Let the children come

Matthew 19:13-30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

¹⁶ And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;¹⁹ Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” ²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Have you ever heard the expression an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure?  Proverbs 22:6 says:  Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.  In today’s text it says:  Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.    Children should be encouraged from the very beginning to come to Jesus. It used to be that Biblical truths, values and morals were integrated into nearly every part of our society and culture, so that children were trained up with those values, morals and truth. Now children are taught that those very same values, morals and truth are hateful, intolerant, foolish and fantasy. It is no wonder then, that we now have several generations of people who are seeking the way they should go. They are confused about truth, believing truth is relative. Babies and children have little value in our society and culture. They are destroyed and discarded in their mother’s womb. Rather than being trained in the way they should go, they are tutored by electronic devices and technology. Children are encouraged to experience immorality rather than being taught morals. Again, we now have several generations that are confused. God loves children. In Matthew 18:1-8 it says:  At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.  “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”   Can our society and culture; can our nation with its laws expect that we will escape the woe we are owed for killing, discarding and causing the little ones God values to stumble and lose their way; for not training them up and encouraging them to come to Jesus?

The text then says: And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;¹⁹ Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”  Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.  And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Even though this man had been raised and trained in what is right; even though he kept the commandments, he still had to choose the first and greatest commandment which Jesus says is:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)   It is easier, it is more natural to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind when we known Him from a child as a good and loving Father. It is easier to decide to continue to follow the one we have known and trusted than it is to give up material things and self indulgent things to follow one we don’t know. Still, with God all things are possible.

In Luke 4:18, at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,And recovery of sight to the blind,To set free those who are oppressed.”   In John 14:6 Jesus says:   “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  Jesus is the way even for those who were not trained in the way. Jesus is the truth. He brings clarity to those who are confused. Jesus is the life. In John 3:16 He says: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  In John 10:10 He says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  By choosing to follow Jesus, we have both eternal life with our loving Father and abundant life now. The text says:  Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”   Yesterday’s text was from Psalm 23. May that be our prayer and declaration today.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Amen.