Jesus Loves Little Children
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2014 · 1 June 2014
Matthew 19:13-15, “Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.” This passage perhaps more than any other passage gives that passage where we find our Lord blessing little children.
This particular incident is not only recorded in Matthew but it's also recorded in Mark 10 and Luke 18. Parents in this scene wanted Jesus to touch their children, to bless their children and to pray for their children. And I know there are many parents throughout all the countries of the world who know the Lord who have the same longing as these parents in a spiritual sense to bring their children to Jesus.
Verse 13 begins with the word "Then" and the word "then" just sort of links things up with the prior passage. He's in a home here and it probably was crammed full of people. And, "They brought to Jesus little children." The indication is that perhaps some had reached Him and others were still coming. And while that was going on the disciples were watching. They felt it to be a non-priority deal to have these parents coming to Jesus while He was supposed to be teaching.
You see, it was customary to do that in Jewish society. In the Talmud it said that they were to bring their children to any great teacher of the law, that he might bless them and pray for them. Because they believed that these men who specially represented God were close to the heart of God, had a prayer life that had more faith than normal people might have and they longed to have their children prayed for.
Now when we think about Jesus loving little children, we must realize that He knew they were born of the flesh and that which is born of the flesh is flesh, John 3:6. He knew that what David said was true in Psalm 51:5, "In sin did my mother conceive me." There was this sin nature operative from conception on. There was no idea that children are righteous or holy or pure or innocent or undefiled.
So, here come the parents bringing their babies to Jesus. And it says at the end of verse 13, "But the disciples rebuked them." The disciples were really threatening them, "Look, you can't be interrupting the Lord by bringing up these babies, it is disturbing when we are trying to learn. We can't have this kind of triviality." And so, they oppose this process.
In verse 14 it says, "But Jesus said, “let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” What it doesn't tell us is what Mark 10:14 tells us, that Jesus was angry with the disciples. He uses the word indignant; only two or three times He really got angry at them. And the only time that particular word of indignation is used by Jesus is in reference to them.
Maybe Jesus was angry with them for these following reasons. Number one, He loved babies and they were a creation of God, and His creation. And He felt a sympathy for them for the world in which they were born. And the disciples had not learned such an attitude. Secondly, He is angry because He also loved their parents and He knew that if you say no to people's children, you are going to have a tough time getting their attention. The way to a parent's heart was through their baby and He wanted to demonstrate the genuineness of His tender love and care for the little ones.
Thirdly, maybe He was angry with them because no one is outside the care and plan and love of God, not even a baby. Everyone is included in the plans of God and He truly cares for everyone. No one ever coming to Jesus Christ intrudes on Him. Fourthly, He was angry because children provided Him a tremendous illustration, a tremendous analogy for salvation. And He took advantage of it every time He could.
Fifthly, Jesus was angry with them because they should never decide who can or cannot come to Christ. That was not within their prerogative. If you follow the life of Christ, you will find that He refused some people they brought and He sought out some people they rejected. And it is a lesson of who really is in charge. And so, He really was teaching them about their lack of concern for little ones.
And that is a principle of ministry that God has used in His church from the very beginning. God has given His people a heart for children. We praise God for what He is doing with little ones, from the nursery right on up to the Christian school. All the things that we do with children are done because we believe that Jesus wants the little children to come to Him. And when they come to Him at an early age, they are ready and eager.
One writer said, "As the flower in the garden stretches toward the light of the sun, so there is in the child a mysterious inclination toward the eternal light. Have you ever noticed that when you tell a small child about God, he never asks, `What or who is God? I have never seen Him.' Or when you teach a child to pray that it does this as though it were a matter of course. Or tell them these little ones the stories of the Savior, show them the pictures with scenes of the Bible, how their pure eyes shine."
The coming of children to Jesus is very important. Why? Look at the end of verse 14, "For of such is the Kingdom of heaven." He is not saying that these children are in the Kingdom of heaven, but of such as these. These are the kind who have a place in the Kingdom. And notice, there is no baptism here of babies. He just says babies such as these, prior to the time when they can understand and respond to Christ, prior to the time when they can exercise their own faith, these little ones belong to the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of heaven is the sphere of God's rule in Christ through grace. And He says these have a place. Jesus is including all babies, and when you're in the time when you don't understand, like a little baby, that's the time God has placed you in special care under His sovereign rule as the King. It says nothing about the faith of their parents, nothing about any rite or ritual or baptism, nothing about them being elect or non-elect, He just says those who are like these belong in My Kingdom. And grace is extended to them.
That's why I believe with all my heart that if a baby dies before it can reach the time of making the decision itself, if that baby dies, that baby goes into the presence of Jesus Christ because they are uniquely in the care of the King. I don't know how God gives that grace to them other than by a sovereign act on His own part. I do know that it is dispensable to them by virtue of the death of Jesus Christ for their sin.
Now, that does not mean that all little babies are saved. If they were all saved, then when they got to be old enough, they would lose their salvation and that is a theological problem. It's what was in the heart of David in 2 Samuel 12:23, when his infant son died, he said, "He cannot come to me but I shall go to him." And David knew that he was talking about death, but he also was talking about the fact that in death he would see again that son he loved.
Well, babies are sinners, because they are produced by sinners. And yet God has a special place for them. But it is also a tremendous responsibility for us because if you have in your arms a little baby that belongs to the Kingdom, your task as a parent is to make sure that when that little life comes to the point of decision, the decision it makes takes it fully into God's Kingdom. What a responsibility to make sure that little life given to you for your care is returned to the King after your stewardship is completed.
But Jesus isn't finished. Luke tells us He added one more thing when He had those little children in His arms. He said in Luke 18:17, "Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God, like a little child shall in no way enter it." And what does He mean by that? We discussed that in Matthew 18:3. He means the openness, the honesty, the lack of pretention, the lack of hypocrisy, the dependency, the weakness, the humility that casts oneself in total dependence on the strong arms of the Lord.
His Kingdom is filled with those who are babies and those who came as babies, who knew in themselves they had no resource. And so the "of such" broadens the concept and I agree with John Calvin who said, "The passage broadens to give Kingdom citizenship to both children and those who are like them." And it tells us in verse 15, “And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.”
What about your children? Just remember five key words regarding how to you bring your children to Jesus and draw some spiritual conclusions from this passage. First one is "remember." Remember first of all that God created your child. Psalm 139:13-14, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb, 14 I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works."
Secondly, God gave that child to you as a "gift." Psalm 127:3, "Children are an heritage from the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward." God made that child and God gave that child to you as a gift. And then that child is to be a "blessing" to you. Psalm 127:4-5, "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth, 5 happy is the man who has his quiver full of them." Children are to be a blessing to you.
Fourth point to remember is this, if God made them and God gave them to be a blessing, then God wants them "returned" to Him for His use. And that is why Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he's old he won't depart from it." That's why Ephesian 6:4 says, "Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Because the task that you have is to give your children back to God, that's your stewardship.
Fifthly, "teach," we are called by God to teach our children. They have limited knowledge, they have limited reasoning and they need to be taught. You remember how it was said in 2 Timothy 3:15, “that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures” that were taught to you by your mother and your grandmother? Lois and Eunice are in there feeding that little boy with all the divine truth they can possibly pump in.
Go back to Deuteronomy 6 for a moment. Let us look at a pattern that we need to understand if we are going to effectively teach children. God gave this to Moses in the very beginning to teach His people because it is so basic and it has not changed. Verse 4, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." In other words, if we are going to teach our children, we have to begin with worshiping the right God in the right way.
Secondly verse 5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” What does that mean? That means internalize what you believe about God. Not only have the right theology, but the right heart. If you're going to teach your children, you have to have the right God and the right faith and it has to come right out of your heart. It has to be internal with you, not just external.
And then verse 7, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” What does that say? That says that you have to teach from life situations, out of every trial, every struggle and every moment of life, you teach the truth of God. It is not enough to read them a Bible story and then live a worldly life the rest of the day.
They have to see the Lord in every life situation. All of life becomes a blackboard in which you teach the truth of God. And it has to be unending, unceasing and constant. Teach it diligently all the time, sitting down, walking, lying down, rising up so that it is part of the flow of daily life. It is important that you set up the right convictions, the right standards and the right objectives spiritually for them and that everything in life speaks to those things.
And there's another thing. Verse 8-9, "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.” You know what means? Give them a lot of reminders. Do you have Bible verses hanging around your house? Do you have little plaques that remind them of great scriptural truths hanging in their rooms? Do you read them bible stories? In a child's life their world ought to be filled with these reminders of Godly things.
Finally, watch out for the world. Verse 10-12 says, "So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
You need to warn your children that when they get out in the prosperity and in the world that they not forget God. The world will encroach on all the good things you have taught them and then little by little it will eat away at that. So you watch and you warn. And here is the key, you have to set a good example. You will never get your children to live the kind of life if you are not willing to live like that, except by the overpowering grace of God.
David sinned much himself and then just before he died he said to his son, "O Solomon, obey all the commandments of God," he pleaded with Solomon to do that. But Solomon was worse than David, he multiplied wives and concubines numbering in the hundreds. And in the end he became a man of despair and his son Rehoboam was a total disaster and he lost the kingdom because he had no fatherly example and he listened instead to his own generation and what a disaster that was.
You have to be the model. Parents must be aware of the personal value of truth for their own sakes and not just for the sakes of the children. We cannot make a child believe in a truth because it is good for them. They will sense it when we are doing something to manipulate a certain response. Only the authenticity of parental commitment to truth apart from the lives of the children will bring freedom to share or pass on that truth to them.
Sixthly, love your children. What does that mean? That means weep with them, laugh with them, sacrifice for them and protect them. Don't provoke and exasperate them. Be unselfish, serve them, provide their needs, give them gifts, show them affection and give them discipline. Love them in all those ways.
And finally when you have done all that, trust God that if you bring up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he won't depart. And you will make a lot of mistakes, we all do. But if you have done your best in the power of the Holy Spirit, trust God that He who has begun a good work will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ. And that trust translates into prayer. Pray for your children. Let us pray!