Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 19:13-15

A Kingdom of Children

 

Children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

And he laid his hands on them and went away.[1]

Jesus loves the little children; all the children of the world.

Red, brown, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

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hildren throughout Canada sing that song.

Perhaps you even learned this song when you were a child.

It teaches a great truth, but one which is too readily forgotten as we grow older.

Christ the Lord loves children; He welcomes them into His presence and He welcomes their presence among His people.

During His days in the flesh, the Lord joyfully received children that appear ubiquitous among the crowds that attended His teaching.

Consequently, the congregation that reflects the Spirit of the Lord is a congregation that will seek out children and treat them with respect.

The congregation that reflects the Spirit of Christ is a place that welcomes children.

Children seem to have been nearby every time Jesus encountered a crowd, and He appears to have delighted in their presence.

He pointed to the children on several occasions, speaking of them as examples of the faith that pleases the Father, thus encouraging disciples to cultivate the faith of a child in order to please the Father.

One such instance when Jesus honoured the children is provided in our text for this day.

Seeking Christ’s Blessing for Our Children — The pericope begins with an observation of parental concern for their children.

Matthew takes care to note that children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

One cannot help but be impressed with the fact that parents were bringing their children to Jesus so that He would bless them.

In Scripture it is customary that people place their hands on individuals as they pray for them, as a sign of blessing.

Parents often brought their children to rabbis and the elders of the people to be blessed.

The pronouncement of a blessing included laying hands on the children as they were blessed.[2]

This form of blessing children is first seen in Scripture when Israel blesses Manasseh and Ephraim, placing his hands on their heads as he pronounces the blessing [*Genesis 48:14*].

Laying hands on the head, accompanied by prayer, formed a typical Jewish “blessing.”

One rabbinic tradition describes the custom of bringing a thirteen-year-old boy to the elders in Jerusalem at festival time “to bless him and pray for him that he may be worthy to study the Torah and engage in good deeds.”[3]

There is no thought here of baptism or even of salvation; one would need to read that into the account, for nothing of that nature is stated or implied here.

Children who have not reached the age of accountability [e.g.

*Isaiah 7:16*] are surely covered by the death of Christ [see *Romans 5:17–21*].

It is true that children are born sinners [*Psalm 51:5*]; but should a child die before he or she is accountable, the child is regenerated and taken to heaven [*2 Samuel 12:23*; *Psalm 23:6*].

The parents who brought their children to Jesus sought for Him to bless them.

Laying hands on a child and praying for that child as a sign of blessing is essentially foreign to us in this day.

Laying hands on an individual as one prays is a feature found in the New Testament.

In other instances the act serves either to set an individual apart for specific ministry [*Acts 6:6*; *13:3*], as a sign of acceptance of those coming into the Faith [e.g.

*Acts 8:17*; *19:6*], or it is associated with healing [e.g.

*Luke 13:13*].

The concept of blessing, and especially blessing children, is largely forgotten in our day.

The children were certainly privileged to have Jesus pray for them.

Our practice of dedicating babies finds support in the Master’s action when He blessed the children.

Our Sunday School ministries and our youth ministries are likewise rooted in a natural desire to follow Jesus in blessing children.

It may help you to understand how I can make such a sweeping statement if you know that the word translated children [/paìs/] is not restricted to “little children,” but rather the word speaks of any child, at least until that child had been received into the community of Faith at his bar mitzvah.

I suspect that the placement of this pericope is more important than we might imagine at first glance.

You will notice that it follows immediately after Jesus’ teaching on the sanctity of marriage [*Matthew 19:3-9*] and His call for those who follow Him to treat the union of husband and wife with reverence [*Matthew 19:10-12*].

It follows immediately before the account of His call to the rich young man to devote himself to serving God [*Matthew 19:16-30*].

Perhaps we could make an argument that Matthew is not presenting a chronological account of Jesus’ ministry, but he is assuredly making a logical presentation of that ministry.

Commitment of spouses honours God and ensures strong families.

Strong families bless the children of those unions.

Devotion to Christ is the basis for honouring God, and that will mean submitting your desires to His will.

What a blessing for those children whose parents are married in the will of God, and who seek to obey God, bringing their children to Jesus for His blessing.

The formal dedication of a child here in our own congregation seeks a pronouncement of God’s blessing both on the child and on the family into which that child is born as the parents take a vow before God and His people to raise the child in the Faith of Christ the Lord.

The congregation witnessing the dedication also vows to hold the parents accountable for raising the child.

This is more than mere ceremony; it is a solemn vow both on the part of the parents and on the part of the congregation.

Did your parents introduce you to the Faith of Christ the Lord?

How blessed you are if your heritage includes godly parents who introduced you to the Faith early in life.

This does not depreciate those who come to faith later in life, nor does it disparage the individual who has no heritage of Christian training—we rejoice that you are in the Faith.

To be born again is the richest blessing imaginable.

I am adamant, however, in saying that the child who has been raised in the Faith, who is trained in the way of Christ the Lord from childhood, has a great advantage in life.

Paul speaks of the children in a home where even one parent is a believer as blessed [see *1 Corinthians 7:14*].

I am thrilled whenever the children come to the front of the auditorium for prayer.

We invite them to the front of the auditorium as they prepare to go out for instruction in the Word of God.

Here at the front of our auditorium the pastor prays for the children.

I rejoice as we witness these children here in the House of God because I know that as the people of God provide loving instruction in the Faith of Christ the Lord, many of those children will be kept from a life of dissipation.

Some of these children have already found the Faith of Christ the Lord and they are now being taught to walk in that Faith.

I rejoice for the children because I know that they have a greater chance of glorifying the Saviour if they know what pleases Him than if they are left to guess what is pleasing.

Each of us should rejoice in the knowledge of the blessing they are receiving each week.

It may prove helpful for us to review a parallel passage in which this same incident is reported.

Mark’s Gospel provides an account of this particular moment in the life of the Master.

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

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.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them [*Mark 10:13-16*].

Conflating the two accounts, one of the first things to notice is the persistence of the parents who were trying to bring their children to Jesus.

They would not be deterred.

Each parent seems focused on obtaining a blessing for his or her own child; they made every effort to introduce their own child to Jesus.

They were demonstrating concern for the eternal welfare of their own children.

Nothing much has changed over the years.

Have you noticed that even when parents do not themselves attend church, they often want their children to attend Sunday School?

It is as though there is an innate recognition that people who understand the Faith are blessed—and parents what their children to be blessed.

I cannot tell you how often I have received phone calls from parents who have no active relationship to any church wishing to have their children baptised so they will “be safe?”

We should dismiss the thought that performing a ritual can be somehow salvific, but we cannot say that parents who send their children to Sunday School or that parents who seek baptism for their children are acting out of anything other than genuine concern.

Though the request of these parents is unbiblical, their intent is honourable and natural.

Parents want the best for their children.

Again, contrasting the two accounts, I notice that Mark states that Jesus was indignant.

Mark, more than any of the other Evangelists, notes Jesus’ emotional response to situations.

It is interesting to me Jesus expressed anger with religious leaders that censured a man seeking wholeness [*Mark 3:5*] and His actions in cleansing the Temple [*Mark 11:15-19*] revealed anger at the sacrilege perpetuated by self-centred religious leaders.

Here the Master was indignant; and though we would not say that He was angry, it is evident that He took umbrage at the action of His disciples.

Let me make an immediate application, then.

If we neglect bringing our children to Christ, we may be assured that the Master is indignant.

When we hinder those who seek to bring children to learn of Christ, we must know that Jesus is indignant.

When we fail to train children in the Faith, we cause divine indignation.

Responsibility to bring a child to Christ rests upon that child’s parents.

If you are not teaching your children about Christ, you bring upon yourself the indignation of the Master.

Likewise, hindering those who are trying to bring children to Christ merits His indignation.

Parents are not given the dubious luxury of shifting responsibility for instruction in the Faith to the elders, or even more generally to the church; parents are responsible to bring their children to Christ.

Perhaps it is our victim-oriented society, but I observe a tendency to blame the church for our own failure, charging that if only the church had a youth ministry, if only the church had a Sunday School ministry, if only the church had a Vacation Bible School, our children would be kept from sin.

We accuse the church of not doing enough for our children when they turn their backs on the Faith and embrace the tawdry thrills of this dying world, though they have never known the excitement of new life in Christ.

However, parents must not imagine that they can shift blame to the church, for we who are parents are responsible to bring our children to Jesus.

I am not suggesting that the church may neglect ministries to the youngest members of society; rather I insist that we must seek to work together with parents to ensure that children are introduced to Jesus from earliest days.