Give Me Jesus: Jesus As Kingdom Builder: Mark 10:13-16

I. The Problem With Adults vs. 13-14a

A. People were bringing their children to Jesus for a blessing. Jewish people traditionally did this with Rabbis.

B. The disciples didn’t want Jesus to be bogged down by this, so they stopped it.

C. Jesus was indignant at this. Literally deeply grieved by His disciples actions. Children run the house. Both views are wrong! Children are a gift from God, do not underestimate them.

D. What makes you indignant and how you react says a lot about you, as it does with Jesus.

II. The Permissiveness of Jesus vs. 14b

A. Don’t hinder a child coming to Jesus. You can’t expect just taking a child to church will do it. You’ve got to live it out. We expect if you build it they will come. (Playgrounds, nurseries etc.) NO! If you live it they will come! You are always discipling your kids, wether you realize it or not.

B. Many claim Pro. 22:6 as an unconditional promise, but it is a conditional principle. You must train their palate. That’s what the word train means here to train a palate. (How you train a child’s palate ex). If Jesus isn’t sweet to you, He won’t be sweet to your children. (Statistic pic). Pro. 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

C. The kingdom of God belongs to them because they are genuine. “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.”

III. The Paradigm of the Kingdom vs. 15-16

A. Everyone comes to Jesus with childlike faith, because children are utterly dependent on others. We are helpless to save ourselves. We must come humbly to Christ.

B. You bring nothing to the table, except the sin that made the cross so necessary.

C. While the disciples (and hopefully us) looked on humbled, Jesus blessed the children. Let us bless our children with a consistent walk.