Being Infant-like
| People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them. (Mark10:13-16) |
But I want to suggest another way of looking at it...
The age of the "little children" is the critical issue. Matthew and Mark use the word "paidia", a diminutive form of "child," while Luke uses "brephē", which means infant or baby. On top of this, people were "bringing" these children to Jesus, which suggests babes in arms rather than independent children running around. When Jesus then takes them in His arms, the picture is not of playful youngsters but of helpless infants- a bit like the way ministers hold babies when baptising them.
At first this might seem counter-intuitive. Is Jesus really asking us to become helpless infants, rather than trusting, optimistic kids as in the illustration I opened with?
The truth is, we'd prefer the latter. We like the idea that we contribute something - even if it is just childlike faith. But what Jesus is actually saying is much more radical. He is teaching us that we come to God helpless. We cannot save ourselves. We need Christ to rescue us. We are saved by grace, not by works, so that no one can boast.
Tomorrow we will look at the rich young ruler and see that the same truth applies: we cannot save ourselves.
So the beautiful good news in this passage is that Jesus invites us to come to Him even when we are helpless and have nothing to offer. This is the principle of His Kingdom: those who feel as weak and dependent as babes in arms are welcomed and embraced by Him.
