Raising Up The Children of God

The Gospel of Mark, Seeing The Son of God  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  40:15
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Sermon April 30 2017 Redeemer presbyterian Church

Mark 10:13-16

“Raising Up The Children of God”

Mark 10:13–16 (ESV)

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 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.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

1)Jesus is raising children to place of honor

2)Jesus is also raising the faith of children as an example for us

Three accounts same details Mark Matt Luke

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 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.

Matt. 19:13-15Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Luke 18:15-1715 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Peter speaks about the children of believers and the promise of Abraham

Acts 2:3939 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Back to the text

A. Children (could mean infants to kids at the age of 12 13) were being brought for a blessing by Jesus

  1. A sign that the parents believed in Jesus
  2. Maybe not the whole picture, but there was belief
  3. Parents want their children to believe, to have eternal life

B. Disciples deny children to Jesus

  1. Not important for the King of kings
  2. Children were the lowest in Society
  3. Early Christians reversed this

Children occupied a precarious position in the Hellenistic society of the first century. Sometimes children were loved and sometimes exploited, depending upon how they were perceived as benefiting the family.

For example, a papyrus letter written by a man named Hilarion (which ironically means “cheerful”) to his expectant wife, Alis, dated June 17, 1 b.c., instructs her: “if it was a male child let it live; if it was female, cast it out.”

This practice of infanticide was severely attacked by the Christian Church, which rightly boasted, for example in The Epistle of Diognetus, that it did not expose its children. The practice was not outlawed in Roman law until a.d. 375. Even then the law was not very effective. Roman law gave the father absolute power (patria potestas) over his family—which extended to life and death. As late as a.d. 60 a son was put to death by the simple order of his father.

Futher evidence of the nature of the world to which the gospel came is seen in the family abuses of the house of Herod and his public slaughter of babies at the Advent (Matthew 2:16–20). Children clearly were not presumed to be blessings in the non-Christian culture of Christ’s day.

The text allows us to see how children were treated in Jesus time and how we come to saving faith

D. L. Moody once returned from a meeting and reported two and a half conversions. “Two adults and a child, I suppose?” asked his host. “No,” said Moody, “two children and an adult. The children gave their whole lives. The adult had only half of his left to give.”

C. Kingdom of God belongs to children

  1. Verse 14 indicates that Jesus saw what was happening, and “he was indignant.” The Greek word translated “indignant’ occurs only here in the New Testament and is a combination of two words: “much” and “to grieve.” He was much grieved! The things which grieve us or make us indignant reveal much about the kind of people we are, and what Jesus said and did here tells us volumes about him, as well about our children and ourselves.

Jesus is “indignant”NLT=angryNKJV=greatly displeasedASB=moved with indignationKJV=much displeasedInternational standard says furious

  1. ■ adjective feeling or showing annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment.

—derivatives indignantly adverb

  1. Jesus sees the unfair treatment and reacts to it, Clearing the Temple?

D. Jesus brings the example of faith

    1. Faith in Jesus REQUIRES child-like belief
      1. Not childish belief

Dependance and Trust

When we depend and trust in Jesus we are expressing our faith like a child

The ‘kingdom of God belongs to such as these’ (14). The child is entirely dependent upon the parent in the very nature of things. Total trust is the centre of a child’s existence. So it must be for the disciple. As Mark refers it to disciples, they cannot earn it or deserve it or make it, but only accept it thankfully as God’s gift.7 This is why group after group have so far in the story failed to enter in. They have all brought their own agenda—religious leaders, family, crowd. Only those helplessly needing to be healed, and occasionally the disciples, have burst through into the world of self-abandoning trust, like that of a small child. It is they who receive the blessing (16

II. Jesus shows the example of the faith of a child

A. The example involves 2 very distinct things

  1. The Invitation (“let the children come to me”)
  2. the Receiving (“Whoever does not receive the Kingdom like a child”)

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 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.

B. Children had been held back by false ideas of who Jesus is

  1. Disciples saw Jesus as a human King, too busy
  2. No time for “children” lowest of society
  3. Was different on both counts, Jesus was and is not a human King and his time is encased in grace.

C. look at how these 3 verses interact with each other

  1. There is the recognition of the Kingdom of God (v.14)
  2. There is the false assumptions about the kingdom of God ( only certain people)
  3. then there is the invitation (Let the children...)
  4. then there is the receiving (whoever does not receive…)
  5. Children are totally dependent upon their parents, we are totally dependent

nothing we do can bring Christ to us, Romans 8:88 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Our dependance is total (learning that in our study on Doctrines of Grace)

  1. Children are given the faith to believe, (Belief is the gift, eternal life the result)
  2. The world shatters the belief, (we are set upon by the world to deny our beliefs)
  3. Jesus rebukes the world, (He is more powerful than anything the world has, he offers us the same invitation today)
  4. Jesus speaks the invitation
  5. Jesus receives us
  6. Final verse

10:16 Here Jesus is pictured as supporting his teaching with his actions, visually demonstrating that the blessings of the kingdom are available to those who will come to Jesus. By taking the children in his arms, he did more than he was asked to do.

III. Application

Jesus raise children in our text this morning he brings two different facts that we as Christians have to understand. Jesus raises children to where they belong to an honorable place in the family of God. 2) Jesus uses children to describe how we must be when we are coming to Christ. We must be totally dependent on the giver of faith, we must see this faith as the one and only hope for our lives and we have to know that it is true beyond a shadow of a doubt, that is faith like a child.

Receiving the faith means knowing first that we have been given an invitation to enter into God’s Kingdom. We know this because we have been granted a new way to see God, to see Jesus and to understand who the Holy Spirit is inside of us. We have been given our invitation, we didn’t write out the invitations they were given to you, like a wedding invitation. Someone you know is getting married, inside yourself you hope that maybe you will get invited maybe you don’t hope? Whatever, you receive the invitation in the mail, you didn’t print it, you didn’t pay for it, you didn’t make up the words on it, but now you have received the invitation and are going to send back the RSVP. This is where the example breaks off, God already knows that you will accept that invitation, he has known about it before the beginning of the world. Romans 1:18 tells us that

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened

Your heart knew God, your heart knew about the kingdom but you chose to suppress it, deny any facts about Jesus, until you got the invitation, and you only got the invitation when God knew you would respond to the invitation and not throw it away. Maybe you received 100’s of invitations before, but this one was different. It was different because God un hardened your heart, he gave you humility, he gave you the insight to see yourself as you really are, a desperate, hell bound sinner. Only when God changed you into a child were you able to see clearly, sounds crazy right? Not really, the love of Jesus is beyond anything we have ever known. We see it as crazy because we can’t understand it, we can’t find the rational answer to it. That’s why Jesus speaks to us this morning, thats why he is talking directly to you this morning, telling you to stop seeing him through adult eyes and see him through the eyes of a child. The expression “like a child” could refer to the way in which one receives a child, but the context favors the idea of the way in which a child receives what is offered to him or her: totally dependent on the person giving it.

Im not saying that we need to stop learning more about Jesus, God the Bible but I’m saying we need to learn more! We need to not let the learning take us from that place of wonder and awe that we had of God! It’s the awe that were are missing, its the wonder that needs to come back into our lives. The overwhelming awe and wonder that we once knew was God, the creator of millions and millions of stars and galaxies, the one who has a name for every star and yet, and yet knows your name. This is the God who sent his Son to die for you on a cross two thousand years ago, his death paid your sin debt, his death brought you into the throne room of Holy God. Jesus our King and Lord want us to be like the children he blessed that day two thousand years ago, ready willing and able to receive the invitation and come and be blessed with eternal life.

The children that Jesus is blessing today in the text are feeling the loving embrace of our Lord, we also are His children and we can feel that loving embrace today, knowing that we are sinners in need of a saviour, we come before a Holy and Just God only because we have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and because He has paid our debt of Sin, its nothing that we have done, its nothing that we ever thought of doing, its because He loved us first that we are called children of God.

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world

Red and Yellow Black and White they are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so

little ones to him belong

they are weak and He is strong

Yes, Jesus Loves me! Yes Jesus Loves me!

The Bible tells me so!

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