Jesus Loves the Little Children

As we continue looking at the gospel of Mark, today we will be in chapter 10:13-26

This series is designed to help us get a glimpse of Jesus as the Messiah who was a suffering servant.

Since Easter is coming in five short weeks, this look at His life should help us understand the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection.

Some of my earliest memories outside of family and home, are from times when I went to church.

As a kid, it was exciting to sit in “big church” though it got boring, I was there singing, praying, and listening to the sermon.

Sometimes, I was pinched on the neck because I was drawing too loudly on the bulletin on top of the hymn book.

Or my knee was squeezed because I was wiggling to much or picking on my brother.

I remember attending Sunday School and Vacation Bible School

Memorizing Scripture

Learning the stories of the Bible

Doing crafts and eating snacks

Singing songs.

Songs like “Jesus Loves Me”

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, Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus loves me, The Bible tells me so. (Anna B. Warner and William B. Bradbury, “Jesus Loves Me,” 1862)

A second song I quickly grew fond of was “Jesus Loves the Little Children.”

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. (Clare Herbert Woolston and George Frederick Root, “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” c. 1895)

These songs teaches a very important truth: Jesus does indeed love the little children.

In Jesus’ day children often were viewed as a liability until they could contribute to society.

Some people today treat children as little more than a commodity to be used and discarded.

In the Roman world unwanted children were often left on a trash heap.

If someone wanted these children, they would pick them up.

Sometimes they were raised to be prostitutes, gladiators, or slaves.

Christians in the early church would often rescue these children and raise them as their own.

On February 23, 1992, John Piper preached a sermon entitled “Receiving Children in Jesus’ Name”: Fourteen million children who reach the age of birth die each year before the age of five. If we could all put a face on each of those children and hear the wheezing and the cries and feel the final limp silence, what an ocean of grief would fill the world. I always marvel at the awesome emotional depth and complexity of God that enables him to empathize with the grief of millions and millions of parents all the time, and yet rejoice with those who rejoice with him. Of these fourteen million, about ten million die from five conditions: about five million from diarrhea; about three million from measles, tetanus, and whooping cough; and about two million from respiratory infections, mainly pneumonia. Most of these could be saved by simple Oral Rehydration Therapies for the diarrhea; a five-dollar injection for the measles, tetanus, and whooping cough; and a fifty-cent antibiotic for the respiratory problems.

America is one of the most violent countries in the world against its children. 22% of the children in America live in poverty; one out of every four girls under eighteen has probably been sexually abused by someone close to her; possibly as high as 30% of all mental disability may be owing to fetal alcohol syndrome; one study of 36 hospitals showed that in 10% of the pregnancies mothers used illegal drugs during pregnancy; and 89% of school teachers surveyed report that abuse and neglect of children are a problem in their education. The American home is increasingly an unsafe place for children to be.

And there is no better place. The family is God’s will.

It seems that we need to change our culture to save the future of the world and church

The only way to have a balanced view of children is to have a biblical view, to see them as God sees them.

They are His gifts to parents Psalm 127:3-5

They, also, provide an illustration as to how we are to enter the kingdom of God in Mark 9:14-15.

In today’s passage, we a glimpse of Jesus showing affection for children.

What is surprising is that the disciples didn’t.

Jesus loves children for who they are: a work of His sovereign Father.

He also loves them for what they teach: how someone enters the kingdom of God.

I would like to say that the idea for this sermon came from Danny Akin and commentary on Mark.

We Should Bring Children To Jesus

Jesus loves children for who they are: a work of His sovereign Father.

He also loves them for what they teach: how someone enters the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:13–16 CSB

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.

Love Them to Jesus Verse 13

It was a tradition for families to bring their children to a rabbi for a blessing.

It appears that is what is happening here.

The term for little children actually means very young or infants through pre-teens.

The act of touching them was part of the blessing

You can see this as you’ve reading through the OT how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all touched their sons and pronounced a blessing on the.

Jesus laid hands on more common people and more frequently than did Jewish society in general.

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. Jesus’ personal touch of common people became a distinguishing mark of his bearing and ministry.

It also became an essential characteristic of the movement he founded, sparing it from the incipient hierarchy and elitism, whether professional or ascetic, so common of religion.

The disciples rebuked them and tried to keep them from coming to Jesus.

That’s the same strong word used when Jesus rebuked the demons and Peter from last week.

I’m sure the disciples were just trying to protect Jesus from the crowds

To keep them from crushing in on Him.

Are you like those who want to love children to Jesus, or are you like the disciples who have no time for babysitting?

Will you work in the nursery, with preschoolers, with schoolchildren, or youth

Will you stand up against the evils against children like sex-trafficking, child abuse an neglect, or child poverty?

The real question is will you love children toward Christ?

Lead Them To Jesus Verse 14

When Jesus saw what the disciples were doing, He became “Indignant”

As someone said, “He wigged out!”

That word means to arouse to anger

To vent oneself in expressed displeasure rather than simply brooding about it.

Jesus’ displeasure here reveals his compassion and defense of the helpless, vulnerable, and powerless.

Jesus is affirming that children are worth His time and they should be worth our time!

There are several ways to lead children to Christ.

Create a gospel-saturated home.

Disciple them by praying, reading scripture, and living the Christ life with them.

Encourage them, bless them, and challenge them.

One of the must do’s is for parents to model that Christ life in the natural ebb and flow of life.

We Should Learn From Children About the Kingdom of God

There is something about a child’s life that is essential for entrance into the Kingdom of God.

It is not their innocence, for they are not innocent!

They are little sinners just like we are big sinners.

Nor is it their purity or that they are sweet.

Again, they are sinners with Adam and Eve’s and your and my DNA running throughout their being.

Still, for some reason, Jesus says children are a better example of how to enter the kingdom than are adults.

Warren Wiersbe says, “We tell children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children”

We Come Helpless and Hopeful Verse 14

Jesus is telling us that children are the kind of people who obtain the kingdom of God.

We see them coming to Jesus with the help of others.

Children are helpless, their lives are in the hands of other people - Mom and Dad

Yet, they are filled with hope and expectation.

They don’t know what they need, but they know that someone will help them get what they need.

They have no clout or standing and they bring nothing but empty hands.

This is appropriate since only empty hands can be filled.

Like the child we should approach Jesus helplessly and hopeful

And we, who are believers, need to bring the children or adult to Jesus.

We Come Trusting And Dependent Verse 15

Whoever will not receive God’s kingdom as a gift now with the trustful attitude of a child will never enter it.

That’s an emphatic negative meaning “by no means”.

He will be excluded from its future blessings, specifically eternal life (cf. vv. 17, 23–26).

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

By their display of trust and absolute dependence on another, children point the way to entrance into God’s kingdom.

Children have the capacity to enjoy a lot but explain little.

They live by faith and dependence.

They must trust another to survive.

We Come For Affection and Blessing Verse 16

Jesus then picked up the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

This is an amazing picture of grace.

He is tender and affectionate to those who bring nothing to Him but their need.

In a Hebrew blessing there were several components

A meaningful touch

A spoken word

Attaching high value

Picturing a special future

And an active commitment

This is exactly what Jesus did and His commitment as fulfilled on the cross.

Some Concluding Thoughts

Let me share a few thoughts about children and salvation.

When children come to you talking about salvation, you should never put them off.

Take the time to ask them some pointed questions like:

What does it mean to be saved?

Why do you feel that you need to be saved?

Can you explain to me how a person gets saved?

Can you explain to me what sin is?

There are many other questions, but you get the idea.

If they do not understand, keep praying for them and talking to them about Jesus.

They will come back when they are ready.

When they are ready to receive Jesus, be careful that you point them to Him and allow them to come to Him by faith.

In other words, do not put words into their mouths.

You might help them to understand the kind of things they should pray about; things like confession of sin, expression of faith in Christ, asking the Lord into their hearts, etc; but never, never, never tell them exactly what they should say.

If they understand what they are doing and they are really under Holy Spirit conviction, they will know what they need to do.

What about children who die before they reach the “age of decision” “age of accountability” or before they reach an age of moral discernment?

What happens to them?

I think the Bible holds that answer for us.

When David lost an infant son in 2 Sam. 12, he was convinced that his son had gone to be with the Lord, 2 Sam. 12:23, “But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”

Children and others who cannot choose for themselves are not saved, but they are “safe” in Jesus Christ.

The saving power of the atoning work of Jesus is applied to them.

When they die in that “safe” condition, they are regenerated and taken to Heaven!

Parents who have lost children to death, miscarriage, or still birth should never fear because their little ones are in Heaven with the Lord Jesus today

In James 4: 17, the Bible says, “So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.”

The Bible is clear that we are all born with a sin nature as a result of being in Adam (Rom 5: 12), called “original sin.”

However, the Scriptures make a distinction between original sin and actual sins.

Infants are incapable of actual sins because they are incapable of moral discernment.

Original sin is why infants die physically.

Actual sins committed with knowledge and understanding are why people die spiritually and eternally if they die without Christ.

From these and some other biblical evidence we should be comforted in that those who die in infancy are secure in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Little ones are precious in God’s sight.

If they die, they go to heaven.

Parents who have trusted Jesus and have lost a little one can be confident of a wonderful reunion someday.

Are you hopeful of seeing again that little treasure God entrusted to you for such a short time?

Jesus has made a way.

Let’s pray