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Scripture Reading
Introduction
Context… Jesus has taught on entering the kingdom… what it means to be part of kingdom.
Last week - dealt with the pride of the pharisee while praying.
This text is directly linked to that one.
1. Blessing for the Helpless (v.15a)
Luke 18:15 (NIV84)
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them.
The context begins with people bringing their babies to Jesus.
In the parallel accounts, it speaks of the people bringing their “little children” to Jesus.
In Luke’s account, he specifically speaks about babies.
The word in the original refers literally to infants.
It is very possible that there were both young children and babies involved.
The point is simply that they were being brought to Jesus for a blessing.
In other words, parents were coming with their small babies in order to obtain a blessing from Jesus.
This blessing would have involved the laying on of hands on the chidlren.
It was not a baptism… it was not a christening… It was simply bringing them to JEsus, asking him to lay his hands on them as children, and pronounce a blessing upon the child.
Note the parallel account in Matthew 19:13
Similarly, in Mark’s Gospel, we read what Jesus did when the children actually came to him…
This blessing that was being given was something that was quite common in the Old Testament days.
It reminds us of the blessing that Israel (Jacob) pronounced on the sons of Joseph.
These were his grandsons…
The idea behind this is the bestowal of good upon a person.
It could have been used in the context of a father blessing his son with an inheritance.
It could have been used simply in terms of a pronouncement of God’s favour upon a person.
Alternatively, blessings were used for obedience to God, and curses in the event of disobedience.
We must not think in our minds that this blessing had anything to do with salvation.
Put differently, we must not think that this blessing upon the children constituted them to be God’s elect, as we speak biblically.
Why do I say that?
Because even those who are not God’s elect may receive blessing from God.
A key example of this is with Abraham and his son Ishmael.
Recall the account… Abraham and Sarah attempted to take matters into their own hands in order to have the promises of God to them fulfilled.
Abraham had a child by Sarah’s maid-servant Hagar.... and that was Ishmael.
God essentially said to Abraham that this was not the child of the promise…
So, it’s clear that the blessing of God does not mean that a person is one of God’s elect.
It means that there is this pronouncement of good… a desire for good to come about in the life of the person.
Keep in mind, Jesus was a very well respected “Rabbi” among the people.
Certainly not popular among the religious leaders… but very popular among the people as he performed miracles, and taught the people with authority.
He was well known, and clearly these people wanted to bring their children to Jesus in order to have this well-respected Rabbi pronounce a blessing upon their children.
A Blessing of Good will… good wishes.
2. Contempt from the Disciples (v.15b)
In verse 15b we read of the response of the disciples as they witness this situation unfolding.
Luke 18:15 (NIV84)
15 ...When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
The disciples are clearly not impressed.
The wording that is used suggests that the disciples were trying unsuccesfully to stop the people from bringing their children
Clearly the disciples were not impressed with the people bringing their children to Jesus.
We are not told any further detail of the reason for them doing this.
But from the response of Jesus that we’ll look at in a moment, it is evident that they found the children to be unworthy of approaching Jesus.
Clearly the disciples had a measure of disdain for children.
We do need to keep in mind that children were not highly esteemed within the culture.
In fact, children in this 1st century culture were insignificant, weak members of society.
They exemplified the “least of these” in society.
That’s probably what is behind the disciple’s reaction here.
Notice - Christ’s reaction is vastly different.
3. Compassion from the Saviour (v.16)
Notice the switch from “babies” (v.15) to “children” (v.16).
This is not an error… It simply shows that there was a range of age, from infants / babies up to younger children.
The important point here is that Jesus calls for these children to come to him.
If primary importance of here is that the attitude of Jesus contrasted significantly with that of the disciples.
Do not Show Partiality
In other words, the normal societal prejudicial view on certain people was not part of Christ’s attitude.
It’s important that we see what is and what isn’t going on here.
If we’re not careful, we can end up getting off balance here.
Christ was not teaching that there is no structure within society.
He’s not doing away with authority structures (and I mean sound biblical authority structures, rather than distorted views of authority structures).
Important in our day… children’s rights movement is taking things to a point that is unbiblical.
So, children, as the weaker and more vulnerable in society ought to be regarded with special care.
They are those made in the image of God - They are image bearers from conception.... not birth… from conception.
As such, they are to be treated fairly, with a measure of respect purely as image-bearers.
In Leviticus 20, God commands the Israelites to make sure that no person offers up their child as a sacrifice to Molech… why?
Because they’re image bearers.
It might sound radical… but it’s a simple matter of children being image bearers of God.
Where you have image bearers, although there are certain authority structures in place for the wellbeing of society, those are never to be used as any form of oppression.
The poor man would typically have been given a less favourable outcome… looked down upon.
Less weight placed upon his case.
Isn’t this the way we see people operating nowadays?
That’s why James commanded that there be no partiality.
That’s essentially what Jesus is saying here…
Just because these children are children, doesn’t mean that they don’t have access to me.
Let them come.
Kingdom Belongs to Such…
Jesus then goes on to say, “The kingdom of God belongs to such as these…”
The “Kingdom of God” has been considered earlier in our study of Luke’s Gospel.
It essentially refers to the kingdom reign and rule of Christ in the hearts of people.
It refers to Christ’s Lordship over His people.
But what then does Jesus mean by these words?
Some take this to mean that all children belong to the Kingdom of Christ.
That’s definitely not what is being said here by Jesus.
Notice that Christ says that the kingdom belongs to “such as these.”
He’s not speaking here to any innate goodness within the child.
This is important for us to see in our own day, particularly in light of the world’s idea in many circles that man is inherently good.
In other words, you will hear it taught (and I’m sure you’ve already heard this, and maybe even you believe it…) that when children are born, they are inherently good.... as they grow, they may choose to do bad things.
Not all secular psychologists believe this, but it is a fairly common view.
What Christ is addressing here is a character quality within children, some quality that is possessed by children, that is essential for entrance to the kingdom.
That’s why Jesus says that the kingdom belongs to “such as these...”
Fourth point then…
4. Receiving in Humility (v.17)
In verse 17, Jesus goes on to say…
The character quality of the person to whom belongs the kingdom has to do with the manner of receiving.
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