Jesus Loves the Little Children

For roughly three decades the Chinese government mandated a one-child policy. Parents were only allowed one kid. If they wanted to have a second child, they could fill out an application for the government to review. According to Mei Fong, author of the memoir One Child: The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment, the application of the law led to some horrific things: forced abortions, confiscation of children by the government, as well as some unintended consequences (which could have easily been foreseen): there is now an alarming gender imbalance. Fong writes: “When you create a system where you would shrink the size of a family and people would have to choose, then people would ... choose sons," Fong says. "Now China has 30 million more men than women, 30 million bachelors who cannot find brides. ... They call them guang guan, 'broken branches,' that's the name in Chinese. They are the biological dead ends of their family.”

Turns out there are consequences to not valuing children. As a result of decades enforcing this policy, the fertility rate - the average number of children a woman will have over the course of her life - among Chinese women is 1.54. Surprisingly, although American women’s fertility rate was around 4 in the 1960s, today it is 1.6 - barely higher than China’s. Apparently, we’ve invented our very own one-child policy.

Why is it that the birth rate for American families has plummeted? Is it true, as one article suggested, that “Millennials favor pet ownership over children”? Could it be that the follow-your-heart, achieve-your-dreams, find yourself lifestyle our culture has been preaching for so many decades doesn’t jive with expensive, time-consuming toddlers? And if we are valuing children less, what might be the consequences we’ll face in the future?

What is your attitude toward children? A papyrus discovered from June 1, 1 BC - the year before Jesus was born - contains a letter that a husband wrote to his wife who had just given birth: “if it was a male child, let it live; if it was a female, cast it out.” That seems barbaric and gruesome, except that it is what was happening in China for decades, and sadly, thousands of abortions are happening every day in America, mainly for reasons of convenience.

Our society does not value children the way it should. And just as China is facing the consequences of devaluing their children, so will we. In our text, it seems the disciples did not value children as they should. And I wonder if we, here in the church, value children the way we should. It seems obvious to say that we should value our children - the children in our homes, the children in our churches, the children in our neighborhoods.

But do we? Do you? Are they an inconvenience? Are you harsh with them? Are you investing in them? If a nation that devalues its children will destroys itself, what would happen to a church? What would happen to Grace Rancho?

Let’s read the text. Mark 10:13-16. In our text, we are encouraged to value and learn from children. First, we’re going to see the inconvenience of children, second, the value of children, and third, the example of children.

The Inconvenience of Children. Let’s start with verse 13. “They” is probably referring to the crowd that has followed Jesus around. They were “bringing children to him that he might touch them.” The word of “children” here is paidon, which is a general word for child and could refer to an infant all the way up to a 12 year old. We know they were more on the infant side of things for 2 reasons 1) Luke’s account of the same passage uses the Greek word brephos, which means infant, and 2) Jesus takes them into his arms in verse 16, so we know they were smaller.

So the crowd, having been clamoring around Jesus wherever he goes, now begins to bring children to Jesus. Is this because the crowd understood that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah? We don’t know. That’s not in the text. All we know is that they were bringing their children to Jesus “that he might touch them.”

We also don’t know why exactly the people wanted Jesus to touch their children. It’s probably that because of Jesus’ now immense popularity, his many miracles, his well-known instances of healing, that they figured some good would come from Jesus’ touch. They’re not wrong. They’re doing what every parent should do: bringing their kids to Jesus.

Now the “disciples rebuked them.” A rebuke is a strong correction, and the assumption is that these people were doing something wrong in bringing their children to Jesus. Rebuke is a strong word. Jesus “rebuked” demons when he cast them out. Jesus rebuked the storm when he made it stop. False teachers are supposed to be rebuked. But here, the disciples are rebuking the parents and their children for coming to Jesus.

Here’s another instance of the disciples’ hearts not lining up with Jesus’ heart. They did it back in ch 9:38, when John tried to stop the guy from casting out demons in Jesus name. Back in 9:36-37, Jesus literally “took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” Apparently, the disciples did not learn their lesson. To receive a child, to receive child-like people, is like receiving Christ, which is like receiving and welcoming God himself. And the disciples were doing to exact opposite of what Jesus had told them to do: they were not receiving children, they were keeping them out.

Now, I don’t think they were rebuking these people because they hated children. I don’t think they were anti-children. In fact, I don’t think we should assume that their motives were bad. If you’ve been with us through Mark you know how frequently Jesus would pause and retreat from the crowds. Perhaps the disciples were trying to guard Jesus from the onslaught of the demanding mobs. Maybe they were trying to let him rest.

Whatever the case, they were not letting the children through. It’s probable that they had imbibed much of their culture’s view regarding children. We all grow up in a culture and every culture has its values, and not all values line up with biblical values. The disciples’ culture did not value children. They had no status. They were often ignored. Additionally, in the works-righteousness system that the Pharisees had constructed, children couldn’t understand the law, they couldn’t keep the law, and they didn’t really care for the law, and so they were considered to be mere distractions.

The disciples were probably thinking like most of us would think. We’ve got our master Jesus. He’s busy. There’s a limited number of hours in a day. We need to maximize his time. We’ll make sure he’s spending time with people who need him most or who are most important.

And then these children come. Needy children. They don’t understand who Jesus is. They aren’t helpful for our mission. They can’t pay us back. They have no influence. They have no status. Why invest time in these children?

I wonder if we ever think of children that way. We think, “Why invest in these children?” How much can they possibly understand? How much can they actually contribute? There’s no ROI with children, no return on investment. They’re inconvenient.

I wonder if parents aren’t sharing the gospel with their children because they don’t think they’ll understand. I wonder if there are families who don’t have any form of at home family worship because it’s simply too inconvenient to fit in. I wonder if there are men here who aspire to leadership, but won’t spend time with the children because they feel that’s below them? I wonder if any of us are guilty of harshness with the children God has put around us?

I remember as a little boy doing something wrong at church - I can’t even remember what I did, it was probably something foolish - but I have a vivid memory of being scolded by an older man in the church. Now did I deserve it? Probably. But I wonder if that man could have been more gracious, more tender, more instructive, more fatherly - if he was he would have won my heart forever. He did the opposite - I was scared of that man for many years, until I got older and realized he was actually a pretty good guy. Let’s not be like these disciples, but like Jesus.

We might not be actively keeping children away from Jesus, but how frequently do we see taking care of our children as a nuisance, rather than an opportunity?

The Value of Children. V 14: “When Jesus saw it, he was indignant.” Matthew and Luke don’t record this, Mark does. This same word is used when the 10 disciples find out that James and John think they’re the greatest. The 10 get indignant. Here, Jesus is angry at the disciples. Jesus got angry that people - and not just any people - his own disciples - were hindering children from coming to him. Why was he angry?

The anger of God is always aroused because of the love of God. God is angry at sin because he loves righteousness. God is angry with idolatry because he loves his own glory. God is angry with divorce because he loves marriage. You can go on down the list. Why is Jesus angry with his disciples? Because he loves children.

Jesus wants them. When they finally come through, look at what happens in verse 16: “And he took them in his arms And blessed them, laying his hands on them.”

Jesus demonstrates a tender affection for children. The word “blessed” is the word katalogein - “kata” is a prefix that makes the word emphatic. In other words, Jesus was blessing these children emphatically, fervently. He prayed for them. Jesus truly loves the little children.

Now I want the attention of the children here. You cannot be saved by your parents’ faith. You cannot be saved by going to church. You cannot be saved by being baptized. You are a sinner, and you must repent and believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, rose from the dead, and is alive right now. And isn’t it amazing that Jesus loves children? He wants to bless you with salvation? He wants to hear your prayers? He wants to listen to your sorrows? He wants to help you overcome your sins? Isn’t he a kind and good savior? Even as a little kid, right now, you can ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your savior, and he will.

Jesus loves the little children. Wherever Christianity has gone it has lifted the value of children. Christians have started orphanages, adoption agencies. They have volunteered for foster care. They have chose to have their babies rather than abort them. Why? Because Scriptures teach that all children are made in God’s image, that children are precious, that they should be carefully cultivated and invested in, and here we said when God the Son became incarnate, walked among us, he actually loved it when he got to spend time with children.

God’s will has always been for his people to value children, as he does. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” God did not think it a waste of time to teach children. In fact, this is the primary way the truth is passed on. Parents must value their children, talk with them, train them, parent them.

When God is describing the Feast of Booths in Deuteronomy 31:11 “when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” The children were to among in the assembly, listening, learning. Why? That they may learn to fear the Lord. Invest in children. Include them.

Psalm 78: 4-7 “We will not hide them from their children // but tell to the coming generation / the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God.”

Christians, following God’s Word, and following their Savior, should love children. Are you, in any way, investing in your children? Church, are we valuing our children like God’s Word, and Jesus himself, shows us we should? We want to reach the nations, but our first mission field is the little human beings running around here. The ones we put to bed at night, the ones we feed and clothe and discipline. The ones we bring here.

You see, it is natural for us to think of all our relationships as transactional. We value each relationship based on the transactions it allows us to make. A transactional friendship is essentially an “I scratch your back, you scratch mine” relationship. If you are good to me, I’ll be good to you. And the more I can get out of you, the higher I value the relationship.

And so we gravitate toward people who can give us things. They can give us pleasure. They can give us a sense of superiority. They can give us compliments. They can give us a sense of belonging. Or, they can give us fun. They can give us career advancement. So the people who have low transactional value, we simply don’t spend much time with. And this is why the disciples - and why many of us - don’t have any time for children. Their transactional value is low. They’re not going to advance our career or increase our social status. We won’t experience any dividends. And here’s the problem with transactional relationships: we don’t actually love people. We use them.

Christ wasn’t ever drawn to people for what he could get out of them. He was drawn to people because he loved them. And he was (and is) particularly drawn to people who can offer him nothing in return. And Jesus actually taught his followers to invest in people who cannot pay them back: Luke 14:12-14 “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Christ was drawn to children precisely because they could not pay him back.

Do you love children, even though they can’t offer you much? Do you have concern for children? Do you have compassion on them? Are you tender toward your own, and the ones around you? Do you love children, even if they can be inconvenient? Do you love children like Jesus? There is no man more masculine than Jesus, and he wanted to bless the children.

One day when I was in seminary I was upstairs talking with the registrar getting all the paperwork for the classes I would be taking. I had Emma with me, who at the time was probably about a year and a half old. She was dressed up in one of her dresses and had a giant, flowery bow in her hair, when all of the sudden all kinds of men in black suits came marching up the stairs. They looked important and busy - some of them were professors, administrators, staff - and eager to get to some room in the back where they could have a private meeting. I was just passively watching when the last man up the stairs was John Macarthur. John Macarthur - I had his books on my shelves, his sermons were being listened to all over the globe, the magnitude of his influence is hard to describe, if any man among those men were important, it would be him. And while all the other men rushed straight past me, he stopped, talked with Emma, made a joke about letting girls into the seminary, gave us both a kind smile, and then proceeded back with the other men. It settled it in my mind: godly people pay attention to children.

In light of this, I think it’s worth saying here: I thank God for the people who serve our children. I praise God for those of you who serve in the nursery with our littlest ones. I praise God for those of you who spend time teaching our children in Sunday school. I believe that the most formative years in our lives are the ones we don’t remember - and the the presence of loving, Christ-like spiritual fathers and mothers in the nursery and in the classroom are shaping hearts and minds in ways we cannot calculate. Thank you, volunteers. Babies cannot pay you back for the ministry. But our Lord says you “will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Your labor for the Lord is not in vain.

Additionally, I also think it’s helpful to point out that with membership classes, core seminars, and Sunday evenings, we are short on volunteers. When we first came out here three years ago, there was not an option. Everyone had to volunteer. Now it’s more common to say, “Oh, they’ve got it taken care of.” If God’s Word is helping you see the value of children, the benefit of serving them, and you are eager to apply this to your life in a very practical way - talk to Michael after the service and get a Children’s Ministry Application. The children you say may never remember you, but the Lord will not overlook your labor.

The example of children. Now let’s get back to what Jesus said in verse 14: “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.”

Now as part of Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples, he instructs them. He says that the kingdom of God belongs to children. He says that in order for us to receive the kingdom of God, we must become like a child. The children he is holding and blessing are an example of the kind of qualities we must have if we want to have a right relationship with God.

In fact, do you see the way Jesus worded it in verse 15? “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Jesus can move from lighthearted, jovial, tenderness to heaven and hell, ultimate realities in the same breath. He’s speaking of an internal posture one must have to be right with God, and he’s saying if you don’t have this kind of internal attitude, you will not go to heaven.

Why does he say this to the disciples? Because at this moment, their biggest problem was not their view of children. There was a deeper problem. The deeper problem was their view of themselves. If the disciples had really understood all that Jesus had been teaching them, they would have realized that they aren’t any better than these children. They don’t deserve Christ’s acceptance more than them. In fact, if they had a more accurate view of themselves, they would know that they’re actually very much like these children. But they’re getting it all wrong.

They think the children are needy, the children are unworthy, the children are inconvenient, the children are messy. And they’ve forgotten that that’s actually who they are: they’re needy, they’re unworthy, they’re inconvenient.

And what happens when you forget that the only reason you are saved is because of the extravagant grace of God? You begin to look down on people you deem unworthy. You, like the disciples, see some people as being below you.

Listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 26 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. 27 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; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

You are called to think of yourself not as powerful or noble. Here are the words that describe every true Christian, and no true Christian will push back against these lowly descriptions: We are foolish, we are weak, we are low, we are despised, we are nothing, and we are saved only because of God’s amazing, wonderful, free, sovereign grace.

Friends, the way we enter God’s kingdom is as children. That is, we come to grips with our abject poverty. We are completely and without question dependent on his benevolence. We renounce are attempts at human wisdom. We are beggars totally dependent upon the generosity of a gracious God.

This is very similar to the first beatitude, the first mark of a true Christian: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to know that you don’t have resources within you and that the resources you need are outside you. A beggar is looking at every passerby hoping for generosity. We who are spiritual beggars have stopped looking inwardly for help. We look away from ourselves. We recognize we have nothing within us to commend us to God. We do not rely upon our abilities. We do not rely upon our talents. We do not rely upon our natural birth, that we belong to certain families, certain nations, certain races. We do not rely upon our natural temperament or our natural personality. We do not look to the position we’re in or the powers we have. We do not look to money or wealth or education. We do not look to the religious rituals we’ve participated in. We don’t look to our own intelligence or wittiness or emotional IQ. We say we are nothing, we have nothing, we’ve done nothing, and we look away from ourselves to God in utter dependence upon Him and his grace and mercy.

I am called to think of myself as a child. I am called to understand that the kingdom can only ever be received as a gift, not earned like a wage. I am called to remember that I cannot earn this, do not deserve this, cannot demand this, but I rejoice in having received it.

Friends, the good news is that Jesus lived, died, and rose for sinners, that they might be saved. Jesus' death was the payment for the sins of those who trust him. Jesus’ resurrection was the vindication of all his earthly claims. He has ascended to the father and will return to establish his kingdom. If you, with all your religion, believe you somehow deserve it, you will miss out. But if you, like child, say, “I can’t do it, I can’t save myself, I can’t cleanse myself, I can’t lead myself, I can’t fix myself, I am completely and utterly dependent on you to save, cleanse, forgive, heal, and transform me.” He will.

And when that’s our attitude, when we lower ourselves and consider ourselves children, we stop looking down on people. You don’t look down on people when you know you’re at the bottom with them.