What Can Children Teach Us About God?
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· 15 viewsGod welcomes the weak and loves to save the helpless.
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Introduction:
What sounds more like a Christian?
Those who are strong, mighty, and self-sufficient?
Those who are weak, helpless, and dependent?
Those who are all put together? Who have no problems and issues?
Those who are broken? Those who know it is only by grace one can overcome?
That is why Jesus often used the example of a child to teach his disciples about the nature of the kingdom and salvation.
Well today, as we look at , we will ask the question: “What can children teach us about God?” We believe children are a blessing (we have four ourselves) and that children are a blessing to this church. Praise God that we have older folks, but also babies, toddlers, and children. It is a blessing to have a children’s ministry at CFBC.
When we talk about children, there are two extremes you can go:
Idolizing Children in a Christian Culture
In Christian circles, once I have a family and kids life will be made complete. Yet, Jesus often made shocking statements like:
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Where your whole world revolves around the child’s needs and wants. Sadly, some marriages fall apart because the only thing keeping their marriage together were the children. Christ is what makes our life complete because if you make spouse our children your god, it will often leave you disappointed because they can’t give you what only God can give you.
But children cannot give you what only God can give you.
2. Neglecting Children in a Secular Culture
The End of Babies, NY TIMES opinion article, by Anna Louie Sussman
Denmark is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe. New parents get 12 months paid family leave and highly subsidized day care.
But Denmark’s fertility rate, at 1.7 births per woman, is roughly on par with that of the United States.
Fertility rates have been dropping precipitously around the world for decades — in middle-income countries, in some low-income countries, but perhaps most markedly, in rich ones.
Denmark’s fertility rate has been below replacement level — that is, the level needed to maintain a stable population — for decades. And as Dr. Ziebe points out, the decline is not solely the result of more people deliberately choosing childlessness: Many of his patients are older couples and single women who want a family, but may have waited until too late.
Fertility rates have been dropping (rapidly) precipitously around the world for decades — in middle-income countries, in some low-income countries, but perhaps most markedly, in rich ones.
A lifetime of messaging directs us toward other pursuits instead: education, work, travel. The promise of limitless freedom is more appealing than the restrictions of children.
What are people doing instead?
FOR EXAMPLE
Anders Krarup is a 43-year-old software developer living in Copenhagen who recently rediscovered his love of fishing. Most weekends he drives to the Zealand coast, where he communes with the sea trout. When he’s not working at his start-up, he meets friends for concerts. As for a family, he’s not particularly interested.
“I’m feeling very content with my life at the moment,” he told me.
Lyman Stone, an economist who studies population, points to two features of modern life that correlate with low fertility: rising “workism” — a term popularized by the Atlantic writer Derek Thompson — and declining religiosity. “There is a desire for meaning-making in humans,” Mr. Stone told me. Without religion, one way people seek external validation is through work, which, when it becomes a dominant cultural value, is “inherently fertility reducing.”
“I have so many other things that I want to do,” he said.
People see children as the ultimate hindrance to their freedom.
Michelle Williams, at a Golden Globes ceremony, gave a speech celebrating her accomplishment because she had the power of “choice.” As she was holding her golden globe, she was basically saying that it was because she had the right to abort a child, she was able to accomplish her dreams. And she ended her speech encouraging all people to vote for “choice”.
When I heard this, I must say it just made be sad because what she was implying was the children would have been a hindrance to her career and her award if she did not have a right to choose what to do with her body.
Children are intruders to our live plans. This is why people delay having children today because they want to travel, or buy a home, or build a career because having children would cause significant interruption to major life goals.
But as we will see in our text this morning, we will see how God sees children: precious in his sight as Jesus welcomes the little children. Jesus loved children. And if Jesus loved children, so should we.
But the message is not just about being nice to kids. We will see in Mark’s gospel, that Jesus uses real life illustrations and parables to often teach his disciples important lessons on what it means to follow him and the nature of Discipleship.
Recap
You remember, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. And on the way, he is going to teach his disciples important lessons as they journey with him. Already he taught about the importance of humility, about the seriousness nature of sin, and about God’s intention for marriage.
In the upcoming chapters, he is going to teach about children, possessions, humility and how this relates to the kingdom of God.
When Jesus speaks of discipleship, he is not just speaking of how it affects our church lives. But how it affects all of life including marriage, family, children, how we relate to money and work, and what sort of people we ought to be for those of us who claim to follow Jesus.
So we want to answer the question this morning:
What can children teach us about God?
God welcomes the weak.
God loves to save the weak and helpless.
Gentiles, Slaves, Children were regarded of no social status.
Just three verses in our text, but have profound truths and implications concerning the kingdom and how we are to relate to others and God.
Scripture Reading:
And 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.
I. God Welcomes the Weak (vv. 13-14)
I. God Welcomes the Weak (vv. 13-14)
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.
Children could refer to a twelve year old. But Luke tells us it was infants or babies (Luke 18:15). They were probably infants and toddlers because Jesus took them in his arms and blessed them.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Children (10:13–16)
His touch brought blessings, but it was also a blessing, a tangible expression of God’s unconditional love for the unclean, foreigners, women, and children.
It was common view in the ancient world where parents would bring their children to prominent Rabbis to receive some type of blessing.
Sometimes you see on the News the Pope walking through the streets. And often parents shove their child in front of the Pope because they want the Pope to touch the children or bless them.
The disciples rebuked them.
And yet, even after these parents were bringing the children to Jesus, the disciples rebuked the parents and the crowds. The word rebuke is a strong word that is used even when demons are rebuked.
The disciples functioned as bodyguards and bouncers for Jesus. “Come on! Don’t you realize that Jesus has more important things to do and more important people he needs to see” they may have thought.
“Jesus doesn’t have time to go around touching babies and infants when he needs to do the real work of the ministry...”
Rabbis don’t spend time with babies and children. That is other people’s job.
There was a viral video that has been circulating on the internet criticizing a pastor who stopped service to have a mother with a crying child escorted out of the service.
Pastor Stops Church Service to Have Woman, Child Escorted Out after Baby Makes Noise
Some people were offended by that and walked out. And he had to take time in his sermon to address the congregation:
“Listen, I love children. But see, everyone’s focus is right there right now. And sweetheart, as long as she’s fine you stand there and do your thing. But I need you to understand, somebody else got up and walked out. That’s OK. I’m not gonna affect 300 people because of a crying child. That’s why we have TVs in the outside, that’s why we have a nursery. If you get offended over that, I’m sorry, I really am sorry, but we’re not gonna do that. And I know I sound like a jerk right now, but we’re not gonna affect 300 people because of that. Let me try to get back in the mode of where I was.”
The assumption here is we have more important things to do here. I relate because that temptation is in me.
The irony of all this was that we were discussing this text in our small group Wednesday and Valor and Reverie interrupted me asking for Apple Juice and Chocolate Chip cookies.
See the disciples had the same mindset. Jesus has more important things to do. He has sermons to preach. He has crowds to heal. He doesn’t want to see your baby!!
The Master’s Rebuke (v. 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.
Mark 1
When he saw his disciples, he was indignant. He was agitated. He was angry. The language is used of people being affected by diseases. Even when Jesus is angry at the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Jesus is mad at the disciples for being proud and bullies.
Why was he mad?
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Children (10:13–16)
The object of a person’s indignation reveals a great deal about that person. Jesus’ displeasure here reveals his compassion and defense of the helpless, vulnerable, and powerless. “
That really encourages me because the disciples who were supposed to represent their Master who was gentle and meek, were acting completely contrary to their Master: harsh and proud.
Sometimes Christians don’t act like Jesus, just like the disciples.
Sometimes Christians act more like raging bulls than gentle sheep.
Sometimes Christians are bullies, rather than kind and compassionate.
“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is saying children are sinless. But he is welcoming children.
Do Not Hinder Them.
The disciples were knuckleheads. Earlier, Jesus said don’t hinder the one doing a mighty work in my name. And now, they are hindering the weak from coming to Jesus.
But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
Some try to use a text like this to justify infant baptism. But I think that is reading into the next. Some will use the word hinder is the same word used in Acts where the Ethiopian Enuch.
But there is nothing to suggest that Jesus is talking about baptism here.
Let the children come to me, do no hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Jesus is not saying children are sinless. But he is welcoming children because they were considered the least in society.
This is where historical context matters. In the West, some people elevate and idolize children.
But in the ancient world, the lowest people at the bottom of the social ladder were slaves, women, and children.
Children had no rights, no status, few privileges.
Ancient sources reveal that children could be abandoned in the Roman world easily, especially if it was a girl because girls could not carry on the family name and have the right of inheritance since they would marry into other families.
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Blessing the Children (10:13–16)
In the ancient world, children had no status. They were easily ignored and barred access because no one would take the trouble to complain and fight for them. These children, who must be brought to Jesus by others, have nothing to commend an audience with him and cannot defend themselves against bullies.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Children (10:13–16)
In this story children are not blessed for their virtues but for what they lack: they come only as they are—small, powerless, without sophistication, as the overlooked and dispossessed of society. To receive the kingdom of God as a child is to receive it as one who has no credits, no clout, no claims.23 A little child has absolutely nothing to bring, and whatever a child receives, he or she receives by grace on the basis of sheer neediness rather than by any merit inherent in him- or herself. Little children are paradigmatic disciples, for only empty hands can be filled.
Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God belong to the weak, the helpless, and the dependent, not the powerful, proud, and independent.
The New American Commentary: Mark (2) The Blessing of the Children (10:13–16)
The main point of comparison probably is the insignificance, weakness, helplessness, and dependency shared by children in ancient society and those who enter the kingdom at any time. The ultimate focus of the passage is not only on the attitude with which one comes to Jesus but on coming to Jesus, the object of one’s faith.
“For Such Belongs the Kingdom of God”...
Kingdom of God—God’s Rule over God’s People in God’s Place. The reign and rule of God belong to the helpless and weak who believe in the Most High and Most Powerful and believe that God has the resources to deliver.
Applications:
Jesus loves Me This I Know, For the Bible Tells Me So. Little to ones to Him Belong, they are weak, but He is Strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. For the Bible tells me so.
Welcome Children—Let us be a church that welcomes children. They are not hindrances and obstacles to the more important stuff, they are important because they bear the image of God and when we serve the least, we imitate our Master. Let the children run around. Let church be a place they feel safe and grow up in a loving environment.
Serve Children—Praise the Lord for those who serve in the children’s ministries. It might not feel like you are a doing a lot when you are blowing bubbles and coloring pictures of of Bible stories, but Jesus commends you for serving our children. Can you imagine Jesus serving in the children’s ministry? Loving the kids?
Preaching the Word: Mark—Jesus, Servant and Savior Our Lord’s Elevation of Children (v. 14)
“I will say broadly that I have more confidence in the spiritual life of the children that I have received into this church than I have in the spiritual condition of the adults thus received. I will go even further than that, and say that I have usually found a clearer knowledge of the gospel and a warmer love to Christ in the child-converts than in the man-converts. I will even astonish you still more by saying that I have sometimes met with a deeper spiritual experience in children of ten and twelve than I have in certain persons of fifty and sixty.”
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: The Servant’s Paradoxes (Mark 10)
Then He announced that the children were better kingdom examples than were the adults. We tell the children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children!
Protect Children—Protect children. Those who abuse their authority and use it to abuse the weak and helpless, you remember Jesus said it is better to have a millstone hung around your neck and drown in the ocean than to stumble a weak and helpless believer.
“Christ receives not only those who, moved by holy desire and faith, freely approach unto Him, but those who are not yet of age to know how much they need His grace” (Calvin, Harmony, 1: 389).
Love and Serve the Helpless—The Elderly, the Disabled, the Orphan, the Widow. How can we serve the least and helpless of society.
Married—In the article I mentioned, because of declining birth rates, the secular population is not reproducing. It is religious communities that are reproducing. One of the most radical things you can do in our culture as a Christian is to have lots of children.
Barren—And even for those who desire children, but because we live in a fallen world things will not always go so smooth. One of the ways we can serve children is through other means like fostering or adoption. We were just at a friend’s birthday party who is fostering a child and I couldn’t help but think what a beautiful picture of the gospel is to take in a child and raise them in a loving home.
Christian—Welcome the weak believer in your midst. Lay aside your right and privileges to serve the weak.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Romans 14:
Church—Let us not see children as obstacles. Let us see them as blessings. Let them grow up in a church under the Word and under loving brothers and sisters so that they can one day grow in a saving knowledge of Christ.
Preach against the injustices of abortion and its evil in the murder of children. This past week was the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. And when God exercises his judgment, if he has not already, I believe his judgment against the US will be the sacrificing of our children in the name of choice, personal freedom, or work.
Transition: Children not only that God welcomes the weak, but He loves to save the weak and the helpless....
There is more to this narrative than just loving children. Jesus used children as a metaphor and a picture of what it means to receive the kingdom.
II. God Saves the Weak (vv. 15-16)
II. God Saves the Weak (vv. 15-16)
The child becomes a metaphor of receiving salvation and discipleship.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
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.
Again, Jesus is not highlighting the virtues of children, but the helplessness of children. Their weakness. Their lack of resources. Their neediness.
Then 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.
And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Children are not highlighted as a model of virtue, but dependence and their need for help.
Mark
What makes parenting so tiring for me and Helen having young children is their neediness. They always need something. And they would not survive if they did not have mom and dad.
And that is what Jesus is trying to communicate to his disciples. Disciples are not to be proud, mighty, and self-sufficient, but humble, weak, and dependent knowing that all of our strength comes from the Almighty.
I read a book entitled Unsaved Christian: Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel
According to polls, many nominal and church going folk believe you can be saved by just be a good moral person and that heaven is attained by keeping the Ten Commandments.
Christianity is not about our achievements, but God’s achievement.
Everything in world teaches us that we must be strong, self-sufficient, and independent.
Society accepts the strong and powerful, not the weak and helpless.
What job interview do you go into highlighting your weaknesses? No, you beef up your resume highlighting your competency and skills.
What first date do you go on highlighting your flaws? No, you put your best foot forward.
What do you write on your college applications when you are trying to get into that prestigous school you have been dreaming about? Do you write about how you failed English or math?
The common view today among unsaved professing believers is that good people go to heaven.
“Thinking I deserve Heaven is a sure sign I have no understanding of the gospel.” Ferguson
See the disciples had the same mindset. They were thinking in terms of the world of who were considered great.
But Jesus reverses human values. He in fact says in Matthew’s Gospel.
Matthew 19:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
Matthew 19:
You would think that Jesus would highlight the Emperors, the Philosophers, the Religious Leaders. Yet he highlights the lowest of society to show us the type of people who enter the kingdom of heaven.
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark Children (10:13–16)
In that case the pronouncement τῶν τοιούτων ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ is not only or even mainly about children, but about those who share the child’s status. It is to such people, the insignificant ones who are important to Jesus (who will of course include, but not be confined to, children) that God’s kingdom belongs. It is the literal children whom Jesus tells the disciples to allow to come to him, but the reason is that they belong to and represent a wider category of οἱ τοιοῦτοι, who are the ones who matter to God.
Unless you turn, and become like children. Turn can be another word used of repentance. Repentance means change of thinking doesn’t it. Unless you become like children: helpless, weak, dependent, knowing that you have no resources of your own, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: The Servant’s Paradoxes (Mark 10)
Then He announced that the children were better kingdom examples than were the adults. We tell the children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children!
Adults when they grow up say, “I don’t need help. I can do myself!” But children, “I need help. Mommy and daddy, I can’t do it without you.”
Jesus wants us to take the posture of a dependent child when it comes to Jesus. Because if you want to be great in the kingdom, you have to become least. If you want to enter the kingdom, you must realize you can work for it or achieve it on your own.
Only children understand that gifts are to be received with gratitude and thankfulness, not a right to be earned.
“The Kingdom of God is a gift, not a right; it is given by grace, not earned by qualifications. Christ gives it as he chooses.” Sinclair Ferguson
When it comes to the Christian gospel, it is not the strong, the powerful, and the self-sufficient who go to heaven.
The gospel is good news for the weak, the helpless, and dependent.
Jonathan Edwards said, “We contribute nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
The lesson here is that the kingdom needs to be received as a gift, not earned or worked for as a wage.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do you see the greatness of the gospel message?
God welcomes the weak and he loves to save the weak.
And what better picture of that than a helpless child who has no status, no privileges of his own.
How do people come to Christ?
Admitting their weakness. Their sinfulness.
Gospel
You see, God entered human history, even as a weak child himself. The God of the universe became a baby. He entered into a fallen creation.
And he entered into a fallen creation because all of us in Adam were orphaned at the Fall.
He came to rescue us because we were weak and helpless because of our sin. We had no resources of our own. He had a debt we could not pay God back because of our Sin.
And Jesus Christ, died on the cross to pay for our sin and he rose us again so that we would not only be justified before God, but that we would be called children of the living God.
This is why Christians call God Father.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Children teach us and give us a picture of the gospel doesn’t it?
Weak, needy, dependent.
That’s how we are to live the Christian lives. It is when we grow in pride, grow in strength, that we lose our trust in God.
Non-Christian
If you are a non—Christian, you and I deserve the judgment of God. And there is no list of accomplishments or achievements that can make you right with God as we will see in our passage next Sunday.
If you want to enter the kingdom, you must humble yourself like a helpless child.
You must come to the point in your life where you realize that you have no resources of your own to make you right before a holy and all powerful God.
You must realize that you are a sinful creature deserving God’s wrath.
You must realize that God sent His Son to save you and I if you humble yourself.
And believe that God not only welcomes the weak, but he is willing to save you if you put your whole trust in Him.
The gospel is so simple, yet so divine a child can understand. Only when the Holy Spirit opens your eyes you see the Beauty of Jesus.
Summary: What can children teach us about God?
God welcomes the weak.
God loves to save the weak and needy and those who cry out to Him for mercy.
Conclusion:
The song Jesus loves me this I know is very simple, but also points us to the truths we have been studying.
Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Little Ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me (3x)
The Bible tells me so.
Akin, Daniel L.. Exalting Jesus in Mark (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p. 216). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
“I rejoice to know that the souls of all infants, as soon as they die, speed their way to paradise. Think what a multitude there is of them” (Spurgeon, “Defense”).
Akin, Daniel L.. Exalting Jesus in Mark (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p. 217). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Akin, Daniel L.. Exalting Jesus in Mark (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p. 217). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
“The Kingdom of God is a gift, not a right; it is given by grace, not earned by qualifications. Christ gives it as he chooses.” Sinclair Ferguson
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Blessing the Children (10:13–16)
Children are also more open to receiving gifts than adults. Adults want to earn what they get, as the next scene with the rich man reveals.
But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark Children (10:13–16)
In that case the pronouncement τῶν τοιούτων ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ is not only or even mainly about children, but about those who share the child’s status. It is to such people, the insignificant ones who are important to Jesus (who will of course include, but not be confined to, children) that God’s kingdom belongs. It is the literal children whom Jesus tells the disciples to allow to come to him, but the reason is that they belong to and represent a wider category of οἱ τοιοῦτοι, who are the ones who matter to God.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Children (10:13–16)
The object of a person’s indignation reveals a great deal about that person. Jesus’ displeasure here reveals his compassion and defense of the helpless, vulnerable, and powerless. “
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Children (10:13–16)
In this story children are not blessed for their virtues but for what they lack: they come only as they are—small, powerless, without sophistication, as the overlooked and dispossessed of society. To receive the kingdom of God as a child is to receive it as one who has no credits, no clout, no claims.23 A little child has absolutely nothing to bring, and whatever a child receives, he or she receives by grace on the basis of sheer neediness rather than by any merit inherent in him- or herself. Little children are paradigmatic disciples, for only empty hands can be filled.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Children (10:13–16)
His touch brought blessings, but it was also a blessing, a tangible expression of God’s unconditional love for the unclean, foreigners, women, and children.
The New American Commentary: Mark (2) The Blessing of the Children (10:13–16)
The main point of comparison probably is the insignificance, weakness, helplessness, and dependency shared by children in ancient society and those who enter the kingdom at any time. The ultimate focus of the passage is not only on the attitude with which one comes to Jesus but on coming to Jesus, the object of one’s faith.
Preaching the Word: Mark—Jesus, Servant and Savior Our Lord’s Elevation of Children (v. 14)
“I will say broadly that I have more confidence in the spiritual life of the children that I have received into this church than I have in the spiritual condition of the adults thus received. I will go even further than that, and say that I have usually found a clearer knowledge of the gospel and a warmer love to Christ in the child-converts than in the man-converts. I will even astonish you still more by saying that I have sometimes met with a deeper spiritual experience in children of ten and twelve than I have in certain persons of fifty and sixty.”
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: The Servant’s Paradoxes (Mark 10)
Then He announced that the children were better kingdom examples than were the adults. We tell the children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children!
New Testament II: Mark (Revised) Overview
Those who come to the Lord who have not yet exercised the use of free will are not yet held accountable for voluntary acts that befit repentance (AUGUSTINE).
The Gospel of Mark Notes
Children are naturally dependent on others for food, clothing, and other necessities. They receive all these things as gifts. How much more must all of us receive the kingdom of God as the greatest gift of all (see Luke 18:17).
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Blessing the Children (10:13–16)
In the ancient world, children had no status. They were easily ignored and barred access because no one would take the trouble to complain and fight for them. These children, who must be brought to Jesus by others, have nothing to commend an audience with him and cannot defend themselves against bullies.
The Gospel of Mark Interpretation
It is fitting that a passage about children (10:13–16) should follow one about marriage (10:1–12), since women and children were especially vulnerable in this society. But this passage primarily concerns the kingdom of God and what kinds of people can be part of it. Only those who receive God’s kingdom as a gift from God and make no claim upon it on the basis of their own status or power will enter God’s kingdom.
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Blessing the Children (10:13–16)
Children are also more open to receiving gifts than adults. Adults want to earn what they get, as the next scene with the rich man reveals.