Bring the Children and Sinners to Me
Notes
Transcript
· INTRODUCTION: This last weekend I had the unique chance of preaching my grandmother’s funeral. As I prepared for it, I kept thinking about how amazingly loved I always felt getting a hug from her. Why?
o Well, my Grandma, who was only about 4’11 used to give the biggest hugs. It didn’t matter what else was going on, in those moments, it was SO CLEAR that her attention was on me.
o There was an intentionality to it! Intentionality is a big thing in our passage tonight.
§ There are many things that I love about Mark 10:13-16, but one of the things that has been really hitting me is the intentionality that Jesus shows in this passage.
· These children are SO IMPORTANT TO HIM! He INTENTIONALLY LOVES EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!
· Yet at the same time, I want to be clear, there is so much more going on than just a story where Jesus plays with kids!
o This passage I really believe, directly reflects the realities of salvation and our NEED for a savior!
· BODY: As we look at this passage, I want to ask us two questions. First, “What holds us back from God?”
o Secondly, “How do we hold others back from God?”
§ As we go through this passage, I want to let these two questions challenge us and really let the Holy Spirit speak to us in these areas.
§ I think sometimes we read Mark 10:13-16 and we almost skip over it and write it off as, “What a nice story and wow, these disciples are fools!”
· But, there’s a lot more going on here!
· This passage starts off with Mark saying, “And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.”
o Jesus has been teaching in Judea and He has just been teaching about divorce. The Pharisees are trying by this time to essentially trap him.
§ Their thought is that maybe they can ask a hard question that confuses Jesus and then the crowds will STOP FOLLOWING HIM!
o Jesus though doesn’t make a mistake! Instead, this plan totally backfires! Instead of driving people away from Jesus, the families begin to bring their children to Jesus!
§ Why do they do this?
· Presumably they do this because of WHO JESUS IS! It’s a sign of faith truthfully!
· The parents have heard of his healings, have heard his teachings and want their kids with him!
o How do the disciples react? They get angry! Why? Because they don’t want anyone to trouble Jesus! To them, Jesus is far too important for these children.
§ They seem to think that they know more than Jesus here and that they know what it is that Jesus needs!
· They are incorrect of course.
· But, they still want to be the “gatekeepers” who decide who meets Jesus or doesn’t.
o This is really easy to look at and almost mock. But, do we think about the fact that WE DO THE SAME THING? We do the same thing!
§ Think about it!
§ We look at people in our lives, or around the world and say, “well, this is HOPELESS! WE MIGHT AS WELL JUST QUIT! IT ISN’T WORTH IT! THEY WON’T HEAR ABOUT JESUS! THEY WON’T BE INTERESTED!”
· Trinidad and Tobago- Ronald story- “No way he is interested!” But guess what, he was! God was at work!
· We do this all the time! Intentioanlly and unintentionally we write people off as unreachable, or even unworthy of the gospel!
· In verse 14 we see just how different Jesus is. “14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
o Jesus “becomes indignant.”
§ The other way to translate this word, “ἠγανάκτησεν” is “ANGRY.”
· JESUS IS ANGRY THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO STOP THE CHILDREN FROM COMING TO HIM!
· Why is Jesus angry? BECAUSE EVERYONE CAN COME TO JESUS! NO ONE IS TOO FAR FROM HIM!
o There is no one who is too far gone, too much of a sinner, too deep in unbelief to repent and come to Jesus!
§ Just think of the Samaritan woman at the well! In John 4 we see her story recorded.
· She is living in sin, the world judges her and she is rejected; seen as TOO FAR GONE!
o But, in the eyes of Jesus? She’s loved and is going to be saved!
o In the same way, we are all sinners, and the only way that we can be saved is through REPENTANCE AND FAITH IN JESUS! It isn’t through our good works, it isn’t through mentally knowing who Jesus is; it’s only through REPENTANCE AND FAITH!
· No one is too far gone and no one is “an inconvenience to God.”
o In fact, the very reality of the children coming to Jesus in many ways reflects the basic truths of the gospel!
o Danny Akin points out three parallels between these children and our very situation!
§ First, we come to Jesus helpless and hopeful!
· The children are filled with hope! But at the same time, they are truthfully helpless!
o They can’t protect themselves, or provide for themselves! Yet, they are HOPEFUL!
§ They have genuine belief!
· In the same way, we are helpless in escaping our sin, BUT, we have HOPE! We have HOPE BECAUSE OF JESUS!
o It’s in our weakness and our need that we see Jesus made most clear!
§ Think about the very basics of the gospel (give gospel- G,M,JC,SALVATION)
· We see Jesus most clearly when we are convicted of our very own HELPLESSNESS!
§ Secondly, Akin suggests that we come to Jesus trusting and dependent.
· Just as a child is DEPENDENT upon their parent or guardian for provision and care and therefore must trust them, we have to do the same!
o The only way for us to be saved is through Jesus! Our eternal lives are full of TRUST AND DEPENDENCE!
o That’s a part of faith and belief after all! We are TRUSTING JESUS TO SAVE US!
§ We are throwing down our own abilities and any thought that we have about our own ability to save ourselves!
· If we still think that we can be saved from our sins by ourselves, then truly, our FAITH IS NOT in Jesus!
o That may sound harsh, but it’s true! We can’t be “half in” with Jesus! We must be ALL-IN; totally dependent and trusting just like these children.
§ Finally, Akin points out that in verse 16 we come to Jesus for affection and blessing.
· Verse 16 says, “And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”
· Jesus takes these children and he BLESSES THEM!
o As Akin points out, what he does is so powerful! He attaches a high value to their intrinsic worth just for being made in the image of God!
§ It has nothing to do with what they’ve done, what they could do, or what someone could get from them!
§ Not only did Jesus BLESS THESE CHILDREN, HE LIVED IT OUT BY GOING TO THE CROSS AND OFFERING HIS LIFE FOR THESE VERY CHILDREN!
· WHAT LOVE!
· In life, we want that type of AGAPE, ALL OUT, TOTALLY CONSUMING, PERFECT love! Literally, the word for pick up could be translated as, “to hug someone.”
o We want that type of tender affection don’t we?
o So how wonderful is it that Jesus literally is recorded as sitting there hugging children!
§ These children couldn’t give him anything; seemingly there was no benefit. Yet, Jesus tenderly loved them!
§ He took the time to hug and bless them, showing them each their value in the eyes of God.
· More than that, he showed the crowd, and each of us, that EVERY SINGLE PERSON, REGARDLESS OF BACKGROUND MATTERS!
§ This week I was rereading a book called Until Every Child Is Home, which is a book on why the Church should care about orphans.
· Here’s one of the central themes; which comes directly from Ephesians 1; We each were orphans before we were adopted by GOD!
· As we look at Mark 10, we have to understand that in a very real sense, WE ARE THESE CHILDREN!
o We come helpless and in need of everything. Jesus not only gives us that; He blesses us and SENDS US ON OUR WAY!
§ In Mark 10, He sends the children back to their parents. For us, we see that we are SENT OUT in Matthew 28:18-20 to BRING THE NEWS OF JESUS TO OUR WORLD!
· As we wrap up, let me revisit those first two questions we asked today. We asked, “What holds us back from God?” and “How do we hold others back from God?”
o As we’ve walked through this passage, I hope we’ve seen how these children were genuinely LOVED BY JESUS and also how this is not just about one day where some children came to Jesus.
§ So for us, I just want to boil this down into 2 different parts, as reflected by those questions.
§ First, what holds us back from God?
· What holds you back from running to our SAVIOR AND being LOVED BY HIM?
· Is it a person, or a perception? Is it a fear? Is it a feeling that we can fix this ourselves if we just try a little harder? What holds us back from running to Jesus in faith and in repentance?
o On the other hand, how do we hold others back from God?
§ I know that sounds weird, but I want to challenge us to check our hearts and our attitudes towards those around us. Is there someone we have chosen not to share the gospel with because of their life?
· Is there someone we have chosen to ignore, or to not fellowship with because of something that was said or done? It could even be as simple and innocent as thinking, “This person would have no interest in God.”
o All of those things, regardless of the motives, accomplish the same thing unfortunately.
o They hold people back from God!
§ So I want to challenge us today as Michael plays this last song, to take a few minutes and just to search our hearts about these two questions.
§ If there’s something you need to repent of, I want to encourage you to RUN TO OUR LOVING SAVIOR! TRULY, JESUS IS OUR LOVING SAVIOR!
· Let’s pray.