****Mark 10:13-16

(Mark 10:13–16 “13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.”

Mark 10:13–16 NRSV

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

The words to this hymn were written by Anna B. Warner in 1860 with the help of her sister, Susan. The hymn became a part of one of the best-selling novels of that day. The novel was written by Susan Warner and entitled Sav and Seal. In the novel, one of the characters, Mr. Linden, comforted Johnny Fax, a dying child, with the words of “Jesus Loves Me.” Throughout the years, this hymn has influenced children for Christ more than any other. The words are simple, but true.

Jesus loves me! This I know,

For the Bible tells me so,

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! He who died,

Heaven’s gate to open wide,

He will wash away my sin,

Let His little child come in.

May the Lord Jesus remind us all today how much He loves us! Jesus does not just say He loves us, but He shows that He loves us.

Jesus revealed the importance of children and the invitation to children. Children can experience the love of Jesus and they can be examples of genuine faith in Jesus. All of us need to have a child-like faith and trust in Jesus, and all of us need to receive Jesus as our Master and Lord and be saved from the wrath to come.

In this passage, we see some reasons why we know Jesus loves us.

I. Jesus’ call for the children. (vs. 13–15)

(A.) There’s an affectionate reception of the kids. (vs. 13–14)

“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”

Jesus had just finished a sermon on the home and the sanctity of marriage. Jesus had just preached about the importance of marriage and the family. Jesus is for marriage! One man married to one woman for life!

Then, the people begin to bring their little children to Jesus. It was common for people to bring their children to the priest so that they could pronounce a blessing on them.

They brought: The Greek tense implies repetition, meaning they kept on bringing.

Children: (paidion) implies young children and infants.

Jesus always had time for everyone, and that included the children. He affectionately received the kids.

A Good Word: Parents have a responsibility to bring their children to Jesus.

When you truly love children, you will see to it that they get to Jesus. When’s a good time to bring children to Jesus?

There’s a story told about a woman who came to her pastor and asked, “Pastor, how early should I start the serious spiritual training of my child?”

The pastor replied, “How old is the child?”

She answered, “Five.”

He replied, “Lady, you are five years too late.” That pastor could not have been more right. Jesus loves children and receives children, but the children must be brought to Jesus!

Former director of demographics for the SBC Foreign Missionary Board, Jim Slack, once gave the results of a Gallup survey: 19 out of 20 people who became Christians did so before the age of 25. At age 25, one in 10,000 will become believers; at age 35, 1 in 50,000; at age 45, 1 in 200,000; at age 55, 1 in 300,000; and at age 75, 1 in 700,000 people will become Christians.

Fact: 90% of all Southern Baptist missionaries were saved before the age of 11, and the average age of conversion is the age of 8 years old.

It matters what we do and when we do it.

Isaac Watts was saved at the age of 9. His hymns have lifted the hearts of millions.

Jonathan Edwards, whose clear testimony and dynamic preaching stirred all of New England for God, was converted when only 7.

Matthew Henry was brought to Christ at the age of 11, and through his many years of study of God’s word, he produced his well-known commentaries on the Holy Scriptures.

Thousands of other men and women have been brought to the foot of the cross when they were young and their whole lives dedicated to Jesus.

Children can come to know Jesus and should be brought to Jesus. When children are brought to Jesus, they have all their lives to live for the glory of the Son of God.

Dwight L. Moody once returned from a meeting and reported two and a half conversions. One person commented, “I suppose you mean two adults and one child.”

Moody replied, “No, I meant two children and one adult. The children can give their whole lives to God, but the adult has only half of his left to give.”

The people were bringing the children to Jesus and the disciples were rebuking the people.

Rebuked: means “to reprimand.” The imperfect tense suggests that the disciples were not having much success at keeping the people from bringing the children.

The disciples almost always missed the heart of Jesus and the mission of Jesus. R. Kent Hughes wrote, “Since Jesus was a lover of children, and since His Spirit dwells in us, we are very near the heart of Christ when we love children.”

Jesus not only saw what the disciples were doing, but He heard what they were saying. They were trying to hinder people from coming to Jesus.

John Phillips wrote, “The disciples thought that the Master was far too important to be bothered with small children. Jesus, by contrast, thought that small children were too important not to be brought to Him in their tender years.”

When Jesus saw what they were doing He became angry.

Greatly displeased: This phrase is made up of two Greek words which means “to grieve much.” The word means “to feel pain” or “to be indignant.”

Picture this, Jesus is drawing people to Himself and the disciples are trying to drive them away. There is a time that we need to get upset! Children today are being driven away from the things of God and the person of Jesus. No longer can a schoolteacher pray with their children or tell them about Jesus. The tragedy of divorce and broken homes are driving children away from Jesus.

A news article this week entitled, “Lesbian Moms a Growing U.S. Phenomenon,” shows exactly the direction children are being led. “I love my lesbian moms,” read a hand-lettered sign a teenager held up recently to motorists passing a county building in Portland, Oregon, where gay couples lined up to get marriage licenses. The message, prompted by the heated national debate over gay marriage, underscored a growing phenomenon—lesbian couples having babies and raising families.

According to the Family Pride Coalition, a national advocacy group for gay and lesbian families, some 9 million children in America have at least one gay parent, and one in five lesbian-couple households include a child under 18. “I wouldn’t call it a baby boom exactly. It has been steadily growing all along,” said Aimee Gelnaw, a lesbian mother of two and Executive Director of the coalition.

That’s the kind of trash that many kids are growing up in. These kids will not learn about Jesus from their gay parents. These gay partners are leading these kids to the same hell that they are heading to. It’s high time that the Church rise-up in righteous indignation and start bringing the children to Jesus.

Jesus tells His disciples that they are to let the little children come to Him. The King James version uses the term suffer (aphiemi) which means to permit or allow. In contrast to stopping the children, we are to encourage them and bring them. We are to do all in our power to bring children to Jesus.

Forbid: (koluo) means “to forbid, hinder, or prevent.”

Jesus affectionately loves the children and He affectionately receives the children. Verse 14 states, “for of such is the kingdom of God.”

Joel Williams, who did a word study of the book of Mark, here wrote, “The kingdom of God does not belong to those who have high standing and great influence in the world but to those who, like children, appear to be unimportant according to the world’s standards.”

Kids can be saved and used by Jesus, and they can have a personal relationship with Jesus. The church has a responsibility of bringing the children to Jesus.

In verses 13–14, we’ve seen that there’s an affectionate reception of the kids. Next, in verse 15, we see:

(B.) There’s an astonishing revelation about the kingdom. (vs. 15)

“Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

What does Jesus mean by this saying? First of all, He does not mean that if you are not saved as a child then you can never be saved! I’m living proof of that fact.

Assuredly means “certainly” and is used to call attention to what is about to be said. Jesus is saying, “Listen up!” All that Jesus said was important, but there are times when He placed greater emphasis and what was being said so that the listeners would be more aware.

Here’s a fact, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. We receive the kingdom of God by receiving the gift of God, which is salvation in and through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is talking about going to heaven—being born again and becoming citizens of the kingdom of God.

A.T Robertson wrote, “Jesus does not here say that children are in the kingdom of God because they are children.”

Children must be saved just as all Christians are, and all Christians must be saved like a little child.

What is this astonishing revelation about the kingdom? “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God as a little child?

To receive the kingdom as a child means to give up the pursuit for power and prestige in the world, and to come to God with recognition of one’s own helplessness.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “We enter God’s kingdom by faith, like little children: helpless, unable to save ourselves, totally dependent on the mercy and grace of God.”

R. Kent Hughes wrote, “Every single child in the world is absolutely, completely, totally, objectively, subjectively, existentially helpless! And so it is with every child who is born into the Kingdom of God. Children of the Kingdom enter it helpless, ones for whom everything must be done.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Someone has well said, “God’s kingdom is not gained by human achievement or merit; it must be received as God’s gift through simple trust by those who acknowledge their inability to gain it any other way.”

We are to receive the kingdom of God with a childlike faith and trust.

One day a little girl had gotten saved at a Vacation Bible School. At the conclusion, the little girl ran home, rushed into her father’s study, threw her arms around him and said, “Daddy, I am a Christian!”

The father said, “Well, I’m glad to hear that. When did you become a Christian?”

The little girl replied, “This morning, Daddy.”

The father had asked her to tell him what had occurred. The little girl said, “Oh, the teacher told us that Jesus Christ was there in the room, and that if we would receive Him, He would come in and live in our hearts and make us His own.”

The father said, “Well, go on. Tell me what else happened.”

The little girl said, “Why, I received Him and Jesus took me in.”

The father said, “But how do you know that when you received Jesus He took you in?”

The little girl gave her dad a look that he would never forget. She said, “Why, Daddy, because He said He would!”

That is the type of faith that pleases Jesus.

Matthew 18:3 states, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus uses a strong word here. He tells His disciples that if anyone does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child they will by no means enter it.

By no means: In the Greek this is a double negative, which puts emphasis on this fact.

One stanza of “Jesus Loves Me” not included in our hymnal says:

Jesus, take this heart of mine,

Make it pure and wholly Thine,

On the cross You died for me,

I will try to live for Thee.

In verses 13–15 we’ve seen Jesus’ call for the children. Next, we see:

II. Jesus’ compassion for the children. (vs. 16)

“And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”

Jesus not only calls for children, but He also has compassion for the children. Jesus never turns anyone away. He always receives those who come to Him. He took the little children up into His arms and blessed them. Jesus took time for the children

A Good Word: God has a great concern for little children.

Have you tried to teach the children?

Do you daily do your part?

Little ones, too, need the Savior,

And they’re close to Jesus’ heart”

Blessed means “fervently blessed.” Jesus did it willfully and cheerfully. Jesus gladly received the children and gladly had compassion on them.

A poor and ragged little boy was carried into a hospital after being run over. The little boy was hurt badly and all night he kept crying and groaning in his great pain.

A young boy in the bed next to him said, “Why don’t you pray to Jesus to ease your pain?” But the little boy had never heard anything at all about Jesus and asked who Jesus was. The boy gently told him, “Jesus is Lord of all, and He came down to die for us.”

The injured boy answered, “Oh, I can’t pray to Him! He’s so great and grand. He would never hear a poor and ragged boy like me. I don’t know what to say.”

The other little boy said, “Then, won’t you just lift your hand to Him out of bed, and when He passes by He will see it and know that you want Him to be kind to you and ease your pain?”

The poor, crushed, suffering boy lifted out of the bed his little hand and soon afterwards he ceased to groan. When they came to him in the morning, the hand and poor, thin arm were still uplifted, but they were stiff and cold. Jesus had indeed seen it and heard that mute prayer of the agony of that strayed lamb of His fold. He had grasped the little, soiled, trembling hand of the sufferer, and had taken him away to that better, happier home.

Jesus has shown His compassion to us, and wants us each to experience this compassion. Jesus desires to receive each of us to Himself and to give us eternal life. We first must trust in Him and have a total dependence on Him. We must receive Jesus as a little child receives Him and we must be born again.

If you have never been born again and you know in your heart that you are not saved, you know Jesus Christ is not Lord of your life and heaven is not your home. You can pray this prayer today to come to Jesus and He will receive you just as you are.

Dear Jesus, I come to you today as a little child. I come to you helpless, but not hopeless. I place my hope, trust, and faith in You today. I ask You to forgive all my sins, come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. I turn to You today Jesus and repent of my sins. Thank You for saving me and receiving me. I want to follow You from this day forward and live the rest of my life for You.

The Soli