Children Welcome

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. On the way, he has a series of conversations and experiences that reveal details about life as citizens of the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom has a different culture than we’re used to at our workplaces, schools, government, or clubs. Here’s the scene Luke describes:

People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. Luke 18:15 (NIV)

Mt and Mk tell the same story:

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. Matthew 19:13 (NIV)

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. Mark 10:13 (NIV)

Why should you care what word Luke used when he wrote this gospel nearly 2000 years ago?

Every word in the Bible is inspired by God the HS. By using the word “babies” instead of “little children,” Luke highlights the helplessness of the infants they brought to Jesus. These kids can’t do anything for themselves! All they do is eat, sleep, and fill diapers. They can’t walk or talk, can’t feed themselves or clean themselves. They’re entirely dependent on others!

Yet infants are highly valued in the kingdom of God. It’s different than the Roman Empire, where kids aren’t important until they grow up. I don’t mean they weren’t loved; God hardwires parents, esp. moms, to love their children: It’s one of the ways humans bear God’s image. But in the Roman Empire, kids didn’t get respect or legal status until they’re older.

By welcoming children, Jesus emphasizes the hospitality of the Kingdom of God to helpless people ... like infants. From birth, the children of believers are citizens in God’s kingdom!

When his disciples try to run interference for Jesus and keep the babies and their caregivers away, Jesus speaks strongly:

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Luke 18:16 (NIV)

“Do not hinder them.”

Jesus stops and calls little children to come to him and receive a blessing. He’s not just acting like a politician: shaking hands and kissing babies. NO! Jesus stops to show how important babies and toddlers are in the kingdom of God! They’re important to Jesus and to his heavenly Father. In case anyone missed it the first time, Jesus shows how kids characterize his kingdom:

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17 (NIV)

See, all people are as helpless as babies against sin and death.

No matter how religious we are, no matter how hard we work, no matter how wealthy or distinguished we become, no matter our education or accomplishments, we cannot save ourselves from sin and its consequences.

Sin – the basic, default setting all people have since Adam & Eve first disobeyed God – is my tendency to hate God and my neighbour. God is righteous and totally good. He can’t ignore sin or let it go unpunished. Sin leads to death and damnation.

But, because of God’s compassion and out of his deep love for people, his deep love for his creation, Jesus welcome helpless people like babies and little children. He sternly tells his disciples, “Do not hinder them,” then Jesus calls them to come.

Luke describes this scene immediately after recounting one of Jesus’ parables. If your Bibles are open, you’ll see that Jesus told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple earlier in ch. 18. It’s a parable Jesus told “to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.”

The parable shows a BIG contrast. On one hand, the Pharisee stands tall and speaks with confidence as he tells God how good he is. It’s a temptation for all religious people, particularly when we see the fruit of faith in our lives. The evil one uses evidence of our new life in Christ as a wedge to separate us from relying completely on Jesus for our salvation.

In his book Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis depicts a senior devil advising a novice tempter, “I see your patient has become humble. Have you drawn his attention to it?”

Have you experienced this kind of unhealthy pride as you grow in faith and become more like Jesus?

We’re tempted to be proud of our own goodness or rule-following. We kinda like comparing ourselves to people who aren’t as good or as holy as we are. Like the disciples, we tend to push “less important” people aside, to the margins

The point of Jesus’ parable and his warm welcome for babies and toddlers is that spiritual pride is unhelpful. An over-inflated opinion of our own goodness is a huge barrier when we really, really need to look to Jesus for salvation.

It’s a sad thing when the HS uses the Bible and the accountability of other Christians to help us grow in obedience and righteousness, and then: the resulting fruit of repentance and evidence of God’s work in our lives becomes a point of pride and self-reliance; yet it happens. I’ve had to battle it. Have you?

On the other hand, the tax collector in Jesus’ parable is unique:

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,

‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’  Luke 18:13 (NIV)

You see the difference b/t the Pharisee and the tax collector?

Jesus assures his listeners that the humble, repentant tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified before God. The tax collector recognized his guilt and his need for help. He threw himself on God’s mercy instead of relying on his own goodness.

It’s your humility and reliance on God that leads to forgiveness. Against sin and death, you’re as helpless as a baby.

Somehow, the disciples didn’t catch the point of the earlier parable. They chase babies and toddlers away!

Luke is worried his readers might not catch Jesus’ point either. As he organizes how to describe Jesus’ ministry in this gospel, Luke puts the scene of the babies being brought to Jesus immediately after the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Luke builds one scene on top of the other to drive this point home. All people need to humble themselves like a little child to enter the kingdom of God.

Later in Luke 18, a rich ruler will walk away from Jesus disappointed at the thought of having to give up his great wealth to follow Jesus but a blind beggar will receive mercy and healing. Luke piles up examples of how self-sufficiency is a barrier to entry into the kingdom of God.

We need child-like humility. It’s only by faith in Jesus, only on 100% reliance on Jesus’ mercy and goodness, that we receive the amazing grace and benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s the only way into his kingdom.

On the cross that God put all the punishment for my sin and your sin on Jesus. Jesus, being both God and human, was able to step forward and take the punishment that we deserve.

When Jesus died on the cross, he endured the suffering and punishment that I deserve; the suffering and punishment that all sinful people deserve. When he rose from the grave, 3 days later, Jesus’ resurrection confirms that he defeated sin and death. By recognizing our helplessness, by humbly receiving Jesus and all his help, by putting our trust in Jesus, we are raised to life with Jesus; eternal life for Jesus.

You’re invited to receive God’s grace and forgiveness and life with God the way that an infant receives care from his parents, aunts, and uncles: total reliance, dependence, complete trust. He’s got you. God will not let you go.

Once we have been saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus, we’re able – with the help of God the HS – to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. The goal, now that we’ve been rescued from sin and death, is for our homes, our workplaces, and the church family to look and sound and be like the kingdom of God.

That includes bringing our babies, toddlers, and young children to Jesus. He offers warm words of welcome, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.” Can there be a better affirmation of the parents who wanted Jesus to place his hands on their babies?

Those parents had an advantage; they could hand their baby to Jesus and he could place his hands on them in blessing. Today, it’s difficult for Jesus to sit with your baby on his lap. Jesus is with us by his Word and Spirit, especially in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But, physically, Jesus is in heaven and we’re here on earth. Bringing your baby or grandchild, your niece or nephew to Jesus looks different now.

Could you bring a child to Jesus as you’re praying? Could you ask God’s blessing while you’re snuggling your baby or giving them a bottle? – it might be a blessing for both of you instead of scrolling mindlessly on your phone.

Kids learn habits of faith already when they’re very small. They’re always watching, always listening, always copying you. You can create habits for praying or singing at mealtime and bedtime even before kids learn to speak.

Habits of reading the Bible or the Storybook Bible become special for kids, esp. if it’s also a time to sit on your lap and enjoy cuddles. What I’m trying to say is that creating patterns and habits of basking in God’s blessing don’t have to wait for kids to talk. Jesus welcomes babies to receive his blessing.

Wouldn’t it be cool if one of the first words your child learned to say was “Amen” during family prayers? It’s always a thrill at Crosspoint, when we pray as a church family and one of the kids says “amen” at the end of our prayer. They’re so used to saying “amen” while praying at home that they say it in church too. It’s not embarrassing! It’s our goal as a church family!

The scene we read in Luke 18 is not about baptism. But what better blessing could people ask from Jesus than that their child receives the sign and seal of all God’s covenant promises?

It’s why, Reformed Christians teach that children ought to be baptized – HC Q&A 74

Infants as well as adults

are included in God’s covenant and people,

and they, no less than adults,

are promised deliverance from sin through Christ’s blood

and the Holy Spirit who produces faith.