collector, on the other hand, simply confesses he is a sinner and asks for mercy. And the take away is that the Pharisee thinks the kingdom is owed to him. In his mind, he is righteous and so the kingdom is where he belongs. The tax collector, on the other hand, understands the grace he is looking for can only be given. All the tax collector can do is receive the kingdom, by grace. That’s the backdrop for this passage.
As soon as Jesus finishes the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, we have this passage with the children. These children who have gathered around Jesus, like all children, are really only in a position to receive. Everything is given to them. When we were children, everything was given to us. All we could do was receive what was given.
So, for instance, we come into this world not knowing a thing, really. It’s true that each individual child has their own little characteristics that are their own, but other than that we come into this world as a kind of blank slate. So much of childhood is learning about this world. Children ask a lot of “Why?” questions. If you ever what to learn how much you don’t know, just hang out with a child who asks a lot of “Why?” questions. “Hey, why is water wet?” Um, I really don’t know. It just is, I guess.
We don’t come into the world knowing much. We have to learn everything. And so, because that is the way we come into this world, there is a certain amount of innocence and receptivity to the child’s mind. When you're around children you realize you have to be careful what you say. If I tell a child something, there is a good chance they're going to trust what I tell them. They trust that as an adult, I should know what I’m talking about.
Children receive what they are told as the truth. Now, as we get older, we’re not as gullible and that’s a good thing. But that adult tendency to question what we are told can also get in the way. Going back to the passage, Jesus will often say things that he means for us to simply trust what he’s saying. Today’s passage is a perfect example. He says, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Well, how do we find out if that’s true? We can only trust he is telling us the truth and then do what he says, only then will we know. This is one of the mysteries of the faith. If we want to know, we must first have some faith.
Abraham is such a good example of this. God says, "Abraham, I want you to leave your home and go to a land I will show you, and if you do that, I will bless you." Well, how is Abraham supposed to know if that’s true? He simply has to trust God, pack his bags, and get going. There’s no other way. In this sense, Abraham is exhibiting this child-like quality of trust-which is an image of faith. Abraham, like a child, simply receives what God says and then acts on it.
If we want to know faith, we have to have faith. That sounds backwards. It is so tempting to think, "I will trust God once I learn what it is all about. Once I have all my questions answered, I will have faith." But, of course, it doesn’t work that way. We can never bypass faith. No matter how much we learn, no matter how many questions we find answers to, no matter how deep our faith goes-we will still have to get up every morning and like a child trust our heavenly Father for that day. There’s just no way around that. The child who get up in the morning praying to her Father in heaven is expressing the same faith that the mature Christian expresses when they get out of bed pray. In spite of the fact one knows more than the other, they both express the same trust, the same faith.
Jesus is holding up this child-like trust, as an example of faith. The innocent way that a child will simply believe what they’re told, is instructive for us. This is simple faith, and no matter how much we learn, when it comes down to it, we have to have simple faith. But, more than simple faith, Jesus is holding up child-like dependence.
Little children receive everything from their parents, no questions asked. They receive their food, shelter, clothing, their knowledge, their protection. Everything comes from their parents, and it never occurs to the little child to ask if they deserve it, or if they need to work for it. They simply receive what their mother and father give them. When we get older, things become so much more complicated-in this world.
And yet, when it comes to God, the situation is exactly the same. This is a basic truth, so fundamental to our faith, that we are wholly dependent on God. We say that God is our Creator, God is our Redeemer, God is our Sustainer-all of that, every bit of that, is given. We can't manipulate God. We can't impress God with our goodness, as if God should owe us something. We can't force God to do anything. We can’t make God create us, we can’t make God redeem us, we can’t make God sustain us. All we can do is receive what God, graciously and for no other reason than God’s own love, gives us. God gives and all we can do is receive.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
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